A (Vanilla) Guide to 2D & 3D Projection Wands
Preface
This is my second expansive guide that I have written, which expands on how to understand and develop projection wands in Noita. I'm writing this because I sense that I am increasingly distancing myself from this game, and so I would like to ensure that whatever knowledge I have can be trascribed to some extent. Like the guide to orbital wands, this guide will definitly be for a very niche audience of Noita players, but I'm committed to post this regardless as it doubles as a repository for my own discoveries. I figure there is at least one person out there that is interested, so why not just post it. Even if you don't plan to use or build projection wands, this guide contains some pretty interesting things that I would recommend you check out if you're even mildly interested. Similar to my previous guide on orbital wands, this one utilizes an engine to trigger various projectiles, shapes, and patterns. While I have discovered some of these mechanics on my own, many of the fundemental designs of the pollen engines uesd are all standard and (relatively) well-known within the community. All of the 'tech' in this guide support vanilla wand building, though they may also benefit those using mods; I will neither explicitly reference or utilize any mods that affect the wand).
The Foundational Engine
An essential part of a majority of my wands, including both projection and orbital wands, is an engine with which to trigger a desired payload. In my previous guide, this engine adpoted the form of a self trigger and, while it has its uses, projection wands demand a very precise engine to produce more desireable results. Therefore, all of the wands in this guide will use a pollen engine.
This guide will not expand too deeply into the workings of the pollen engine, but here is a quick rundown never-the-less:
Stationary Pollen Engine Design
The Stationary Pollen Engine constists of three main stages from a wand building perspective. First, a single Pollen spell is cast to "kick-start" the engine; the second stage is where modifiers are prepared for the add-triggered Holy Lance is cast; and the third stage where a pollen is produced, creating recursion. Note that, unlike most self-trigger setups, the Piercing Shot modifier is not necessary due to the innate piercing quality of Holy Lance.
Stationary Pollen Engine Visual
Note that this engine uses a mechanic called Useful Failure, a method that allows for modifier duplication. I won't cover it extensively, but to summarize: The 0 charge spell - in this case, a black hole - will invalidate the add trigger; however, the modifiers cast alongside the invalid target spell will have not yet been drawn. In this example, 10 divide bys = 11 copies (+1 from the original) of each modifier. Below is an infographic that illustrates how this specific wand works in greater detail.
The duplicated modifiers make it easier and much more efficient to slow down the Holy Lance, which has a natural gravity to it. The Heavy Shot spells ensure that the initial velocity is as low as possible, while the decelleration erases the Holy Lance's gravity influence.
The True Engine
Obviously, this guide is not a pollen engine guide, but rather how a wand can use that engine to project 3D shapres and patterns. In fact, an essential component to create projection wands is the design of the engine itself. While the explaination above illustrates a basic stationary pollen engine, a spiral engine is what will be used for a remainder of this guide:
While things have shifted around a bit, its actually a tad simpler than the previous design. First of all, the main difference is the inclusion of the Spiral Arc spell modifier. This single addition is what allows for a smooth and linear path for the Holy Lance to travel, effecitvely providing a smooth direction for any payload added. Note that this design does not require any modifier duplication, due to Spiral Arc removing the gravity attribute entirely. We still keep Heavy shot and Decelleration for speed configuration, but this is arbitrary and customizable.
At this point, the engine is basically done. However, for some projection wands, two engines must overlap in order to create a 3D illusion. To do this, we can clone the Holy Lance, its modifiers, and its payload with the all-mysterious Wand Refresh spell:
By adding at least two additional casts before Wand Refresh, the wand will wrap anew and recast the wand. The addition of Inner Spell and Behind Your Back Formation is to ensure the two engines are spawned an equal distance in opposing directions.
The Payload
This step is the most arbitrary and experimental one. The core of the wand is finished, and now the decoration awaits. Boomerang, Orbiting Arc, Slithering Path, and Duplication Spells may all be used to change how the payload looks. Below is a basic application of these to create a stunning 3D wand:
3D Projection Wand (#1) Example
3D Projection Wand (#1) Example Visual
Here are some examples that use the dual engine designs:
3D Dual Projection Wand (#2) Example
3D Dual Projection Wand (#2) Example Visual
3D Dual Projection Wand (#3) Example Visual - Same as #2 but with Orange Glimmer
Note that due to the nature of the Spiral Engine, not every cast will create the same exact shape. A great example is the wand illustrated above. Anyway, here are some more wand examples!
3D Projection Wand (#4) Example
3D Projection Wand (#4) Example Visual
The great thing about the spiral engine, is that even a single modifier added can change the nature of the wand entirely. Here are some examples using slithering path and orbiting arc:
3D Projection Wand (#5) Example
3D Projection Wand (#5) Example Visual
3D Projection Wand (#6) Example
3D Projection Wand (#6) Example Visual
3D Projection Wand (#7) Example Visual
Conclusion
I hope someone finds this guide helpful, even if it's myself however far into the future I might decide to hop on Noita again. This guide is suuuper niche and pretty much requires god flight for a full visual display. Still, it is one of my most used and has helped me create some of my most favorite art wands in Noita!
P.S. There's probably a lot of typos and bad grammer, so apologies in advance.