diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payload.cs
index a69e68b3e..7b001b920 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payload.cs
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ using Serilog;
 // TODOs:
 //   - refactor integer handling now that we have multiple packed types
 //   - common construction/property design for subclasses
-//   - lumina DI
 //   - design for handling raw values vs resolved values, both for input and output
 //   - wrapper class(es) for handling of composite links in chat (item, map etc) and formatting operations
 //   - add italics payload
@@ -23,13 +22,17 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling
     {
         public abstract PayloadType Type { get; }
 
-        public abstract byte[] Encode();
+        public bool Dirty { get; protected set; } = true;
 
-        protected abstract void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream);
+        protected abstract byte[] EncodeImpl();
+
+        protected abstract void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream);
 
         // :(
         protected DataManager dataResolver;
 
+        protected byte[] encodedData;
+
         public Payload()
         {
             // this is not a good way to do this, but I don't want to have to include a dalamud
@@ -40,22 +43,48 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling
             this.dataResolver = SeString.Dalamud.Data;
         }
 
-        public static Payload Process(BinaryReader reader)
+        public byte[] Encode(bool force = false)
         {
+            if (Dirty || force)
+            {
+                this.encodedData = EncodeImpl();
+                Dirty = false;
+            }
+
+            return this.encodedData;
+        }
+
+        public static Payload Decode(BinaryReader reader)
+        {
+            var payloadStartPos = reader.BaseStream.Position;
+
             Payload payload = null;
             if ((byte)reader.PeekChar() != START_BYTE)
             {
-                payload = ProcessText(reader);
+                payload = DecodeText(reader);
             }
             else
             {
-                payload = ProcessChunk(reader);
+                payload = DecodeChunk(reader);
             }
 
+            // for now, cache off the actual binary data for this payload, so we don't have to
+            // regenerate it if the payload isn't modified
+            // TODO: probably better ways to handle this
+            var payloadEndPos = reader.BaseStream.Position;
+
+            reader.BaseStream.Position = payloadStartPos;
+            payload.encodedData = reader.ReadBytes((int)(payloadEndPos - payloadStartPos));
+            payload.Dirty = false;
+
+            // Log.Verbose($"got payload bytes {BitConverter.ToString(payload.encodedData).Replace("-", " ")}");
+
+            reader.BaseStream.Position = payloadEndPos;
+
             return payload;
         }
 
-        private static Payload ProcessChunk(BinaryReader reader)
+        private static Payload DecodeChunk(BinaryReader reader)
         {
             Payload payload = null;
 
@@ -121,7 +150,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling
             }
 
             payload ??= new RawPayload((byte)chunkType);
-            payload.ProcessChunkImpl(reader, reader.BaseStream.Position + chunkLen - 1);
+            payload.DecodeImpl(reader, reader.BaseStream.Position + chunkLen - 1);
 
             // read through the rest of the packet
             var readBytes = (uint)(reader.BaseStream.Position - packetStart);
@@ -130,10 +159,10 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling
             return payload;
         }
 
-        private static Payload ProcessText(BinaryReader reader)
+        private static Payload DecodeText(BinaryReader reader)
         {
             var payload = new TextPayload();
-            payload.ProcessChunkImpl(reader, reader.BaseStream.Length);
+            payload.DecodeImpl(reader, reader.BaseStream.Length);
 
             return payload;
         }
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/AutoTranslatePayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/AutoTranslatePayload.cs
index 0a6cb8104..4e6fbfb3a 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/AutoTranslatePayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/AutoTranslatePayload.cs
@@ -25,7 +25,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
         private uint group;
         private uint key;
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - Group: {group}, Key: {key}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var keyBytes = MakeInteger(this.key);
 
@@ -42,12 +47,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - Group: {group}, Key: {key}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             // this seems to always be a bare byte, and not following normal integer encoding
             // the values in the table are all <70 so this is presumably ok
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/ItemPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/ItemPayload.cs
index 5f8133953..c1f95aae1 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/ItemPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/ItemPayload.cs
@@ -27,8 +27,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
         // mainly to allow overriding the name (for things like owo)
         private string displayName;
 
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - ItemId: {itemId}, IsHQ: {IsHQ}";
+        }
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var actualItemId = IsHQ ? this.itemId + 1000000 : this.itemId;
             var idBytes = MakeInteger(actualItemId);
@@ -82,12 +86,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - ItemId: {itemId}, IsHQ: {IsHQ}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             this.itemId = GetInteger(reader);
 
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/MapLinkPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/MapLinkPayload.cs
index 377dc9eef..beaa80e3a 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/MapLinkPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/MapLinkPayload.cs
@@ -74,7 +74,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
         private uint rawY;
         // there is no Z; it's purely in the text payload where applicable
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - TerritoryTypeId: {territoryTypeId}, MapId: {mapId}, RawX: {rawX}, RawY: {rawY}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             // TODO: for now we just encode the raw/internal values
             // eventually we should allow creation using 'nice' values that then encode properly
@@ -101,12 +106,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - TerritoryTypeId: {territoryTypeId}, MapId: {mapId}, RawX: {rawX}, RawY: {rawY}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             // for debugging for now
             var oldPos = reader.BaseStream.Position;
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/PlayerPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/PlayerPayload.cs
index 747ee8c75..a04d75d1c 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/PlayerPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/PlayerPayload.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
 
         private uint serverId;
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - PlayerName: {PlayerName}, ServerId: {serverId}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var chunkLen = PlayerName.Length + 7;
             var bytes = new List<byte>()
@@ -58,12 +63,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - PlayerName: {PlayerName}, ServerId: {serverId}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             // unk
             reader.ReadByte();
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/RawPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/RawPayload.cs
index ac4707af4..4d4788623 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/RawPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/RawPayload.cs
@@ -17,7 +17,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             this.chunkType = chunkType;
         }
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - Chunk type: {chunkType:X}, Data: {BitConverter.ToString(Data).Replace("-", " ")}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var chunkLen = Data.Length + 1;
 
@@ -34,12 +39,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - Chunk type: {chunkType:X}, Data: {BitConverter.ToString(Data).Replace("-", " ")}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             Data = reader.ReadBytes((int)(endOfStream - reader.BaseStream.Position + 1));
         }
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/StatusPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/StatusPayload.cs
index 5dd3de457..0a08c5e5b 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/StatusPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/StatusPayload.cs
@@ -21,7 +21,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
 
         private uint statusId;
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - StatusId: {statusId}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var idBytes = MakeInteger(this.statusId);
 
@@ -38,12 +43,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - StatusId: {statusId}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             this.statusId = GetInteger(reader);
         }
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/TextPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/TextPayload.cs
index bb189a6f8..8d81a2b5e 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/TextPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/TextPayload.cs
@@ -11,17 +11,17 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
 
         public string Text { get; private set; }
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
-        {
-            return Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(Text);
-        }
-
         public override string ToString()
         {
             return $"{Type} - Text: {Text}";
         }
 
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
+        {
+            return Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(Text);
+        }
+
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             var text = new List<byte>();
 
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIForegroundPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIForegroundPayload.cs
index 359c0694d..443c57507 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIForegroundPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIForegroundPayload.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
 
         private ushort colorKey;
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - UIColor: {colorKey}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var colorBytes = MakeInteger(this.colorKey);
             var chunkLen = colorBytes.Length + 1;
@@ -45,12 +50,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - UIColor: {colorKey}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             this.colorKey = (ushort)GetInteger(reader);
         }
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIGlowPayload.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIGlowPayload.cs
index 297bce2a4..b6332bc5a 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIGlowPayload.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/Payloads/UIGlowPayload.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,12 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
 
         private ushort colorKey;
 
-        public override byte[] Encode()
+        public override string ToString()
+        {
+            return $"{Type} - UIColor: {colorKey}";
+        }
+
+        protected override byte[] EncodeImpl()
         {
             var colorBytes = MakeInteger(this.colorKey);
             var chunkLen = colorBytes.Length + 1;
@@ -45,12 +50,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling.Payloads
             return bytes.ToArray();
         }
 
-        public override string ToString()
-        {
-            return $"{Type} - UIColor: {colorKey}";
-        }
-
-        protected override void ProcessChunkImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
+        protected override void DecodeImpl(BinaryReader reader, long endOfStream)
         {
             this.colorKey = (ushort)GetInteger(reader);
         }
diff --git a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/SeString.cs b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/SeString.cs
index d98c5f0c0..248a0692f 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/SeString.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Game/Chat/SeStringHandling/SeString.cs
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Game.Chat.SeStringHandling
             {
                 while (stream.Position < bytes.Length)
                 {
-                    var payload = Payload.Process(reader);
+                    var payload = Payload.Decode(reader);
                     if (payload != null)
                         payloads.Add(payload);
                 }