Perhaps it is time we start looking at vehicle-sales, yes?

In DUST we have 3 sizes (and 3 types) of vehicles, small (Light Attack Vehicles), medium (Dropships) and Large (Heavy Attack Vehicles). To keep things simple, and to avoid overly long posts, in this article we will only look at the Heavy Attack Vehicle, aka the HAVs.

HAV Sales

Prior to Uprising 1.7, released in December 2013, HAVs were largely seen as limited to a dedicated group of people, with the skills to keep these alive, and the ISK to purchase new ones. HAVs were expensive, and relied on multiple active modules. With Uprising 1.7, the price of HAVs came down notably, and with that a significant increase in sales:

From December 1st to December 15th we are seeing a 4.5x increase, and at least until Uprising 1.8, sales had settled on a level of ca 4x that prior to 1.7.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=1064367591

When we look at this, we can really see the jump in sales, as of 1.7. Another thing that seems obvious is that Sicas and Somas (the militia-level HAVs) are outselling their standard brethren.

To show this in a different way:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=1597195185 

Sica and Soma are looking like they account for close to 65% of all HAV sales, with the Gunnlogi and Madrugar coming in around 15% and 20% respectively.

To view the same in a more interactive grahp, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=873015395 

A curious observation based on these is that in 1.6 Madrugars were outselling Gunnlogis, and same for Somas vs Sicas, while in 1.7, there was a convergence; Armor and Shield HAVs were selling close to same quantities. With 1.8, and the hardener changes, this has changed back to Madrugars have a slightly higher sales-rate than Gunnlogis, which Somas and Sicas are largely remaining equal.

While Militia is outselling standard, when measuring volume, the price-difference means ISK expenditures look a bit different:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=1218262206

As of around 1.8, ISK spent on Madrugars has been pulling up to the same level as Sica and Soma, with Gunnlogis briefly being on the same level.

Looking to Total ISK Expenditure, we can actually see that it largely follows the structure we saw in Sales Volume. It is not just the tankers-of-old that are simply buying more HAVs for the same money, but an influx of players getting into HAVs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=1496002491

The increase is clearly smaller, around 2x, which is in line with volume and the change in prices:

Something else we can look at is the number of market-orders are being put in for HAVs. A single order can be for 1 or more pieces of a single item

HAVs are amongst the most expensive items in the game, and people are likely not keen to keep a large stock of them for various reasons. That we’re only seeing an average of around 2.5 pcs/order seems to confirm this; most people are only buying the HAVs they need, or can afford, short-term.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=2075206833

One of the effects of Uprising 1.7 seems to be that people can afford buying more HAVs at a time…

Large Turrets

Immediate expectation is that sales of large turrets follow those of HAVs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=901229186

While the basic structure is the same, the increase is actually in 5-6x range for turrets, compared to the 4.5x we saw for the frames. Alongside the observation that most frames are militia, it would point to players being perfectly happy using the cheapest-possible frames, with various turrets applied to them.

The above graph is showing a “slight” preference toward 2 of the turret-types, over that of the 3rd. If we try to zoom in a bit:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=904396981

Rail turrets make up around 50%, blasters around 43-44% and missiles barely pushing 6%. Just prior to the release of Uprising 1.7, missiles actually managed 17.67%.

For anyone wanting to look at this in more detail, use this interactive graph:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=826310778

Armor Modules

Another aspect of HAVs, and of all vehicles, are the modules. Some of these come in “heavy” versions, indicating they are perhaps more suitable for HAVs over LAVs and Dropships; there is nothing really keeping heavy modules, or any module, from being used on any vehicle, and in a review of a single vehicle-type we cannot easily determine what to look at in this area.

In this article we are going to look at just Armor Modules, and where applicable, only the Heavy versions.

The first thing that was brought up when asking around for what people wanted to know, was whether Armor Repair modules had completely eclipsed Hardeners.

Digging into this we can find:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=157010430

Yes, since the release of Uprising 1.8, there has been a slight up-tick in Heavy Armor Repair modules compared to Armor Hardeners, as people seem to have changed their fittings.

Another thing we can see in the market-data is, that players primarily buy militia gear:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Evj19ELQrpZa2Wpx6wozW9RnG47hYLIfyhyFc75EHe4/gviz/chartiframe?oid=1155299453

Yes, this is not the easiest chart to read.

Next time, will look at more vehicles, and vehicle modules...