Infusion Altars, the Y axis, and You

[Mahoka]

I have a few questions about the thaumcraft 4 infusion altar and how it behaves with respect to items placed above and below it.

Has anyone tried having the infusion pedestals above or below the central structure? If so, how many blocks up or down?

Do the occult decorations such as skulls and candles serve their balancing function if they aren't on the ground level? Bonus question: Does anyone have a list of items that count for this? I was curious if zombie heads and Nitor lights helped.

How far up or down can the altar search for essentia from jars? I was considering having my jars in a room underneath the structure, but am unsure if this would work.

 

[CodaPDX]

The pedestals have to be on the same Y as the central pedestal, but the essentia jars and stabilizing items can be anywhere from 5 blocks below the runic matrix to 10 blocks above it, and as far as 12 blocks away horizontally. This means that rather than cluttering up your workspace, you can just place a layer or two of nitor, candles, or skulls underneath your altar to achieve as much stabilization as you want. Nodes also count as stabilizers, so unless you balance them out with other items, I'd keep your wand recharge station a ways away from your infusion altar. Also keep in mind that the jars will need a clear path to the runic matrix for the essentia to flow through. As long as there's a one block wide path, you can be fairly creative with your placement. Note that the jars and piping will not affect the altar's stability.

 

[MigukNamja]

Nodes also count as stabilizers

Ah hah ! I had suspected this was the case. This world, my altar wasn't as stable as I thought it would be, despite having 12x crystal clusters, 12x mob skulls (4 of 3 different types), and 12 wax candles, all balanced perfectly around it.

It then became *very* stable once I started acquiring nodes and it just to happen my nodes are located exactly 4 blocks beneath my altar (1 floor lower in my tower), and are centered exactly on the center of their floor, and they are arranged symmetrically.

My Infusion Altar is now much more stable.

 

[Democretes]

Nitor and the light entities placed by arcane lamps work as well.

 

[GreenZombie]

The pedestals have to be on the same Y as the central pedestal, but the essentia jars and stabilizing items can be anywhere from 5 blocks below the runic matrix to 10 blocks above it, and as far as 12 blocks away horizontally. This means that rather than cluttering up your workspace, you can just place a layer or two of nitor, candles, or skulls underneath your altar to achieve as much stabilization as you want. Nodes also count as stabilizers, so unless you balance them out with other items, I'd keep your wand recharge station a ways away from your infusion altar. Also keep in mind that the jars will need a clear path to the runic matrix for the essentia to flow through. As long as there's a one block wide path, you can be fairly creative with your placement. Note that the jars and piping will not affect the altar's stability.

*blink* source of this info?

 

[Democretes]

*blink* source of this info?

You can easily get it from testing or deobfuscating Thaumcraft. The latter is much more accurate.

 

[CodaPDX]

Nitor and the light entities placed by arcane lamps work as well.

Ugh, I wasn't aware the entities from arcane lamps registered as well.

 

[Mahoka]

The pedestals have to be on the same Y as the central pedestal, but the essentia jars and stabilizing items can be anywhere from 5 blocks below the runic matrix to 10 blocks above it, and as far as 12 blocks away horizontally. This means that rather than cluttering up your workspace, you can just place a layer or two of nitor, candles, or skulls underneath your altar to achieve as much stabilization as you want. Nodes also count as stabilizers, so unless you balance them out with other items, I'd keep your wand recharge station a ways away from your infusion altar. Also keep in mind that the jars will need a clear path to the runic matrix for the essentia to flow through. As long as there's a one block wide path, you can be fairly creative with your placement. Note that the jars and piping will not affect the altar's stability.

Thanks! That was the most direct and informative response I've ever gotten on these forums. Perhaps you can answer another question for me. In balancing items, are items reflected on the X or Y axis only or is it true symmetry?
For example, which is "balanced":
OXX
XAX
XXO

or

OXX
XAX
OXX

where A is the alter and O is the object in question.

 

[Tristam Izumi]

For things with 6, arrange it in a hexagon.

 x x
x O x
 x x

 

[CodaPDX]

Thanks! That was the most direct and informative response I've ever gotten on these forums. Perhaps you can answer another question for me. In balancing items, are items reflected on the X or Y axis only or is it true symmetry?
For example, which is "balanced":
OXX
XAX
XXO

or

OXX
XAX
OXX

where A is the alter and O is the object in question.

Each block needs to be mirrored on a line passing through the center of the altar on the same y-level. There's no need to balance a piece of nitor two blocks directly above the altar with one two blocks immediately below it.

 

[Darkone84]

Can someone show me a good (stable) altar layout. I was going to going to use the same one that DW20 had in this videos, but from what you were saying CodaPDX it's not good to have your wand recharger right next to the altar.

 

[Mahoka]

Can someone show me a good (stable) altar layout. I was going to going to use the same one that DW20 had in this videos, but from what you were saying CodaPDX it's not good to have your wand recharger right next to the altar.

I temporarily took down my altar to move it, so I don't have a picture. But basically imagine looking top down at your altar, and that each block is a space on a chessboard. Starting from the central pillar, if you put one of any given object, say, right 2 and up 3 spaces, you need to put another of that object left 2 and down 3 spaces. You can make any number of pretty looking designs following that rule.