diff --git a/MosswartMassacre/WebSocket.cs b/MosswartMassacre/WebSocket.cs
index a7409bd..a5e23e2 100644
--- a/MosswartMassacre/WebSocket.cs
+++ b/MosswartMassacre/WebSocket.cs
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
         private const int IntervalSec = 5;
         private static string SessionId = "";
 
+        // ─── cached prismatic taper count ───────────
+        private static int _cachedPrismaticTaperCount = 0;
+        private static DateTime _lastPrismaticTaperUpdate = DateTime.MinValue;
+        private static readonly TimeSpan PrismaticTaperCacheInterval = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10);
+
         // ─── runtime state ──────────────────────────
         private static ClientWebSocket _ws;
         private static CancellationTokenSource _cts;
@@ -164,16 +169,12 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
                     {
                         try
                         {
-                            PluginCore.WriteToChat("[WebSocket] Building telemetry payload...");
                             var json = BuildPayloadJson();
-                            PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Payload built ({json.Length} chars), sending...");
                             await SendEncodedAsync(json, _cts.Token);
-                            PluginCore.WriteToChat("[WebSocket] Telemetry sent successfully");
                         }
                         catch (Exception ex)
                         {
                             PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Telemetry failed: {ex.Message}");
-                            PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Stack trace: {ex.StackTrace}");
                             break; // Exit telemetry loop on failure
                         }
 
@@ -293,16 +294,8 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
             await _sendLock.WaitAsync(token);
             try
             {
-                if (_ws == null)
-                {
-                    PluginCore.WriteToChat("[WebSocket] Send failed - WebSocket is null");
+                if (_ws == null || _ws.State != WebSocketState.Open)
                     return;
-                }
-                if (_ws.State != WebSocketState.Open)
-                {
-                    PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Send failed - State: {_ws.State}");
-                    return;
-                }
 
                 var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(text);
                 await _ws.SendAsync(new ArraySegment<byte>(bytes),
@@ -312,7 +305,7 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Send error: {ex.Message} (State: {_ws?.State})");
+                PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Send error: {ex.Message}");
                 _ws?.Abort();
                 _ws?.Dispose();
                 _ws = null;
@@ -325,7 +318,29 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
 
         // ─── payload builder ──────────────────────────────
 
-        
+        private static void UpdatePrismaticTaperCache()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                _cachedPrismaticTaperCount = Utils.GetItemStackSize("Prismatic Taper");
+                _lastPrismaticTaperUpdate = DateTime.Now;
+                PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Updated prismatic taper cache: {_cachedPrismaticTaperCount}");
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                PluginCore.WriteToChat($"[WebSocket] Failed to update prismatic taper cache: {ex.Message}");
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static int GetCachedPrismaticTaperCount()
+        {
+            // Update cache if it's stale (older than 2 minutes)
+            if (DateTime.Now - _lastPrismaticTaperUpdate > PrismaticTaperCacheInterval)
+            {
+                UpdatePrismaticTaperCache();
+            }
+            return _cachedPrismaticTaperCount;
+        }
 
         private static string BuildPayloadJson()
         {
@@ -346,7 +361,7 @@ namespace MosswartMassacre
                 onlinetime = (DateTime.Now - PluginCore.statsStartTime).ToString(@"dd\.hh\:mm\:ss"),
                 deaths = PluginCore.sessionDeaths.ToString(),
                 total_deaths = PluginCore.totalDeaths.ToString(),
-                prismatic_taper_count = Utils.GetItemStackSize("Prismatic Taper").ToString(),
+                prismatic_taper_count = GetCachedPrismaticTaperCount().ToString(),
                 vt_state = VtankControl.VtGetMetaState(),
                 mem_mb = tele.MemoryBytes,
                 cpu_pct = tele.GetCpuUsage(),
diff --git a/MosswartMassacre/bin/Release/MosswartMassacre.dll b/MosswartMassacre/bin/Release/MosswartMassacre.dll
index a80078f..4d6d6d6 100644
Binary files a/MosswartMassacre/bin/Release/MosswartMassacre.dll and b/MosswartMassacre/bin/Release/MosswartMassacre.dll differ