Where to build a Thaumcraft base?

Question

I'm using Minecraft's Feed the Beast mod (Direwolf20 specifically), and I'm trying to start a new base to experiment with Thaumcraft.

How should I factor in an area's aura, flux, and surrounding aura nodes when building a base? I've built the goggles that allow you to see these features, but I'm not really sure how to rank the various aspects of the environment. Clearly, having a pure node sounds better than building near a dark node, but is it better to be near a pure node if the area's aura is low?

Answer 1

When nodes lose vis they are able to request vis from neighbors.You can witness his as small purple sparks moving between the nodes. However, nodes seem to only be able to request from nodes that have more current vis then it. So it behooves you to pick a spot that has nodes surrounding it that are greater then the one you are working with.

People attempt to create "super nodes" that are over 1k vis and wonder why they are very slow to recharge. If there are no surrounding nodes to request from the node must consume infused rocks, turning shards into dull shards. This process gives the node 10 vis per block consumed. It should be fairly obvious that this is something that is good to avoid.

Another consideration is that pure nodes from original rendering of the world generally have higher vis then ones from freshly planted trees. Also newly grown trees waste some of the vis that is used in their construction, so it is often better to find a "organic" pure node then to try to build one yourself.

My current setup has a 300 vis pure node with 3 400-500 vis nodes surrounding it, and a second 300 vis pure node where I do only the really nasty stuff to keep it separate from my normal work space.

One other thing to note: your goggles only tell you about the closest node, not the node you are currently impacting. If you are somewhat close to a low power node (for example one you created from a silverwood) you may actually be draining, and more importantly, dumping flux into, a larger node and not realize it. Always test to ensure you are draining from the node you expect to be.

Answer 2

Pure nodes use vis to eliminate flux. Dark nodes create flux, and the normal aura nodes just store and trade vis and flux. Vis slowly regenerates, and flux is reduced when a node creates bad things. (normally wisps)

For a good thaumcraft base, you just want a node with a lot of vis to work with(500+), and then enclose it in a box to hold in the wisps (and later to autokill them for drops). around that node (40-50 blocks away) you want pure nodes to dump flux without making bad things. You can make pure nodes by planting silverwood trees.

note when nodes are very near each other, the larger will consume the smaller creating flux and using vis to add some to the total vis storage of the node, so be careful when planting silverwood trees.