_Geras - _Nearly two months after the existence of cloned soldiers was made public to the [cluster](http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/New Eden (cluster)) by [Jacus Roden](http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Jacus Roden), [Modern Finances](http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Modern Finances) has released a positive report on the financial viability of the soldiers. According to the report, the average cloned soldier begins providing a greater return on investment with each passing day, allowing them to quickly overcome their initial cost.
While the costs to create and train an individual cloned soldier is greater than an ordinary soldier, due to the necessity of implanting the brain scan devices, these costs are overcome "within three months on average". Due to the retention of skills and the ability of the cloned soldiers to fight without fear of permanent death, the soldiers are quickly capable of outstripping the value of baseline troops.
"One of the largest costs of any military or mercenary outfit is training soldiers," the report reads. "While the initial cost for the same is higher with cloned soldiers, because they have much lower attrition rates, there is a much lesser need to replace them. Additionally, their ability to gain knowledge and experience through repeat trials by fire allows them to become more highly skilled than other units. Camaraderie also remains high, as squad members need not be replaced with new recruits, allowing intra-unit cohesion to flourish."
While the report stops short of advocating a complete abandonment of traditional soldiers, it does recommend "increasing the usage of cloned soldiers utilizing second generation implants."
It also notes some potential negatives of the soldiers, such as the "tendency for cloned soldiers to take low-reward risks when caution would have been advised" and the risk of "cloned soldiers becoming maladjusted to life off the battlefield and experiencing an extreme form of post-traumatic stress disorder." However, these concerns were dismissed because "the profit potential far outweighs these additional costs."