Nodes

Aura Nodes are the primary source of vis in Thaumcraft -- concentrated mystical energy surrounded by Aura. They are scattered across the landscape, including over water. They are also be found above temples or other structures (including Witch Huts). Each node has one or more types of vis that it produces, and a maximum level for each type. Each node also has a node type (most often Normal, but Sinister nodes are also common), and also a node strength level. The aspects of a node are random, but affected by the biome they are found in - e.g. a Node found in a desert is more likely to contain a Fire Aspect, etc. Sinister nodes are more likely to have "dark" aspects, notably those containing Perditio.

Faintarua — An aura node without goggles or thaumometer, circled in red.

Thaumonomicon Entry[]

"Each aura node has a base amount of magical energy it can contain and this energy is aligned to one or more aspects. It is usually aligned to Primal Aspects, but rarely to Compound Aspects."

"The aspects within an aura node can be tapped by a thaumaturge for his own purposes. The simplest way to do so is with the use of a wand ."

"Every node has a certain amount of aspects. You can harvest these aspects with the use of a wand. Though you must be careful not to drain a node or it may become unstable and disappear. Aspects regenerate slowly over time."

Appearance[]

Nodes are faintly visible as a small shimmer in midair. With a Thaumometer or Goggles of Revealing, they can be seen more clearly, and both devices can reveal their type, aspects, and current strengths. With this magical vision, nodes will show rings of color reflecting their aspects, and sometimes additional features revealing their special type.

Nodes can be broken with a hand or any tool, upon which they drop ethereal essence corresponding to their aspects. These rare drops are used in advanced magic, and are otherwise available only by killing Wisps.

Using a Node[]

To draw vis from a node, a player simply has to to point their wand at a node and right-click. When vis is drawn from a node, its strength is reduced until it regenerates, but if any type is completely drained, the node may fail to regenerate that type, or do so more slowly. If all aspects are completely drained, the node can be destroyed entirely. (The ability to avoid damaging nodes is gained through both research, and use of more advanced wands.) A Recharge Pedestal can be used to automatically recharge a wand from any or all nodes in the vicinity. Only primal aspects of vis can be received by a wand. Nodes can also be captured ("jarred") for use elsewhere, see "Node Rooms" below.

Types[]

Every node has a type, which affects how it behaves. The six types of Nodes are:

Normal Nodes[]

The baseline, with no special behaviour.

Sinister Nodes[]

Sinister Nodes are commonly found embedded in various Thaumcraft-special structures: An Obsidian Totem, at the center of a Barrow, above an Wisp Shrine, or below the pylon of an Eldritch Obelisk. This node type creates an Eerie Biome for a small distance around it. When seen with magical vision (see below) it has a distinctive dark core. Note that the Eerie biome counts as a magical biome; It will spawn Angry Zombies, Wisps and/or Pech at night, and can be used to grow Mana Beans.

In addition to the above, a Sinister node will directly spawn Furious Zombies, similarly to a monster spawner. The usual limitations apply (including "dark" light levels), and if there are already four Furious Zombies present, no more will spawn until some move away or are killed.

Tainted Nodes[]

These nodes create a Tainted Land biome around them, which can spread outward slowly but inexorably. In magical vision, they show a purplish cloudy ring rippling out from their core. Players should be careful building their base near one, as taint spreads over time (while the chunk is loaded), and may quickly become unmanageable. In particular, spreading taint can corrupt other nodes it envelops, which then will rapidly convert the area around them. While the Tainted Lands biome is technically a magical biome, it's not very useful as such, due to its deadly effects -- it destroys all normal plants and wood blocks, afflicts players and mobs with taint effect, and if mobs are killed by the taint they will be converted to hostile tainted forms, or to Thaumic Slimes.

Pure Nodes[]

These nodes are frequently found within Silverwood Trees. They create a Magical Forest biome around them, and can also block taint out of their immediate area, even curing already-tainted land. As of version 4.11, only nodes still in their silverwood block can create their magical biome; "naked" nodes, including those which have been jarred, cannot do so (however, they will still cure tainted land). With magical vision, they show a distinctive bright ring.

Hungry Nodes[]

These Nodes are Very Dangerous! This menace to life and property will pull in any entities in the vicinity and damage them on contact. They will even rip blocks out of the landscape nearby, then pull those in as item entities. (When they form in or above a structure, they will usually destroy the structure.) They exert a light pull at 12 blocks, increasing to lethal impossible-to-escape pull at 2 blocks. Not only is the pulling disorienting, but between damaging the player directly, the node will fling them high in the air, where they will shortly take more damage from falling.

If a player is killed near or by a hungry node, their dropped items and experience will shortly be sucked in as well.
If a player is foolhardy enough to try and scan them, they will find that a hungry node gains aspects from the items and blocks it has absorbed. In the current versions, they gain only primal aspects this way, and at most one point per item or stack that they swallow.
Detection: If found on land, their destructive habits will create a distinctive crater around them, and if the block-ripping is visible, that will also be quite distinctive. If found over water, they may be less obvious, but squids dying in midair are a pretty good sign.
Hungry nodes do have some limitations -- in particular, they cannot break and suck in any block with a "hardness" against mining of 5 or more. This includes most notably obsidian, but also the vanilla mineral blocks of coal, iron, redstone, emerald, or diamond. Also safe are Anvils, Iron Doors, iron bars, and Monster spawners. Also, their suction comes in spurts, with a few safe seconds between. Combining these limits with creative use of a Focus of Equal Exchange can even allow for jarring them.
It is possible to convert a hungry node to a tainted node by placing it in a tainted lands biome. This can be done with Bottled Taint. When converted, the node can easily be jarred and energized.

Unstable Nodes[]

These nodes change their strengths and even aspects over time. Notably, they occasionally drop aspect orbs at the cost of their own vis. With magical vision, they show distinctive particles radiating from their core.

Node Strength[]

Independently of the above types, nodes can also differ in their regeneration speed.

Bright nodes regenerate faster than normal, Pale nodes slower, and Fading nodes not at all. "Jarring" a node (see below) will usually downgrade a node by one strength level.

Node Rooms[]

Nodes can also be captured within a magical build that converts them into a "Node in a Jar". This usually weakens the node (from Bright to normal to Pale to Fading) but does not change its type. When a node is jarred, its aspects are permanently limited to the levels they had when it was jarred, and will not regenerate past that point. A jarred node can be released elsewhere, typically in a "node room" built around a Recharge Pedestal. A Compound Recharge Focus can also be attached to a Recharge Pedestal, and this will allow it to draw on compound aspects, returning one point of primal vis for each point of a compound aspect that it drains.

As of version 4.11, the construction of node rooms is complicated by "node bullying", where a large node can attack and eventually consume a nearby smaller node, gaining some of its vis and even acquiring new aspects. The key points here are:

The Pedestal itself has a range of 8 blocks in any direction, including vertical and diagonal. That is, there can be 7 blocks space between pedestal and nodes. This need not be empty, as the Pedestal can drain through intervening blocks.
The range for node bullying is only 5 blocks (4 blocks space between), so nodes must be placed every sixth block to prevent bullying.
Fading nodes (produced by jarring a pale or fading node) do not recover their vis, any drain is permanent. However, they can still be used to enlarge another node, by allowing the other node to consume it.

This yields an optimum design for a node room: Three levels, with spaces for nodes arranged in a cube 12 or 13 blocks on a side surrounding the pedestal, so that the pedestal can drain each of them but they cannot bully each other. (This gives places for 26 nodes.) Temporary places for "feeder nodes" can be placed further out: These should be at least 10 blocks from the pedestal (so a fading node won't be destroyed when the pedestal is used), but within 5 blocks of a permanent node, which will consume the feeder node.

A new advanced device, Node Stabilizers, can also be placed on nodes to enhance node rooms. The basic node stabilizer prevents a node from either bullying or being bullied, but halves the recovery rate of the node. This allows simply crowding nodes further together. The advanced node stabilizer prevents a node from being bullied, but allows a large node to bully a nearby smaller one. However, it almost completely prevents recovery of vis.