Why do bulkheads cost SO much?

[Soothsayer]

I'm not sure I understand the logic behind the exorbitant cost of bulkheads. As I understand it, reinforced / military armor increases your ship's health, whereas reactive and mirrored armor increases resistances. However, these benefits only apply if a ship's shields are down, and they add a considerable amount of weight (thus reducing FSD jump range and, presumably, ship handling).

So what gives? What's with armor plating costing hundreds of millions on a ship that, in and of itself, only costs ~145 million? Hull reinforcement packages appear to be substantially more effective when stacked, and yet they're basically free by comparison to bulkheads.

 

[Jypson]

It does seem a bit munch. I would think 50% of ship price would be reasonable, 100% is questionable indeed.

 

[tiger61378]

Think of it this way...upgrading the hull (bulkheads) requires stripping all of the materials off of the hull, and installing new materials. So you're basically getting a new hull made out of higher quality materials than the old one (and with the reinforced/military grade, they also strip the interior bulkheads/floors/walls/ceiling to reinforce those spaces as well). Yeah, its expensive, but you end up with basically a brand new ship

 

[00prometheus]

Hmm, well yes, you can invent a story that justifies the price, but wouldn't it be better to set the pricing from a game balancing point of view, then invent a story to justify that pricing instead?

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

It is a balancing price.

While you might think HeRPs are that good, they do not protect internal systems from damage.

Armor does, and so if you want to not get your engines/powerplant/FSD/cargoscoop shot out, use Armor not HeRPs.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

When you buy a ship from the shipyard, most of the cost is bulkheads. the small portion left over is your basic stock internals. (All the rubbish E-class junk)

When you buy new bulkheads, you're essentially buying a whole new ship, minus the stock internals.

It's going to be expensive. And I like the system as is.

 

[IceFire122]

While you might think HeRPs are that good, they do not protect internal systems from damage.

HRPs protect internals by now, however to a significantly lower degree than bulkheads (1-3% per module instead of 25% or 50% damage reduction).

 

[Bokugo]

Because FD hasn't taken the time to flesh out module statistics and costs properly. It's why an Anaconda has a 120+ ton sensor that performs exactly the same as a much lighter one in a different ship. It's why power costs go up the exact same rate across all modules. It's why multipurpose ships are superior.

 

[Ransurias]

When you buy a ship from the shipyard, most of the cost is bulkheads. the small portion left over is your basic stock internals. (All the rubbish E-class junk)

When you buy new bulkheads, you're essentially buying a whole new ship, minus the stock internals.

It's going to be expensive. And I like the system as is.

And you don't think upwards of 310 - 350 million credits for armor that increases damage resistance against a certain weapon type is at least a little exorbitant / unjustified? Come on, now.

It does seem a bit munch. I would think 50% of ship price would be reasonable, 100% is questionable indeed.

Have some rep for one of the handful of reasonable posts in this thread.

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

And you don't think upwards of 310 - 350 million credits for armor that increases damage resistance against a certain weapon type is at least a little exorbitant / unjustified? Come on, now.

The only thing bad about it is if I get Mirrored Armor, I want a shiny ship, dangit!

 

[Commander Dave]

Buy a new chassis for your car.
Then you'll see why they're expensive.

 

[Soothsayer]

Buy a new chassis for your car.
Then you'll see why they're expensive.

Look -- if we're basing these things on real-life concepts (which I personally think is completely outrageous), ship bulkheads wouldn't be analogous to vehicle frames. Bulkheads are walls within a ship's hull that serve to increase the structural integrity of a ship. We're not "rebuilding the entire ship from the ground up, minus the modules." We're replacing walls within the hull, which, in the year 3301, should -- to my speculation -- be rather modular and not extraordinarily difficult to replace. Otherwise, why would every other station have various types of standardized bulkheads for sale?

There's your "realism" for you. There's a lot of misconceptions in this thread about what bulkheads are versus hulls, with many of you confusing the latter for the former.

 

[shambles1980]

i think pricing is fine. obviously the materials are expensive otherwise they would be standard install..

I don't think i'd be happy being able to upgrade the living daylights out of my ship for a few 100 credits.

If you cant afford it then possibly shouldn't be trying to buy it?

i honestly don't see any thing wrong with the upgrade pricing, form a realism view or from a game balancing view.

i will agree on 1 point from one of the posts above though.. having E7 sensors stuck in a good slot is stupid, when e2 or e3 sensors would do exactly the same job.
I can accept that the fuel tanks are stuck in the slot they start in, but sensors really should be movable. or at least come default in a low lvl slot freeing up a larger slot for something thats useful.

 

[h347h]

It is a balancing price.

While you might think HeRPs are that good, they do not protect internal systems from damage.

Armor does, and so if you want to not get your engines/powerplant/FSD/cargoscoop shot out, use Armor not HeRPs.

ugh read the patch notes

HRPs DO protection modules.

 

[ocflyer]

The bulkhead prices seem reasonable to me, and by reasonable I mean that I can afford them, not that they're reasonably priced! Their main advantage is that they provide a large armor boost without taking up valuable module slots. In my Corvette, I use the largest 2 module slots for SCB and the other rest for HRP. I would hate to rely solely on the HRP because I couldn't afford the military bulkheads.

 

[Slack]

Yes they are very costly. On a Conda mirrored is like 300m+ Thats why it costs so much to A spec a Conda, this one upgrade costs almost as much as all the other upgrades and buying the ship put together. This however is a pointless conversation until you can answer how military/mirrored work vs regular armor.

I hear conflicting stories. Some say mirrored gives you 50% damage reduction vs energy weapons and no reduction at all vs kinetic. Other say its like 50% damage reduction vs energy, but you actually take an extra 25% damage from kinetic. Military i hear is 25% damage reduction across the board? But i cant find any hard facts. So if someone can give actual specs on the damage reduction, we can then tell if they are overpriced or not.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I'm watching luxury yacht owners and container cargo ships trying to emulate the armor protection of an Iowa class battlewagon. This is funny.

 

[Ozram]

I've heard mention that it protects internals better than hrps but has anyone mentioned that they do not take up an internal slot? I don't mind that they are expensive, personally, nor heavier than the hrps.

 

[Jaiotu]

Look -- if we're basing these things on real-life concepts (which I personally think is completely outrageous), ship bulkheads wouldn't be analogous to vehicle frames. Bulkheads are walls within a ship's hull that serve to increase the structural integrity of a ship. We're not "rebuilding the entire ship from the ground up, minus the modules." We're replacing walls within the hull, which, in the year 3301, should -- to my speculation -- be rather modular and not extraordinarily difficult to replace. Otherwise, why would every other station have various types of standardized bulkheads for sale?

There's your "realism" for you. There's a lot of misconceptions in this thread about what bulkheads are versus hulls, with many of you confusing the latter for the former.

As an 8-year Navy veteran I certainly do understand the difference between a hull and a bulkhead. I don't think Frontier does though. The fact descriptions that Frontier uses on the bulkheads make it quite clear that they are external not internal. What would be the point of "mirrored" bulkheads if they were internal components? So you could walk around a house of mirrors? So that if a laser DID penetrate the hull it would bounce around happily inside the ship until it found a nice fleshy pilot to hit?

I think this is another example of Frontier just not understanding the proper terminology. Kind of like how stations like "Nicolier Hanger" use the word "hanger" instead of "hangar". I guess it's a good place to hang up your trousers?

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I guess it's a good place to hang up your trousers?

Your trousers are hung from torpedo armor belts.