Azanor made some significant changes in Thaumcraft 4.1. The changes are larger than a simple 4.05 --> 4.1 "oh, just 0.05" would imply. I'm enjoying most of the changes, but not everything is sunny side of the street. Here is what I've experienced so far:
Lower Barrier of Entry
Azanor addressed a major complaint about TC -it's an awesome mod, but it takes too long to get started. The starter aspects (16 or 32 of each, I think ?) and the much, much easier-to-make Thaumometer have helped.
In previous versions, the Thaumometer required 1 shard *of each type*. This was usually a PITA and an exercise in finding that missing shard type that effectively delayed TC entry until late early-game or early mid-game
Also, I noticed I got somewhere between 16 and 32 of each primal aspect to start with. This, combined with the easier and more intuitive research makes starting TC 4.1 much easier than previous versions. Still hard to master, but much easier to get into.
Finally, my TC 4.1 world seems to have slightly larger and more frequent nodes. I can recharge my gold-capped Greatwood wand without wandering across 5 different biomes. But, this may be RNG at work. There might be no changes to the node composition or frequency.
Research
Overall, I'm very pleased with the changes. We can now pick what we want to research next and the mini-game rewards knowledge of the aspects. It's also not just an ink-burning symbol-moving exercise. And, no more "impossible" researches topics, at least not in my experience.
I've also noticed things in my Thaumonomicon like Golem Visor that used to be only unlocked with Lore Fragments. I will not be sad if we can leave Lore Fragments by the side of the road.
All is not perfect, though. I had a [TT] research topic that had just 1 Aspect and it was completed when I placed a single valid aspect down. I got my research, but it's clear there are still bugs in either TC 4.1 or [TT] for TC 4.1 .
New Blocks and Items
Powered armor, staves, the animal "love" lamp, and more ! There's a decent amount of new content in TC 4.1 . I haven't found it all yet, but I like it so far.
Essentia Distillation
I think Azanor finally "fixed" the OP Essentia tubes. One can no longer simply connect a huge chain of Warded Jars to a distillation setup and expect it work. There is apparently one 1 kind of essentia allowed in the network at a time and other essentia in the pots will be blocked until that essentia is cleared out. You can see this as Essentia "steam" coming out of the pipes and Azanor introduced a new tool to help troubleshoot it.
While I was disappointed at first, I see that Azanor is encouraging people to use the top-tier alchemy/distillation golems. I had always wondered what the point of those golems were in TS 4.0.5 since the tubes were so efficient. I see now the overly-efficient tubes were somewhere between a bug and an uncompleted feature.
Other
I noticed "taint swarms" when I found a particularly taint about 400m from my base. They were immune to melee attacks from my TiCo scythe. I'm assuming they are harmed by wand-based damage like Shock. Will have to re-visit when I have a decent wand.
What has your experience been in TC 4.1 ?
Lower Barrier of Entry
Azanor addressed a major complaint about TC -it's an awesome mod, but it takes too long to get started. The starter aspects (16 or 32 of each, I think ?) and the much, much easier-to-make Thaumometer have helped.
In previous versions, the Thaumometer required 1 shard *of each type*. This was usually a PITA and an exercise in finding that missing shard type that effectively delayed TC entry until late early-game or early mid-game
Also, I noticed I got somewhere between 16 and 32 of each primal aspect to start with. This, combined with the easier and more intuitive research makes starting TC 4.1 much easier than previous versions. Still hard to master, but much easier to get into.
Finally, my TC 4.1 world seems to have slightly larger and more frequent nodes. I can recharge my gold-capped Greatwood wand without wandering across 5 different biomes. But, this may be RNG at work. There might be no changes to the node composition or frequency.
Research
Overall, I'm very pleased with the changes. We can now pick what we want to research next and the mini-game rewards knowledge of the aspects. It's also not just an ink-burning symbol-moving exercise. And, no more "impossible" researches topics, at least not in my experience.
I've also noticed things in my Thaumonomicon like Golem Visor that used to be only unlocked with Lore Fragments. I will not be sad if we can leave Lore Fragments by the side of the road.
All is not perfect, though. I had a [TT] research topic that had just 1 Aspect and it was completed when I placed a single valid aspect down. I got my research, but it's clear there are still bugs in either TC 4.1 or [TT] for TC 4.1 .
New Blocks and Items
Powered armor, staves, the animal "love" lamp, and more ! There's a decent amount of new content in TC 4.1 . I haven't found it all yet, but I like it so far.
Essentia Distillation
I think Azanor finally "fixed" the OP Essentia tubes. One can no longer simply connect a huge chain of Warded Jars to a distillation setup and expect it work. There is apparently one 1 kind of essentia allowed in the network at a time and other essentia in the pots will be blocked until that essentia is cleared out. You can see this as Essentia "steam" coming out of the pipes and Azanor introduced a new tool to help troubleshoot it.
While I was disappointed at first, I see that Azanor is encouraging people to use the top-tier alchemy/distillation golems. I had always wondered what the point of those golems were in TS 4.0.5 since the tubes were so efficient. I see now the overly-efficient tubes were somewhere between a bug and an uncompleted feature.
Other
I noticed "taint swarms" when I found a particularly taint about 400m from my base. They were immune to melee attacks from my TiCo scythe. I'm assuming they are harmed by wand-based damage like Shock. Will have to re-visit when I have a decent wand.
What has your experience been in TC 4.1 ?
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