[PvK]

Geoschmo, your calculation of value is off. EA III is 50 structure + 30 emissive = 80 to kill, and 20kT size. Standard Armor III is 40 structure for 10kt size. You said armor was 4:1 and EM was 2.5:1, but it's really 4:1 as well, so EM III is never worse than SA III.

If you combine one or two EA with a bunch of SA III, you will probably get the EA effect for nearly all of the armor hits, most of the time. Even in mid-game cruiser combat with large-mount PPB's, that can easily get up to a 50% increase in survivability, which can be worthwhile.

Throwing an EA component in with a bunch of Crystalline or Organic armor can definitely be worthwhile.

EA is relatively expensive, but if you are trying to achieve ship design superiority for some classes, it can help tip the scales.

PvK