| Ship | ISK (millions) |
| Cerberus | 220 |
| Eagle | 140 |
| Sacrilege | 175 |
| Zealot | 132 |
| Deimos | 180 |
| Ishtar | 185 |
| Muninn | 141 |
| Vagabond | 151 |
Courtesy of EVE-Central as of Sept 9, 2013
HACs are too expensive for the increase in power that they give vis-a-vis the Tech I cruisers.
This does not affect most other Tech II classes as they either provide unique capabilities not found in their Tech I counterparts (as in Covert Ops, Stealth Bombers, Interdictors, Heavy Interdictors, Recons, Command Ships, Black Ops), or the boost they provide in performance is considered worth the extra cost in enough cases to matter (see: Assault Frigates, Interceptors, Logistics)1.
Command Ships are especially notable as they used to be not worth the ISK but I'm finding, as many others are, that the changes make them attractive to consider in place of the ubiquitous Strategic Cruisers.
But this is about HACs.
The easiest comparison to make is looking at Assault Frigates which are essentially the same concept in a smaller hull size: same role as the Tech I conuterparts but with my tank, gank, and a role bonus for MWD usage. But it works for Assault Frigates; I've been flying more of them then Tech I frigs this past few weeks. But why?
If you compared the price of a hull and full fittings of a Tech 1 Merlin versus a Tech II Harpy, for example, you find that the Tech II ship is approximately 3 times more expensive all told, pegging in around 35-40 million compared to 10-15 million depending on fits. While that's a significant jump in price its manageable.
Now look at a Tech II HAC versus Tech I combat or attack cruiser. If you go with typical Tech II modules for fitting both ships fall in the range of ~20-25 million to fit, but the base price of the hull is about 10 million for Tech I to at least 140 million for Tech II. In the frigate comparison the fittings (which are roughly equal on both ship classes) are the majority of the ship cost, but in the larger hull size the fittings cost is the majority of the Tech I ship (putting it around 30-35 million) but a fraction of the cost of the Tech II version (putting it around 160 million for the cheaper HACs, over 200 million for the more expensive ones).
While the ratio is about the same (i.e. Tech II fully fit ship is 3-4 times more expensive), the scale is notable. Players have a threshold for what they think is worth the reward (The Price of Power) compared to the acceptable risk (The Cost of Doom). Depending on how rich a player is that threshold can change; for some pilots in Faction Warfare, Assault Frigates and Tech I cruisers are beyond that threshold, but for many they are not. I'd say the threshold for many is the ~75 million mark, maybe closer to 100 million.
But for almost all, that threshold is below the cost of HACs. And I suspect a lot of EVE feels the same way.
So what do I think the price of HACs should be? Personally I think the 100 million mark would be ideal. That would make it close to that threshold of what players are willing to spend and risk losing for the power while still making them ~10 times more expensive than the Tech I hulls they are based on.
The question now is if the balancing pass has made them enticing enough that some demand will increase thus convincing producers to make more and with an increase in supply driving the price down through competition. Or if an increase in demand coupled with static supply will drive prices up.
Time will tell.
Now look at a Tech II HAC versus Tech I combat or attack cruiser. If you go with typical Tech II modules for fitting both ships fall in the range of ~20-25 million to fit, but the base price of the hull is about 10 million for Tech I to at least 140 million for Tech II. In the frigate comparison the fittings (which are roughly equal on both ship classes) are the majority of the ship cost, but in the larger hull size the fittings cost is the majority of the Tech I ship (putting it around 30-35 million) but a fraction of the cost of the Tech II version (putting it around 160 million for the cheaper HACs, over 200 million for the more expensive ones).
While the ratio is about the same (i.e. Tech II fully fit ship is 3-4 times more expensive), the scale is notable. Players have a threshold for what they think is worth the reward (The Price of Power) compared to the acceptable risk (The Cost of Doom). Depending on how rich a player is that threshold can change; for some pilots in Faction Warfare, Assault Frigates and Tech I cruisers are beyond that threshold, but for many they are not. I'd say the threshold for many is the ~75 million mark, maybe closer to 100 million.
But for almost all, that threshold is below the cost of HACs. And I suspect a lot of EVE feels the same way.
So what do I think the price of HACs should be? Personally I think the 100 million mark would be ideal. That would make it close to that threshold of what players are willing to spend and risk losing for the power while still making them ~10 times more expensive than the Tech I hulls they are based on.
The question now is if the balancing pass has made them enticing enough that some demand will increase thus convincing producers to make more and with an increase in supply driving the price down through competition. Or if an increase in demand coupled with static supply will drive prices up.
Time will tell.
1 - We'll talk about Electronic Attack Frigates after they are visited by the balancing pass.
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