Mahou Tsukai guide for All the Mods 11 0.8.0-beta to 0.9.0-beta

Mahou Tsukai is a magic mod built around spell uniqueness and special effects. Most magic mods focus on how you create spells. This one cares more about what each spell actually does and how it looks and feels when you cast it.^[1]

Many of the spells are inspired by similar ideas in Fate/Stay Night and other media. You don't need to know any of that to enjoy the mod.^[1]

How the mod is designed

• It avoids duplicating vanilla or other mods, so you won't find a "magic bonemeal" or a "magic flint and steel".^[1]
• There are no spell tiers and no spell progression. Mana is the one exception. Every spell is meant to be useful or fun in some situation, even the most basic ones, so you never "grow out" of a spell.^[1]
• It adds no worldgen apart from a custom dimension. Nothing in the mod is gated behind custom worldgen, which is why it's easy to add to an existing world.^[1]

Highly configurable

Almost everything in the mod can be configured. That includes mana costs, mana regen, sound effect volume, rendering, spell sizes and effects, and how often certain spells tick. A single spell often has 5 configs. If a spell lags, takes too long or does something you don't like, there's a good chance you can nerf it heavily through its config.^[1]

In this pack

This pack ships Mahou Tsukai version 1.21.1-v1.36.27.^[2]

Because the mod has no spell tiers, it doesn't have a fixed place in a progression. You can pick it up whenever you like and use any spell right away. Mana is the only thing that progresses.^[1]

Unverified The sources I was given don't show any pack-specific changes to this mod's recipes, configs or quests, and they don't show where it fits in the pack's progression or the ATM Star path.

Good news: Mahou Tsukai doesn't make you climb a tech tree. The mod's own description says there are no spell tiers and no progression apart from mana, so every spell is useful from the start. Your first steps are about getting the book and the basic crafting materials.^[1]

Step 1: Make the guidebook

Start with the Mahou Tsukai Knowledge Compendium. It's the mod's own reference item, and the pack has a crafting recipe for it. The mod's text also explains how spell categories and catalysts work, so it's worth having before you craft anything else.^[3][4]

Mahou Tsukai Knowledge CompendiumMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Red Dye	Paper	Paper
Red Dye	Leather	Paper
Red Dye	Red Dye	Red Dye

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:guidebook

Step 2: Get a way to smash catalysts

The mod describes seven catalysts, one for each known category of magic. You turn them into powdered catalysts by smashing them with either a Hammer or a Mortar and Pestle. Pick whichever you prefer, because both work.^[4]

HammerMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

String	Cobblestone	Empty slot
Cobblestone	Stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	Stick

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:hammer

Mortar and PestleMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Mortar
• Pestle

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:mortar_and_pestle

The pack also has separate recipes for the Mortar and the Pestle, each as its own item.^[3]

Step 3: Powder your catalysts

Each category of magic is tied to one catalyst. Knowing which is which tells you what to powder first:^[4]

• Iron is for Boundaries, which are area effects around a placed circle. Its powder is Powdered Iron.^[3][4]
• Ender Pearl is for Displacement, which is teleportation magic. Its powder is Powdered Ender.^[3][4]
• Diamond is for Projection, which deals with weapons. Its powder is Powdered Diamond.^[3][4]
• Emerald is for Exchange, which usually involves a trade, often to refund or generate mana. Its powder is Powdered Emerald.^[3][4]
• Gold is for Mystic, which covers unique, often offensive spells with miscellaneous effects. Its powder is Powdered Gold.^[3][4]
• Quartz is for Intelligence, which deals with decision making, often focused around entities. Its powder is Powdered Quartz.^[3][4]
• Ender Eye is for Mystic Eyes, which are sight-based effects. Its powder is Powdered Eye.^[3][4]

Here's the in-pack recipe for powdered iron as an example. Every powder also has a second recipe variant, such as powdered_iron_2.^[3]

Powdered IronMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Iron Ingot
• Hammer

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:powdered_iron

Unverified The pack has recipes for the Attuner, Spell Cloth, Mahoujin Projector, Mana Circuit and Mystic Code items, but the sources here don't explain what they do or the best order to make them. Check the guidebook in-game before relying on them.

Mahou Tsukai is a magic mod focused on spell uniqueness and special effects. Its author says there are no spell tiers and no progression apart from mana, so every spell is meant to stay useful in its own niche. Most of the systems you will work with are magic circles that you place and feed with mana.^[1]

Mana storage with circuits

Mana Circuit blocks store mana. You can use the mana in a circuit while you are nearby, but only if you own it. Whoever right clicks a circuit first after it is placed becomes the owner, so claim it yourself straight away.^[4]

• Right click a circuit to put mana in.^[4]
• Shift right click to turn it on or off.^[4]
• Right click it with Fae Essence to open it up so other players can use it.^[4]

Mana CircuitMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Fae Essence	Fae Essence	Fae Essence
Fae Essence	Powdered Emerald	Fae Essence
Fae Essence	Fae Essence	Fae Essence

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:mana_circuit

There is also a Magitech Mana Circuit variant with its own recipe in the pack. The sources here do not explain how it differs from the regular circuit.^[3]

Catalysts: the seven magic categories

Spells are sorted into seven categories, and each category has a catalyst. You make powdered catalysts by smashing the catalyst with a Hammer or a Mortar and Pestle.^[4]

• Powdered Iron (from Iron): Boundaries.^[3][4]
• Powdered Ender (from Ender Pearl): Displacement.^[3][4]
• Powdered Diamond (from Diamond): Projection.^[3][4]
• Powdered Emerald (from Emerald): Exchange.^[3][4]
• Powdered Gold (from Gold): Mystic.^[3][4]
• Powdered Quartz (from Quartz): Intelligence.^[3][4]
• Powdered Eye (from Ender Eye): Mystic Eyes.^[3][4]

Mortar and PestleMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Mortar
• Pestle

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:mortar_and_pestle

One of the two tools the mod's book names for powdering catalysts.

HammerMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

String	Cobblestone	Empty slot
Cobblestone	Stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	Stick

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:hammer

The other tool the mod's book names for powdering catalysts.

In short, Boundaries are area effects centered on a magic circle. Displacement spells deal with teleportation, Projection spells deal with weapons, and Exchange spells usually involve a trade of some sort, often to refund or generate mana. Mystic spells are unique, often offensive effects. Mystic Eyes spells deal with sight based effects, and Intelligence spells deal with decision making, often focused around entities.^[4]

Boundaries and redstone

Boundaries are area-of-effect spells that work in a radius around a placed circle, and they drain mana on a fixed basis. Right click a boundary to switch it on or off. A redstone signal also inverts its on/off status, so you can control boundaries with redstone.^[4]

Boundaries give a comparator output of 0 when off and 1 when on. The Alarm Boundary alerts you to mobs and players entering its range, and it outputs a comparator value of 15 when it detects anything inside. You can also use boundary scrolls to quickly place boundaries in another location.^[4]

Exchange circuits

• Chronal Exchange: placed on the floor, it generates mana for 12 hours, centered on the time of placement. For the other 12 hours it drains mana from the caster, gems or mana circuits. Skipping time only delays the cycle, it does not skip it.^[4]
• Alchemical Exchange: once a day, around the time of placement, it converts the blocks underneath into random other blocks of the same class. It only works on natural blocks, so bricks and diamond blocks are safe.^[4]
• Catalyst Exchange: converts any powdered catalysts on top of it into a new random powdered catalyst.^[4]

Cup of Heaven: the polygon puzzle

The Cup of Heaven is described as the most complex spell, used primarily to apply mass negative effects. You place many of its circles on the floor and activate them with a scroll. The external convex polygon is then calculated, and every mob and player inside it at activation gets the effects. The prime factors in the external polygon and those in the internal polygon determine which effects apply.^[4]

The prime factors map like this: 2 is Poison, 3 is Weakness, 5 is Blindness, 7 is Slowness, 11 is Wither and 13 is Levitation. The mod's own example is a pentagon made of 5 circles with 4 internal circles, which gives Poison 2 and Blindness 1. For Poison 1 and Wither 1, you can make a 22-sided polygon. Mana cost varies with the effects and the area covered.^[4]

Mana costs and configs

The in-game book gives most spell mana costs as variables, so exact costs are not listed here. The mod's author says almost everything is configurable, including mana costs, mana regen, spell sizes and effects, and how often certain spells tick.^[1][4]

Unverified Mana costs, regen rates and spell sizes are set in the mod's config files, and the sources here include no config files for this mod in the pack. So they do not show whether the pack changes any of those values from the mod's defaults.

I have to be upfront here: for this mod, the pack data I have only lists which items are craftable. It doesn't show the ingredients, the order you're meant to unlock things in, or any tier names. So I can't give you a verified tier-by-tier path, and I won't guess at one.^[3]

What I can confirm is that every item below has its own in-pack crafting recipe. They are grouped by what they seem to be for, and the grouping says nothing about the order to make them in.^[3]

• Grinding tools: Mortar, Pestle and the combined Mortar and Pestle.^[3]
• Powdered materials: Powdered Iron, Powdered Gold, Powdered Diamond, Powdered Emerald, Powdered Quartz, Powdered Ender and Powdered Eye. Each one has two separate recipes in the pack.^[3]
• Attuned gems and the tool for them: Attuned Diamond, Attuned Emerald and the Attuner.^[3]
• Mana components: Mana Circuit and Magitech Mana Circuit.^[3]
• Mystic codes and cloth: Mystic Code, Mystic Code - First Sorcery and Spell Cloth.^[3]
• Projectors: Mahoujin Projector and Fog Projector.^[3]
• Other craftables: Dagger, Hammer, Faecake, Kodoku and the Mahou Tsukai Knowledge Compendium.^[3]

If you want to see exactly how something is made, here are a few of the in-pack recipes. They are shown exactly as the pack defines them.^[3]

Mortar and PestleMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Mortar
• Pestle

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:mortar_and_pestle

Powdered DiamondMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Diamond
• Hammer

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:powdered_diamond

Attuned DiamondMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Attuner
• Diamond

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:attuned_diamond

Mana CircuitMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Fae Essence	Fae Essence	Fae Essence
Fae Essence	Powdered Emerald	Fae Essence
Fae Essence	Fae Essence	Fae Essence

Recipe id: mahoutsukai:mana_circuit

Unverified This pack has no quests for Mahou Tsukai, and I found no in-pack guide that spells out a tier order. Which items are early-game and which are late-game, and how the mod's tiers work, is unverified here. Check the recipes above in game to work out your own path.