12.23
This is just a simple resource list and overview for new players, nothing fancy…
(NOTE: This guide can be most easily accessed / shared via it’s short URL: http://rax.so/IG 🙂 )
In my first moth of serious play the following have proved invaluable. I will add more gems as and when they are pointed out to me by better players!
Always begin at the beginning…
1. Hook up with the relevant Google+ Ingress Hangouts local to you. Best way to do this is to shout out on the in-game “COMM” tool, fellow Ingressers local to you will point you in the right direction.
2. Bookmark the following excellent Ingress related sites;
– Ingress’ own “Intel Map” :Â https://www.ingress.com/intel (NOTE: This is very RAM hungry!)
– Decode Ingress :Â http://decodeingress.me
– Ingress Portal :Â http://ingressportal.com
– Ingress’ own offical “Events” page : https://www.ingress.com/events
— (“Events Map” :Â http://goo.gl/SGZoNz )
– This fantastic infographic depicting all known leveling requirements; http://goo.gl/5g6Y1S
– Other great intro guides;
—Â http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ingress-tips-new-players,review-2257.html
The Very Most Basic of Basics;
– Ingress Slang :Â http://www.izziebytes.net/ingress-slang-lingo-terminology-guide/
— “Scanner” = Your phone when it’s running the Ingress App.
About Leveling;
1. The higher your Level is the more fun stuff you can do quickly! (Surprise!)
2. Most things you do grant “AP” (experience);Â http://ingressportal.com/research/experience-ap/
3. Size / length of Fields / Links has no effect on their AP value to you as an individual! (Although it is important for faction play, worry about this later). Lots of short Links and tiny Fields are just as effective for leveling yourself up as huge Fields / long Links!
About “Passcodes”;
Passcodes are strings of text which can be entered into your phone “scanner”, or via the Ingress site, to grant you free bonus items, XM and sometimes even fancier stuff. These can come from a variety of places, most notably; http://www.nianticproject.com which is where they are often first posted as cunning puzzles… However, if time is against you, or you just can’t be bothered, 😉 you can also usually grab some from;
–Â http://goo.gl/57IXGY
–Â http://goo.gl/k7RLD8
About “Glyph Hacking”;
Normal Portal Hacking is all well and good when you’re short on time or have a lot to do. If, however, you find yourself at a loose end near a Portal you should Glyph Hack it, as opposed to hacking it normally. To do so simply hold the “Hack” button down instead of tapping it! Successfully Glyph Hacking grants you improved hacking returns (extra Resonators, Bursters, etc.) and additional AP. This additional AP can be reasonably significant in the medium / long run and so is definitely worth pursuing whenever possible (Up to 400+ AP per Hack is possible on higher level portals…). A fun mini-game that rewards you for your endeavors! Hurrah!
About Attacking & Defending Portals;
I was writing a long discussion on this topic and then found this page; http://goo.gl/7P0Yjg 😉
“Long Press” Firing;
When attacking a Portal or Resonator, if you hold the “FIRE” button down and release it when the glowing ring of particles is right on top of your cursor you can do up to an extra 20% damage! This can be HUGELY helpful in the long run!
“Long Press” Recharging;
When defending a Portal or Resonator, if you hold the “RECHARGE” button down it will, after a few seconds, expend as much XM as is required to fully charge all Resonators on the Portal, this is up to the limit of your available XM of course, so you may need to use a Power Cube (or two) and repeat this process two or three times to fully “top up” all the Resonators.
XMP Bursters vs Ultra Strikes;
Bursters and Strikes do the same amount of damage. Except Strikes have a smaller area of effect! Yes! I know! Weird right? Basically Bursters are for taking out Resonators, whilst Strikes excel at destroying Mods. You see Ultra Strikes deliver all their damage in a very small area and have increased chance to deal a “critical hit”. Be aware you can use both Bursters and Strikes for either job if you really need to. “Optimal” use of a Strike is thus to stand right on top of the Portal itself and use it to try and take out those pesky Mods, reserving your Bursters for use on the Resonators once key / all Mods have been destroyed. (NOTE: I have had a reasonable amount of success with using higher level XMP Bursters to take out Mods on lower level portals.)
Other important stuff I wasn’t clear on when I started;
(My Ingress Level Table: http://goo.gl/YLznTE)
1. “Holding” Portals  / Links / Fields isn’t really important, at all, apart from any specific Portals you are using to try and level up your Guardian badge.
2. Place your “Guardian” Portal(s) somewhere easy for you to get to, but out of the way of everyone else. ALWAYS ensure you have Keys for these. ALWAYS upgrade their Resonators as soon as you level up. ALWAYS Mod them with Shields as soon as possible.
3. Have multiple Guardian Portals. It’s just common sense! 😉
4. To “recharge” a Portal, to stop its Resonators “decaying” (they loose 15% of their maximum health every day), you must have a Key for it.
5. Linking to a Portal uses up your copy of the destination Portal’s Key.
6. You want to space your Resonators out as far as possible, this is done by standing as far from the Portal as you can when deploying them. This makes damaging your Portal considerably harder.
7. Links actually provide additional protection to Portals, they act like mini-shields!
8. Portals need to cool down between each Hack, this is a 5 minute (300 second) delay timer. You’re only allowed 4 successful Hacks during any 4 hour period, after which the Portal will “burn out”, preventing any further Hacks of yours until the 4 hours is over. These restrictions are personal to each player. “Testing” a Portal by Hacking it to see where its “timer” is has no impact on these cool downs or burnouts. These limits (300 secs & 4 hacks) can be changed by Mods.
9. You should try and avoid walking / riding / driving around with a full XM meter. If you have all your Guardian Portals recharged just recharge any others you have keys for, there is a “Recharging” badge which can take a while to get, so make a habit of always burning off any “spare” XM whenever there is more to be collected nearby.
10. Generally speaking people don’t mind if you Hack, Link and create Fields basically at will. Specially to start with. Try to keep Links & Fields you make contained to small areas between nearby Portals so that you don’t spoil the plans of any high level players creating large Fields…
11. Ingress is smart enough to know when you’re driving and won’t let you do anything “active”, you can only collect XM, so don’t try anything fancy! Drive safe!!
12. Available XM in the world is refreshed every 20 minutes, and is NOT unique to you as a player, it’s shared by all players. It’s possible for two players to pick up “the same” XM if they are in the same place at exactly the same time as each persons “Scanner” only updates every 5 seconds.
Interesting stuff I wondered about but you didn’t really need to worry about;
1. You have a 2000 item limit to your inventory. This hasn’t been a problem for me on my journey to level 7, but I am reliably informed, by those far more advanced than I, that this becomes a HUGE issue the higher your level goes beyond this point… so probably some sage advice to come shortly on how to manage your inventory? 😉
Other very useful resources;
http://quexser.com/informational-charts (Particularly for Mod Deployment!)