Research (Thaumcraft 4)

Research is a core mechanic in Thaumcraft 4. It allows the player to advance in Thaumcraft and create items featured in the Thaumonomicon&mdash;any player that does not have the appropriate research learned will not be able to craft or infuse the item even when all the necessary components and vis are gathered.

Required materials
In order to do research, the player will need:
 * Note: research is linked to the player and not the Thaumonomicon; giving the book to another player will not allow them to use the first player's research topics.
 * Note: research is linked to the player and not the Thaumonomicon; giving the book to another player will not allow them to use the first player's research topics.


 * Ink (e.g., Ink Sacs)
 * Research points
 * Research Table
 * Research points
 * Research Table
 * Research Table

Research points
Research points are required in order to progress through Thaumcraft and are tied to aspects. There are 2 main methods of acquiring points: scanning objects with a Thaumometer, or combining two aspects at a Research Table into their compound aspect. Compound aspects cannot be scanned until their constitutive aspects are known; if an item or block cannot be scanned in this event, a tooltip will appear on the lower-right corner of the screen informing the player in a roundabout way about a certain aspect that they need to know of before the item can be scanned. Because of the way that aspects are sorted, has to be combined from a Research Table (this combination is also noted in the Thaumonomicon). If a new aspect is discovered via scanning, the player will gain 2 extra points than normal. When scanning Aura Nodes the number of points gained is roughly 1/10th of each aspect in the node. Once the player collects around 100 points in an aspect, gaining additional points generally decreases to a 1-point gain per scan.

Research points can also be gained by consuming Knowledge Fragments or Mana Beans and incurring the Warp event, "Strange whispers reveal secrets to you," though these methods are unreliable in frequency and specificity, and are potentially harmful to the player.

If Forbidden Magic is installed, right-clicking with a fully depleted Crystal Scribing Tools in hand will give 4-9 research points in each primal aspect.

Combining a compound aspect at a Research Table requires the player to click on the two constitutive aspects on the left-hand side of the GUI then clicking the purple combine button on the lower-left corner. This will consume a point apiece from the constitutive aspects and generate 1 point of the compound aspect. If the topic "Research Mastery" is known, shift-clicking on the desired compound aspect will do the same thing.

Types of research topics
In the Thaumonomicon GUI research topics can be grouped by availability and requirements.

Availability is noted by brightness: Requirements are noted by the shape of the topic icon:
 * Lit: topic has been learned.
 * Flashing: topic can be learned.
 * Unlit: topic cannot be learned yet, and requires a previous topic to be learned or something to be scanned.
 * Circle/Square: Primary research; the research minigame must be completed in order to gain a Discovery linked to that research topic. This consumes 1 durability point of a Scribing Tools and a Paper in the player's inventory. Generally features a craftable item.
 * Concave square: denotes a major milestone topic; other than that, it has the requirements of a standard square topic.
 * Hexagonal: Secondary research; research points as noted in the topic's tooltip will be consumed from the player's reserve to be learned; this does not require Scribing Tools or Paper.

Research minigame
For many topics, clicking on them will provide the player with Research Notes. Placing the Research Notes in the top-left corner of the GUI will display a hexagonal grid on the GUI's right-hand side. Predetermined aspects will be placed on the grid, usually on the sides. The objective is to link all the aspects together by using research points. In order to do so, linked aspects must be one tier apart and one must contain the other (e.g., can connect to ). When they are all linked, the Research Notes will become a Discovery which can be right-clicked in the player's hand to consume it and gain that knowledge. If the topic "Research Duplication" is known, provided that the player has sufficient research points, a non-empty Scribing Tools and Paper in their inventory, a duplicate Discovery can be made and passed on to other players without the need for them to do research.