Pylons



Pylons are furniture items that allow a player to teleport to any other pylon, by either selecting the pylon or by finding a pylon in the fullscreen map.

The following restrictions apply:
 * Pylons can only be used when there are 2 or more living, housed NPCs (including the Old Man or town pets) within a 169 tile wide by 124 tile high rectangle centered on each pylon.
 * At least a portion of the NPCs' housing tiles must be within this range, but the pylons will still work if the NPCs themselves walk out of this range.
 * Pylons are only practical if there are 2 or more in the world. The system they form is known as the Pylon Network.
 * Pylons only function when in their respective biome.
 * Only one of each type of pylon may be placed in a world.
 * The Pylon Network cannot be used during Boss battles or when invasions are announced or in progress (including the Lunar Events).
 * Players must be within interaction range of a pylon (5 blocks) to teleport using the Pylon Network.
 * Players must have the Minimap enabled to actually use a pylon to teleport.

Pylon shops


Most pylons, with the exception of the Universal Pylon, appear in NPC inventories when the following conditions apply:
 * The NPC is a "vendor" that normally sells items, other than the Traveling Merchant and the Skeleton Merchant.
 * The NPC must be happy, with an 85% or better sale modifier.
 * Remember that NPC relationships are not always symmetrical, but only one vendor needs to be happy enough to sell the Pylon. The NPC they like (who helps make them happy) doesn't even need to be a vendor.
 * The "solitude" bonus gets most of the way there, granted by having at most one other NPC within 25 tiles, and at most three more within 120 tiles. Given this, it is enough to place the a vendor in a biome they like, or with an NPC they like, while avoiding crowding or any biome or neighbor that they dislike.
 * Example: nobody but the Truffle likes the Mushroom biome, but they don't dislike it either, and Truffle doesn't appear until Hardmode. But the pylon can be bought pre-Hardmode by placing the Painter there alone with the Party Girl (who he likes).
 * In a more crowded area, bonuses can be stacked; e.g. an NPC who loves their biome, and at least likes their only close neighbor (or vice versa), can be happy enough even if there are too many NPCs within 120 tiles to get the solitude bonus.
 * Bringing in a Town Pet can tip the balance in a close situation.
 * The player is not in an evil biome (Corruption or Crimson).
 * Note that happiness only matters while purchasing a Pylon. To use the Pylon, two NPCs need to be housed nearby, but neither needs to be the one who sold the pylon, and their happiness is no longer relevant. Still keep them happy if you want some other cheaper deals, though, and if you are a player who bonds with them.

The table below indicates which NPCs can be housed in the biome appropriate to the pylon (at a distance from other NPCs) to ensure that one of them is happy enough to sell the pylon. These are only examples and aren't a complete list of every combination that can be used to obtain a pylon.

Although the listed cost for all biome pylons is, they are only sold if the shopkeeper has a price modifier of 85% or less (due to happiness etc.). As a result, the actual price will be between and.

A hybrid biome can result in multiple pylons appearing in the NPC's inventory, except the Forest and Cavern, which are mutually exclusive and only available when not in the Snow, Desert, Ocean, Jungle, Hallow, or Glowing Mushroom biomes.

Tips

 * The Pylon Network can be supplemented by several other forms of teleportation or transportation, all of which do work during boss fights and invasions:
 * Each player can use a Recall Potion, Magic Mirror, or Cell Phone to teleport to their own spawn point (which may be the world spawn point).
 * The Conch gives access to both Oceans (use once for the currently more distant ocean, then again for the other ocean).  It will take the player to the furthest point with a solid block or platform at the surface.
 * The Demon Conch gives access to the center of the Underworld (it may be necessary to build a platform there).
 * In Hardmode, each Pylon, plus the three Conch landing points, can be used as as the hub of a local Teleporter network.
 * Even before Hardmode, the Pylons and Conch points can also be Rail hubs.
 * Building your Cavern Pylon town immediately outside the Dungeon has many benefits, the most obvious being near-instant access to a deeper part of the Dungeon once Skeletron is defeated.
 * You can still build the town prior to Skeletron, as the Dungeon Guardian will not spawn unless a player is actually inside the Dungeon.
 * Since the Dungeon is right next to the Ocean, this means both oceans can be conveniently accessed, so long as your Ocean Pylon is at the opposite ocean from the Dungeon.
 * If you have at least three NPCs, part of the Dungeon may be considered part of your Town instead. While it isn't likely to be a large part, it can give you a relatively safe place to deal with enemies without more immediately spawning. (Note that this will work even if the town doesn't contain a Pylon.)
 * Later in the game, you won't need to worry about accidentally triggering a battle with the Lunatic Cultist, as you'll more likely enter the dungeon via your own entrance than the naturally-spawned one.
 * Aside from the practical benefits, it also provides unique scenery for both the Town and the Dungeon.
 * This strategy is not recommended in multiplayer games, where a player in the Dungeon can potentially cause Dungeon enemies to spawn within range to teleport to or attack players in the Town.
 * Pylons cannot work with solitary houses. One way to easily work around this without building another house is to have a Town Pet move in with the NPC in that house.
 * For example, if you have built a solitary house for the Truffle, you will not be able to use the Mushroom Pylon there; one way to easily fix this without building another house is to have a Town Pet move in with the Truffle.
 * As there are 3 Town Pets, this strategy works with a maximum of three standard Pylons per world (excluding the Universal Pylon).
 * Alternately, building the Cavern Pylon at the top of the Underground layer near the player's main base may be convenient, especially in multiplayer or when all players have some form of Magic Mirrors. This allows the player to Hallow their base area without reshuffling pylons, if desired. A Dungeon town can then use the pylon of whatever Surface biome it is located in, often Forest, allowing quicker access to the Ocean but still quick access to the Dungeon.
 * Another use for the Cavern Pylon is to put it in or near the Underworld, providing a viable alternative to a conventional Hellevator.
 * The Universal Pylon uniquely works anywhere, and perhaps more usefully, does not require NPCs nearby. It can effectively be a free infinite-use Potion of Return for a player carrying it.

Trivia

 * When attempting to enter the Jungle Temple via the use of Pylons, the unique chat message: "Ancient forces prevent you from accessing this location..." is displayed.
 * Pylons will still hover and rotate when the game is paused.
 * However, Pylons will not rotate when the game is tabbed out, despite the fact that they continue to hover.