Predator Core
Material · MaterialJewelry3★A core left behind by Predator Pals, packed with strange energy.
Predator Core feeds 10 different recipes, which is why it is worth farming past the point you think you need it.
Details
It stacks up to 9,999. At 20,000 gold it is worth real money to a merchant.
Using Predator Core Well
Cores only leave your inventory through the ten stat drugs, and the split is two-for-one: each Elixir costs 2, each Remedy costs 1. One flat-4 predator kill is two Elixirs or four Remedies. A full set of all five Elixirs is 10 cores, all five Remedies is 5 — so a single top-tier predator run of three kills covers an entire Elixir set with change.
Predators are not just higher-level versions. 47 of the 48 carry double the base species' HP and take only 20% of incoming damage, which is roughly ten times the effective durability of the ordinary Pal wearing the same model — and they hit for 1.5x to 10x depending on the species. Bring the damage, not the level: a predator with a boss health bar will outlast anything you would normally use to farm an alpha.
There is exactly one way to get a Predator Core: kill a Predator Pal. All 48 predator variants drop it at 100%, so there is no rate to fish for — the only thing that changes between them is how many you get. The yield is fixed per species and climbs with difficulty: 1, then 1–2, 2–3, 2–4, 3–4, and finally a flat 4.
The best cores-per-kill predators pay a guaranteed 4 every time: Bushi Noct, Elgrove Cryst, Helzephyr Lux, Incineram Noct, Leafan, Sootseer and Tropicaw. Four more sit in that same top bracket but only appear as quest predators — the predator forms of Flopie, Lovander, Jormuntide Ignis and Silvegis. At the bottom end, the predator forms of Direhowl, Gorirat, Vanwyrm, Dogen and Mossanda hand over a single core, so a route through low-tier predators costs four times the kills for the same stack.
Every predator drops a Giant Pal Soul in the exact same quantity as the core — 1 for 1, 4 for 4. You are never farming one of the two; a predator route builds your elixir stock and your rank 11–20 Statue of Power budget at the same rate, so plan the trip around whichever runs out first.
Alternatives and Upgrades
Other crafting materials at a similar tier, for when you want to weigh this against the rest of its class:
