Formation

From Noita Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Spell quantum split.png This article is about the Formation group of Multicast Spells. For the terrain structures, see Heart formations and treasure locations.

Multicast spells
Double Spell
Double Spell
Simultaneously casts 2 spells
Double Spell
Triple Spell
Triple Spell
Simultaneously casts 3 spells
Triple Spell
Quadruple Spell
Quadruple Spell
Simultaneously casts 4 spells
Quadruple Spell
Octuple Spell
Octuple Spell
Simultaneously cast 8 spells
Octuple Spell
Myriad Spell
Myriad Spell
Simultaneously casts as many spells as you have left uncast in your wand
Myriad Spell
Double Scatter Spell
Double Scatter Spell
Simultaneously casts 2 spells with low accuracy
Double Scatter Spell
Triple Scatter Spell
Triple Scatter Spell
Simultaneously casts 3 spells with low accuracy
Triple Scatter Spell
Quadruple Scatter Spell
Quadruple Scatter Spell
Simultaneously casts 4 spells with low accuracy
Quadruple Scatter Spell
Formation - Behind Your Back
Formation - Behind Your Back
Casts two spells: one ahead of and one behind the caster
Formation - Behind Your Back
Formation - Above And Below
Formation - Above And Below
Casts 3 spells - ahead, above and below the caster
Formation - Above And Below
Formation - Pentagon
Formation - Pentagon
Casts 5 spells in a pentagonal pattern
Formation - Pentagon
Formation - Hexagon
Formation - Hexagon
Casts 6 spells in a hexagonal pattern
Formation - Hexagon
Formation - Bifurcated
Formation - Bifurcated
Casts 2 spells in a bifurcated pattern
Formation - Bifurcated
Formation - Trifurcated
Formation - Trifurcated
Casts 3 spells in a trifurcated pattern
Formation - Trifurcated
Spells that draw more spells, letting you combine more magic into a single shot.

The Formation spells are a set of multicast modifiers that distribute projectiles at evenly spaced intervals over an arc of fixed angle. Unlike the similar scatter multicasts that add a random spread angle to each projectile, the pattern created by a formation is exact and predictable.


Formation Angle

The Formation spells add multicast, and set the formation angle of the cast. The formation angle determines the total arc over which projectiles are spaced, with the exact spacing determined by the number of projectiles.

Working clockwise (starting from behind where you are aiming[1]), each projectile appears in the same order as they are on the wand. Note: this does mean that the 'up' and 'down' projectiles vary based on the direction you are facing.

For example, with the 'Above and Below' variant, when facing to the East, the first projectile fires upwards, the second forward, and the third downward. If facing to the West, the first projectile fires downwards, the second forward, the last upwards.

List of Formations

The formation angles for each spell that sets one:

Spell Draw
(Multicast)
Copies/
Projectiles
Sets Angle Formation Angle
Hexagon
Hexagon 6 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 180°
Inventory icon projectile count.png6
Heplicate
Heplicate 1 5 Before
Drawing
Pentagon
Pentagon 5 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 180°
Inventory icon projectile count.png5
Peplicate
Peplicate 1 4 Before
Drawing
Quplicate
Quplicate 1 3 Before
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 180°
Inventory icon projectile count.png4
Behind Your Back
Behind Your Back 2 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 180°
Inventory icon projectile count.png2
Iplicate
Iplicate 1 1 Before
Drawing
Above And Below
Above And Below 3 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 90°
Inventory icon projectile count.png3
Tiplicate
Tiplicate 1 2 Before
Drawing
Bifurcated
Bifurcated 2 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 45°
Inventory icon projectile count.png2
Yplicate
Yplicate 1 1 Before
Drawing
Trifurcated
Trifurcated 3 0 After
Drawing
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 20°
Inventory icon projectile count.png2
Wuplicate
Wuplicate 1 2 Before
Drawing
Freezing Gaze
Freezing Gaze 0 10 When
Cast
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 30°
Inventory icon projectile count.png10
Divide By 2
Divide By 3
Divide By 4
Divide By 10
Divide By 0 2, 3, 4, 10 After
Copying
Inventory Icon pattern angle.png± 5°
Inventory icon projectile count.png2


Behind Your Back, Pentagon, and Hexagon all have the same 180 degree formation angle, differing only in the amount of multicast they have built-in.

  • Using Pentagon or Hexagon to cast only two spells will have the same effect as using Behind Your Back.
  • Combining Behind Your Back and Quadruple Spell has the same effect as Pentagon.
  • Combining Behind Your Back and two Triple Spells has the same effect as Hexagon.
  • For a Square formation, use Behind Your Back with Triple Spell.


Formation Angle - Calculation

To calculate the angle between all projectiles in a formation, the following formulae can be used.

For 360° formations: [2]

angle=formation_angleprojectile_number

For all others:

angle=formation_angleprojectile_number1

Combining Formations

Since it is always set to a fixed value by the spells that modify it, the formation angle for a cast is entirely determined by the last change made. The spell that changes it last depends on the evaluation order.

If multiple Formation spells are cast together, the last spell which completes its evaluation determines the formation angle for the entire cast. This is because the Formation multicasts draw first, and then set the angle afterward.

This is slightly different with the Plicate Spells, which copy, then set the angle, and then draw.

For more about spell evaluation, see Expert_Guide:_Draw#Spell_Evaluation.

Example 1:

In this case, Behind Your Back determines the formation since it draws Bifurcated (and thus Bifurcated completes its evaluation before Behind Your Back).

Wand 0821.png
Shuffle
No
Spells/Cast
1
Formation - Behind Your Back
Double Spell
Spark Bolt
Spark Bolt
Formation - Bifurcated
Spark Bolt
Spark Bolt

However, in this case, Bifurcated determines the formation since Behind Your Back draws two spark bolts and therefore completes its evaluation.

Wand 0821.png
Shuffle
No
Spells/Cast
1
Double Spell
Formation - Behind Your Back
Spark Bolt
Spark Bolt
Formation - Bifurcated
Spark Bolt
Spark Bolt
Example 2:

Let's bring all the concepts above together. Suppose we have the following wand:

Wand 0821.png
Shuffle
No
Spells/Cast
1
Formation - Bifurcated
Formation - Above And Below
Spark Bolt
Luminous Drill
Spitter Bolt
Firebomb

The wand fires as follows:

  • Bifurcated draws Above And Below, so it finishes its evaluation last. The cast has a 90° formation angle.
  • Above And Below does not change how the projectiles are fired. It simply acts as a multicast, identical to Triple Spell.
  • The projectiles are now fired clockwise (starting from behind where you aim). Assuming you're aiming to the right, from top to bottom, you see:
    • Spark Bolt
    • Luminous Drill
    • Spitter Bolt
    • Firebomb
  • The angle between all spells can be calculated from the formula above for non-360° formations:
    angle=9041=30
Bifurcation causes spells to fire within a 90° angle
Spells are ordered clockwise, starting from behind you
Example 3:

Here's an example using Behind Your Back instead.

Wand 0821.png
Shuffle
No
Spells/Cast
1
Formation - Behind Your Back
Double Spell
Spark Bolt
Luminous Drill
Spitter Bolt
  • Note that the first projectile (in this case, Spark Bolt) fires directly opposite from where you're aiming.
  • The angle between the spells can be calculated from the formula above for 360° formations:
    angle=3603=120
Demo formation behind example 1.gif


Other formation spells

Some other spells modify the Formation Angle of a cast:

Typically the Formation multicast modifier will appear first, and so override these.

Tips

  • Can be used to create patterns maximizing the area of arcing modifiers such as Electric Arc or a splash explosion-like effect when used with a Trigger.
  • The order of the projectiles in the wand matters - they will be distributed, clockwise, across the formation arc in the same order they are executed.
  • Spells that normally fire multiple projectiles, like Triplicate Bolt, can use multiple firing angles at once if an insufficient amount of other projectile spells are included with the multicast.
  • Will apply to Always Cast spells on wands.
  • Formation angle is referred to as pattern_degrees in the game's lua scripts.

Notes

  1. If only one projectile occurs in a formation angle, it shoots in the direction you're aiming instead.
  2. Due to a (probable) bug, this formula is used for any formation >= 358°, though this difference has no ramifications for vanilla gameplay.

See Also

History

  • Apr 8 2024:
    • Formation - Behind Your Back
      • Base price reduced from 80 gold to 30 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -5.
      • Removed tier 4 spawning.
      • Changed spawn probabilities on tier 2 from 0.4 to 0.5, and tier 3 from 0.4 to 0.3.
    • Formation - Bifurcated
      • Base price reduced from 100 gold to 30 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -8.
      • Removed tier 4 spawning.
      • Changed spawn probabilities on tier 2 from 0.4 to 0.5, and tier 3 from 0.4 to 0.3.
    • Formation - Above and Below
      • Base price reduced from 120 gold to 30 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -8.
      • Removed tier 5 spawning.
      • Changed spawn probabilities on tier 2 from 0.4 to 0.5, and tier 4 from 0.4 to 0.3.
    • Formation - Trifurcated
      • Base price reduced from 160 gold to 50 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -5.
      • Changed spawn probability on tier 4 from 0.3 to 0.5.
    • Formation - Hexagon
      • Base price reduced from 150 gold to 50 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -15.
    • Formation - Pentagon
      • Base price reduced from 150 gold to 50 gold.
      • Spread modifier changed from 0 to -12.