Pylons



Pylons are furniture items that appear as a large stone or crystal hovering and rotating above a biome-themed stand. They allow a player to teleport to any other pylon by pressing the button on them, which will open the fullscreen map, and selecting the other pylon there.

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. Similarly, NPCs do not actually need to be present in their dwellings for the pylon to function; as long as the housing is assigned to an NPC, the pylon will work.
 * 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 tiles) to teleport using the Pylon Network.
 * The Pylon Network cannot be used to travel long distances without opening the fullscreen map.

Purchasing pylons


Most pylons, with the exception of the Universal Pylon, can be purchased from NPCs 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 a sale modifier of 85% or better.
 * 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) does not 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 do not dislike it either, and Truffle does not 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 for the Pylon Network.

The table below indicates which NPCs could 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 are not a complete list of every combination that can be used to obtain a pylon.

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 Magic 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.
 * 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.
 * As there are three town pets, this strategy works with a maximum of three standard pylons per world (excluding the Universal Pylon).
 * Since the area that the Cavern Pylon can be used in is very large, there are several possible use cases for it:
 * Creating a 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.
 * It is still possible to build the town prior to defeating 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 the Ocean Pylon is at the opposite Ocean from the Dungeon.
 * If there are at least three NPCs, part of the Dungeon may be considered part of the town instead. While it is not likely to be a large part, it can provide a relatively safe place to deal with enemies without more immediately spawning. (Note that this will work even if the town does not contain a pylon.)
 * Later in the game, the player will not have to worry about accidentally triggering a battle with the Lunatic Cultist, as it is more likely they enter the Dungeon via an 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 setup 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.
 * 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

 * While pylons will still hover and rotate when the game is paused, they will cease to do so when the game is "tabbed out".
 * Pylons resemble the Protoss building of the same name in StarCraft, in both functionality and appearance.