User:Dewin/Soul Plate Acquisition Guide by Dewin

I have noticed a higher success rate when standing close to the monster being drained.

Note, however, that you cannot stand too close to mobs that aggro sound (unless of course you have the means to handle them). You can successfully take pictures from the maximum range (about |10') without being detected by mobs that detect by sound.

The 5000-jetton items sold by Zandjarl increase Feral Drain success rate versus one particular monster family:

• Zoraal Ja's Helm versus lizards
• Dartorgor's Coif versus vermin
• No.3's Garland versus undead
• Cacaroon's Hood versus beasts

I have not yet personally tried any of these items, so I cannot say how much they improve the success rate.

Lower level monsters are more susceptible to being drained. Monsters low on HP are also more susceptible to being drained.

It is worthwhile to weaken a monster before attempting to acquire soul plates if you can feasibly do so.

While you can feral drain monsters claimed by other parties, I've had a dramatically lowered success rate while doing so. On another party's Sea Puks, I only had 1 in 12 drains successful versus another party's monsters even when I waited for the monsters to be low on HP before using the Soultrapper. (Note that I only attempted 12 plates in this fashion, so it is possible that my results were simply bad luck.)

I do not know if unclaimed monsters are any harder to trap than a monster claimed by yourself or your own party, but it would seem logical.

The cooldown on Soultrapper is 60 seconds. The Soultrapper 2000 only has a 30-second cooldown, and holds 48 charges instead of 12.

The equip delay of both items is only 10 seconds, so by alternating which one is equipped you can take about three pictures per minute. (HQ -> NQ -> HQ, wait 30 seconds, repeat.)

My preferred tactic is to weaken a target monster to about 5% of its total HP and then hold it while I take pictures. With this, you get favorable conditions (close to monster, low HP, claimed by you), and you can potentially hold a monster somewhere where links and additional aggro is not problem.

This is best if you can handle being hit by the monster for a long time or have a way of sleeping it. Bards can Lullaby a monster which allows them time for two pictures (one using Soultrapper and one using Soultrapper 2000) before the Lullaby duration expires, but they should be warned that they may not be able to sing again right away. (There's a delay between using an item and being able to cast a spell.) Being able to reliably cast Sleep or Sleep II also helps, and will allow 3 (usually 4 in the case of Sleep II) pictures to be taken before the spell expires assuming no resists.

You can also forgo weakening the monster and just hold it slept -- ideal if the monster is too strong to safely fight.

Sometimes holding a monster isn't possible. Perhaps it can't be slept or fought safely (especially if you're taking pictures solo.)

If the mob does not aggro, this is not a problem. Just stand as close as possible and take pictures. Otherwise, there are two possible tactics: