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AbsoluteBeginnersGuideToIngressForLondonOntario

Safety

I strongly discourage anyone from hacking and driving. We don't need any more civilian casualties. It's a $280 fine if you're caught with your phone in your hand and you're not legally parked. I'm writing this page during back to school so the police will be extra vigilant for distracted drivers to keep the kids safe. You will be tempted...oh yes...but please don't.

OK, now that that's out of the way...

Level 1-2

What is Ingress and what are the basics?

If you haven't figured out how the comms work, see Ingress Communication.

At this level, your best opportunities to get AP are by fully deploying portals and making fields.

Any time you're near a grey (unclaimed) portal, fully deploy on it (deploy all 8 resonators). Good opportunities to find unclaimed portals are downtown. You get 1750 AP for a full deployment. If there are a lot of portals and you're almost out of resonators, deploy a single resonator on each unclaimed portal. You get 625 AP for deploying the first resonator on a portal. Always hack any portal you go by, especially if it's blue, because you get 100 AP for hacking an enemy portal.

Find good areas to level up on the Intel Map by looking for dense collections of portals that don't have any fields nearby. A field will change the black background to green or blue, depending on which faction has made it. Downtown is virtually always a good place to find portals to link up to make fields.

You can certainly give attacking a try by firing XMP bursters at enemy portals, but don't expect much to happen at this level. You're better off using your time to deploy resonators and make fields.

Don't use an ADA Refactors or Jarvis Viruses you might pick up at this point. They are very rare and are used for very specific purposes.

On days when you just can't get out (or are driving around for other things), you can still get a little bit of AP by recharging portals.

Do you still have questions? Check out the official FAQ, this unofficial FAQ, or see the links under "Getting Started" on the main Ingress page at this site.

Still have questions? The high level players in this area are very welcoming and very helpful.

Level 3-4

When you're deploying a resonator on a portal and there isn't a resonator already in that slot, it will be placed the same distance from the portal as you're currently standing from it. In other words, the closer you're standing to the portal when you deploy (not upgrade) a resonator, the closer the resonator will appear to the portal. If all the resonators are right next to the portal, it makes the portal much easier to destroy. At this level, get into the habit of standing just within range of the portal when you deploy. But don't sweat it. Drift happens.

When you're hacking portals, I recommend getting experience with glyph hacking. It will give you (66% + 66% = 132%) more items if you correctly make all the glyphs in the best time. That bonus on high level portals can be well worth it when you get to level 5 and above. So get experience with it now.

If you're about to hack a portal and you have a little bit of extra time, check to see if you already have a key for that portal. If you have a key for the portal, the key icon above the "Hack" button will be lit up. Tap on the key icon (you'll need to be careful tapping it as it's the smallest "button" in the game). Then tap "Drop". Hack the portal, then pick up the key you dropped. If you keep tapping the portal instead of the key you dropped, see picking up items next to portals. If you already have a key the chances are bad (something like 15-20%) that you will get a second key. If you don't have a key the chance to get a key is about 75%. Having 2 keys each for many portals gives a massive advantage when making fields. You can link portals in both directions, so additional keys give you more options in how you link them together.

If you deploy a multi-hack on a portal, you can immediately hack it again once, and it will also speed up the 5 minute cool down between hacks. Only the person deploying the multi-hack gets the ability to immediately hack again. If you use a multi-hack every time you don't get a key you'll quickly run out, so keep them for around for days when you just can't seem to catch a break on keys and can't get a single one for a portal after trying 2-3 times. Deploy common portal shields if there aren't any already on the portal for 125 AP per deploy. Wait until you know you're not going to need to deploy any multi-hacks before you deploy the shields, or in other words, deploy the shields when you're leaving an area and not planning on coming back. One agent can only deploy up to two mods on a portal. This trick will make bad luck days suck slightly less. And now you know! And knowing is half the battle. The other half must be using that knowledge. Or something. Yes, that was textbook humour.

Now let's get back to making fields. If you only have one key to one or more of the three portals you want to link up, remember that each link can be made either way. Additional keys give you more options. Before making a link, the portals on each side require all 8 resonators deployed. Making a link is worth 313 AP and making a field is worth 1250 AP (plus the last link, 313 AP). The fastest way to level is to fully deploy lots of portals and make lots of fields. Making a link uses up the key. New links can't cross existing links. A portal can only have 8 outgoing links; otherwise you could just pick up a whole pile of keys, take them to a single portal and make tons of links. The number of incoming links is not capped.

When you create a field, you'll get a certain amount of MU (mind units) based on the population density of the portals anchoring the field. You always get at least 1 MU per field. This MU counts toward the global team score, which is displayed prominently on the Intel Map and when you open the scanner app. This MU score gives a rough indication as to which team is "winning" worldwide, if indeed Ingress can be "won" at all... After all, it's about the journey, not the destination, right?

It is considered a faux pas to link directly across major fielding areas such as UWO, Fanshawe College and especially Victoria Park. It makes it more difficult for players to gain the maximum amount of AP for fielding that area because to field the middle then requires a trip to the anchor portals of the link that's running across the middle. Either keys from the main area need to be taken out to the anchor portals, or keys have to be acquired from the anchor portals and brought back to the area. Please don't make links too far to see on the linking screen unless you have planned them in advance as part of a larger strategy.

Nothing is better than going out with a second agent, even if they're the same level as you are. The extra keys make linking and fielding much easier. If you can go out with a higher level agent, they can take down portals, links and fields and you can gain the AP from putting them back up.

If you're short on time in the field but have time to plan, you can squeeze in some more AP with intermediate and advanced linking. You can check out this YouTube Video or Ingress Onion Fields Part 2 (for people who would rather the content not be in video format).

Keep your low level resonators. You'll need them.

Don't attempt to attack enemy portals unless they're almost out of charge as you will almost certainly be wasting bursters, time, and power cubes trying to do that.

Don't forget to check out the other links under "Getting Started" on the main Ingress page at this site.

Level 5-7

At level 5, bursters are useful enough that you can think about taking down portals, links and fields for more AP. Congratulations! You just took a level in badass. If you're not sure you have enough bursters to take a portal down, check out the Ingress Portal Attack Simulator. There will be some variability when you take a portal down for real but it'll give you a idea of what you'll need. Once a portal is down to a single resonator the links in and out of it are destroyed. At this point you get about half the value in AP that the other team got by putting them all up. If you just destroyed one or more links there's a chance a key will drop for one of those links. If the keys are close to the portal, see picking up items next to portals. You almost always want to check for those keys and pick them up (unless you don't think you'll ever be back). You'll still want to stick to portals without a lot of defensive mods though (shields, force amps and turrets). If you're attacking a portal with a few L7-L8 resonators you'll want to start by standing on those while firing bursters (assuming they're not in a river or inside a building).

Here's a guide on how to use ultra strikes and bursters more effectively. (Reference: Round 2 – The Art of War | SJ Says)

When you're upgrading a portal, start by putting the highest resonator you can deploy on the lowest level resonator on the portal. Continue doing that. The portal's real level is the average of the levels of resonators on the portal. The fractional part counts, and will increase the potential to get better gear.

Most portals will be around L5 as this is the highest level portal possible when a single L8 agent fully deploys a portal. At this stage L4 resonators became hard to come by. Going out with a second agent means fewer low level resonators are required to fully deploy a portal.

Level 8

When you get to level 8, it's time to get dangerous. Now you can use level 8 XMP bursters. As long as you have enough level 8 bursters and power cubes you can basically take down whatever you want solo. It doesn't matter what mods are on it, it doesn't matter what mitigation the portal has, and it doesn't matter whether or not anyone is recharging it. If you have enough L8 bursters and cubes, and you want a portal down, then it goes down.

Don't forget to deploy L8 resonators on major farms when you're there.

Level 9-16

Since this guide is the "Absolute Beginner's Guide", here's what you have to look forward to at higher levels: the ability to hold more XM, being able to recharge portals from further away, and last but not least, bragging rights. If the thought of L9-16 bursters is what's driving you forward, I'm sorry to burst your bubble. So far, there is no gear above level 8.

Starting at level 9, AP alone will not get you to the next level. You will also need badges. Scanner v1.51 Update with L9-16 Badge Requirements.