Wow it's been over a year!

I couldn't have imagined it's now been over a year since my last post. I keep telling myself I'd post about this or that. So much has happened in the game in the past year it would be impossible to do a full catch up. I have a few ideas for some blog posts that will touch on some of the happenings in that time, but I will mainly plan on moving forward.

Where have I been??? 
I never stopped playing, though the intensity in which I played did drastically slow down. It use to be very common for me to head out several times a week and play from about 10:00 pm to 1:00 am several times per week. Well I'm getting a little too old for that and honestly it was impacting my work and other things so I've virtually stopped that. But I am thinking of picking that up again on Fridays & Saturdays that wouldn't interfere with other things in my life.

So you may ask why an I beginning this again after sooo long.
There are a couple of reasons. I have increased my activity level the past few months maybe even as many as the past 6 months. For a lot of this time I was playing again as a lone wolf. Like I wrote earlier the game is much more fun when you play as a group with other people. Then recently I got involved in some great group projects which brought me back up again. I'll be posting about one particular project I was involved in which was massively fun.

Also, the game is fun and I've missed my adventures while Ingressing. I'm hoping that by bringing my blogging activity back up I'll also bring up my playing activity.

Where am I now?
I'm currently a level 12. I have all the medals I need to make 15, but that's a lot of AP away. If you've ever used the app "Agent Stats" (which is pretty cool) that app says I'll be a L16 in 2019. I've now set a goal to make it in less than a year. It's a pretty big undertaking for someone who plays the way I've been playing lately, but it's achievable.

My Ingress-aversary

Today is my Ingress-aversary!

One year ago today I received my invitation to play Ingress. Back then it was still very much the same game, but far few portals and the scanner functions are much more basic.

When I first started playing I was a lone wolf. just playing on my own where and when I could. Which wasn't much and there were only 2 portals in my town and no opposing players. I also played a little on my way to and from work, but really didn't pass too many portals. 

All that being said it took me a long time to level. I had just made Level 5 in June when I went to Disney, which was my first experience in a portal dense environment. For better or worse at that time it was all basically green, so there wasn't a lot of AP to be gained. 

Then in July I met up with our local Enlightened group. I went from a low Level 5 to 8 pretty quickly from there. While I was a fan of the game before, this is where I became addicted. The social aspect of this game is like no other. The teamwork, camaraderie and more make this game like no other and have kept my interest in the game high - even the fun banter with opposing players.

Thanks +NIA Ops for making +Ingress  and thanks to all of my friends I've met the last year playing. 

Happy Hacking!

Most Valuable Commodity - L4 Resonators

If you are like me and you have been leveling up, you might be excited when you start to see that you're getting Higher level gear and you may even start to grow some discontent when you hack a portal and get lower level items.

But not so fast there ..

Your lower level resonators are very valuable, especially your L4 resonators. Think about it:

• If you are a Level 8 to fully power a portal by yourself you need:
• 1 L8, 1 L7, 2 L6, 2 L5 & 2 L4 Resonators to make a Level 6 Portal
• If you are a Level 7 to fully power a portal by yourself you would need:
• 1 L7, 2 L6, 2 L5 & 3 L4 Resonators to make a Level 5 Portal
• If you are a Level 6 to fully power a portal by yourself you would need:
• 2 L6, 2L5 & 4 L4 Resonators to fully power a Level 5 Portal

You get the picture. 

But there may be strategic reasons for building lower level portals; i.e. being able to readily hack the L4 and lower level items you need.

I can't tell you how many times I haven't been able to complete fully charging a portal because I haven't had L1- L4 Resonators. It is irritating. So do yourself a favor and be sure to hack/build lower level portals regularly so you can build your stock of L4 and below resonators.

Now, the same does not hold true for the XMP Bursters. As you move up your strategic need for lower level XMP Bursters goes down. I generally keep XMP Bursters of my level and 2 below and strategically use my lower level ones as not to waste the higher level ones. 

But don't don't just drop them or recycle them. Help an up and coming player of your faction and arrange a drop.

Happy Hacking!

Mid-level Player Player Strategy

So you're a level 4, 5 or 6 agent and want to continue to advance, but it's your finding it hard to. Don't give up.

First, hack, hack, hack! Build that inventory - especially XMP Bursters. At this level your bursters aren't powerful enough to do massive damage to portals your level or higher, so you need to rely on quantity. You will also need a source of XM. So if you are not hacking in a portal rich environment, you will want to make sure you have some power cubes. Hack, for a few days then plan your attack. When you think you have enough items, keep on hacking.

Second, do your research! Get on the +Ingress  Intel Map and take a look at what you have available and what makes a promising target.

Here's what I look for.

1. A portal which is my level or lower. I might do one level higher if the portal is weak
2. Links - The more the better. Links do not have any bearing on the portal's defensive strength, just points for you. You get 187 AP for each link you destroy.
3. Control Fields - Like links the more the better and they don't have anything to do with the portal's defensive strength. You get 750 AP for each control field you destroy.

Here is an example of a portal I'd want to attack as a level 6.

• Level 5 Portal
• 5 Links
• 4 Control Fields

Attacking and flipping this portal would give you 6285 AP

• Destroying 8 resonators at 75 AP each       = 600 AP
• Destroying 5 links at 187 AP Each             = 935 AP
• Destroying 4 control fields at 750 AP each = 3000 AP
• Deploying 8 resonators at 125 AP each      = 1000 AP
• Capturing a portal                                      = 500 AP
• Fully charging a portal                                = 250 AP

This gives you the most bang for your buck.

Here's an example of a portal which is weaker and I might consider for a L3 or even a L@ with a lot of resonators and the ability get more XP through other nearby portals or through power cubes.

Here's a screen shot of a portal I attacked that had 13 links and 8 control fields attached to it. I got 10781 AP for:

Work smarter not harder my friends! This will make your leveling up happen a lot quicker, but does require some planning on your part.

Happy Hacking!

Deploying Resonators

Deploying resonators in Ingress is crucial. Think of  a resonator as an amplifier. The portal itself is like raw energy, it needs an amplifier to enhance it. Resonators come in eight (8) levels L1-L8. The higher level the resonator the more energy it harnesses. The value of the resonators gives the portal it's level; however, this is not  a simple average. Higher level portals have the ability to link greater distances.

When you deploy a resonator to a neutral portal you are capturing that portal for your faction. It takes 8 resonators to complete a portal.

An individual player does have limits as to how many resonators they can deploy at a single portal. This does upgrades, believe me I tried.

Here's  chart showing what an single player can do:

Player Level	Resonator Level
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	8	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2	4	4	--	--	--	--	--	--
3	--	4	4	--	--	--	--	--
4	--	--	4	4	--	--	--	--
5	--	--	2	4	2	--	--	--
6	--	--	--	4	2	2	--	--
7	--	--	--	3	2	2	1	--
8	--	--	--	2	2	2	1	1

I think this emphasizes the need for teamwork in both deploying and upgrading portals.

You do need to use some strategy in deploying your resonators.

First if you are going to be deploying resonators of different levels, do not place then directly next to each other. Try and place your highest level resonators opposite, or as far as possible, from each other. This applies to upgrading resonators too.

Next, place your resonators as far from the portal as you can.

The reason for these strategies is to help protect them from attacks. Even if an individual is standing immediately at one of your stronger resonators the residual damage to your other stronger resonators is lessened. The would be assailant may run out of XMP Bursters before destroying all of your resonators.

Attacking Portals in Ingress

Here's something I wish I knew earlier about attacking enemy portals and firing XMP Bursters in +Ingress.

You are not attacking the portal itself. You are actually attacking the resonators which are powering the portal. So here is the best strategy for attacking a portal.  Your XMP Burster have a limited range and the further away you are from the portal the less damage the burst does to the resonator. The resonator you are closest to will sustain the most damage, but as an added bonus the surrounding resonators will also incur damage.

Tips for attacking enemy portals.

• Do your homework.
• Look at the resonators
• What level are they?
• How fully are they charged?
• Where are they "physically" located?
• Are they accessible?
• For individual play

• Go to the most fully charged resonator of the highest level that you can get directly over/on
• Fire your highest level XMP Bursters you have available.
• Repeat as necessary
• Once the resonator is destroyed, use your scanner again to find the next most fully charged highest level resonator.
• Once again start by firing your highest level XMP Burster when you are at the resonator.
• Repeat until all resonators are destroyed.
• For team play
• The team member with the highest level XMP Bursters that they can use target the most fully charged resonator 
• Other team members go to the next resonators relative to the most powerful XMP Bursters they have available to the most fully charged of the highest level
• I suggest firing sequentially and waiting until the previous person confirms the damage recorded before the following person firing. 
• The reason I say this is the speed and capability of some phone/networks can create additional delay in getting the damage. If you do not fire sequentially as I mentioned the team member with the faster phone/network may waste XMP Bursters and energy firing multiple times before the next person can fire. The residual energy from your teammates can cause enough damage to reduce your need to fire. Not all people agree with this, but I believe it holds true. 
• This strategy may require reshuffling of the team at their positions. Say I am a level 6 with dozens of level 6 XMP Bursters. I destroy my resonator, but still have the most higher level bursts. I should then go to the resonator that is now the most fully charged of the highest level and the other team members should regroup accordingly. This should be done every time a resonator is destroyed. It will help ensure the quickest and most efficient destruction of resonators. 

Thanks for reading, come back for more tips!