Thaumcraft Shard Location Gen

[Stevanov]

I'm using thaumcraft and really liking it, however i need some air shards to really continue my research. The problem is i never actually found one at all. Is this just unlucky or do the shards spawn differently in different biomes. Or like maybe water shards spawn close to water?
Bottom line, where do i find air shards?
Thanks!

 

[Bibble]

I think that the gen is biome-specific (air might be more common in plains and desert, possibly), and aura-specific (it's possible to deplete you aura to the extent that the shards lose their magic).

 

[Stevanov]

Can anybody confirm what Bibble is saying?
I was thinking something like this but wasnt sure. So far i've mostly got earth and water shards (my base is on the edge of a forrest and a sea biome). I'll try to find a desert biome and mine some there.

 

[Minethulhu]

For Thaumcraft 2, for sure shards were weighted towards specific biomes. I assume the same is true for Thaumcraft 3.

 

[drazath]

Can anybody confirm what Bibble is saying?
I was thinking something like this but wasnt sure. So far i've mostly got earth and water shards (my base is on the edge of a forrest and a sea biome). I'll try to find a desert biome and mine some there.

Pretty much. Deserts have a lot of fire shards as you might've guessed (still has other types, but fire the most by far); not sure which biomes would be the 'home' to air shards. I'd recommend setting down a quarry; even with something like 20x20 area, you'll get more shards of all types than you'll know what to do with.

 

[MavericK96]

I'd recommend setting down a quarry; even with something like 20x20 area, you'll get more shards of all types than you'll know what to do with.

Actually, I haven't found that to be the case. I've run a 64x64 quarry a few times now and I've only come up with a few stacks worth of each shard type, Air Shards being the fewest by far. Maybe you'd consider that enough, but I wouldn't say it's a ridiculously large amount.

 

[drazath]

Well as long as you don't burn them in the crucible for their aspects (and why would you when there's plenty of better sources) they ought to last for any project imaginable.

 

[MavericK96]

Yeah, I suppose that's true. I wish you could re-plant them to produce more atmospheric Vis, kind of like in TC2.

 

[ItharianEngineering]

What kind of area do you suppose the normal Vis Shards would be in? I have stacks and stacks of water and earth shards and I think this might be because I am by an extreme hills and a river but I have less then 20 vis shards.[DOUBLEPOST=1357668607][/DOUBLEPOST]Well apparently we can create crystal clusters that do something like that, I am not sure how they work since I haven't gotten to them yet, but it could be what you are looking for.

 

[kevinthedude2000]

Actualy, in the lastest TC3 update yoy CAN grow crystals like TC2, but I havent figured it out yet.

 

[drazath]

Actualy, in the lastest TC3 update yoy CAN grow crystals like TC2, but I havent figured it out yet.

Do they actually grow (as in, you eventually get more crystals than the original recipe calls for) or do they just increase the vis/aura levels? The wording on the thaumonomicon wasn't exactly clear on that.

 

[ItharianEngineering]

it increases vis levels. it doesn't generate more crystals.

 

[MilConDoin]

It indirectly generates more crystals:
Have an aura node of at least 1000, have enough clusters to rise the aura to 1100/1000. Now smooth stone will slowly change to infused stone, which can then be harvested for more shards. At least this is, what I gathered by reading the forum. Haven't tried it myself yet.

 

[ItharianEngineering]

OKay, well it can't directly generate shards then just indirectly, if that is true.

 

[MavericK96]

So how do you actually raise the maximum vis level in an area? I haven't been able to figure that out yet. I've planted 3 Silverwood saplings in close proximity to my Thaumcraft area that have bloomed and have aura nodes, but my total max aura in the area is still only like 50 at any given time.

 

[danidas]

In my experience the nodes generated by planting a silver wood tree tend to have around 50 to 75 vis each and the goggles of revealing only shows the vis value for the closest node. In other words by planting silver wood trees around your thaumcraft room you created 3 separate nodes so you now have at least 4 in range of the room. Three from the trees and one from the original node and eventually the original node will swallow the others or the 3 pure nodes will merge and swallow the original one. Which is the only way to increase the max vis a node has but has the side effect of making a ton of flux. Also note that nodes merge based on distance and size of node. With bigger nodes eating smaller ones starting with nearest and going to the farthest, also nodes are able to randomly move around over time but it is rare.

Just be warned that it is possible to ignite a chain reaction of nodes merging into a nodezilla that will swallow every node in the area and produce a near never ending stream of wisps.

 

[MavericK96]

So when nodes merge, they they combine their max vis to form a node with the sum of that maximum? For instance, if two 50 vis nodes merge, do they become a 100 vis node?

Also, while we are on the subject of Thaumcraft, what does it mean when you get a message that is like "you feel strange energies" or something of that nature, and then you get Slowness for a few seconds. The flux in my area is either None or Minimal so it doesn't seem as though it's flux related.

 

[danidas]

That is correct but their is some diminishing returns so it may be a little less than that.

 

[Captain Neckbeard]

what does it mean when you get a message that is like "you feel strange energies" or something of that nature, and then you get Slowness for a few seconds. The flux in my area is either None or Minimal so it doesn't seem as though it's flux related.

That's flux discharging. Minimal flux will still give you light slaps on the wrist like that, and eventually deplete itself. It's just not high enough for things like spawning Wisps or striking you with lightning.

 

[MavericK96]

Cool, thanks for the info, guys. As was said, there's very little info about TC3 out there it seems.