Ingress N00b Q&A

[etnpnys]

It is full. When I open, it says "scanner disabled". Obviously I'm supposed to do something to reactivate the scanner...hack a portal or something?

Turn on GPS

Yeah, it's telling you that because it doesn't know where you are.

 

[j_grouchy]

Oh, it knows. It located me perfectly. GPS is on...haven't turned it off yet since I got the phone two weeks ago.

 

[Wicket]

My question...I was collecting blue dots for a while, but now whenever I get close to it nothing happens. I'm sort of just stuck looking at blue dots and can't do anything. WTF am I doing?

yep, as you hack portals and attack them, do anything really, it'll use your XM (blue bar at top and the blue dots you collect) so once you've done something gamewise you'll be able to start collecting again.

 

[jerrod6]

What visual cue tells me I have hacked a portal?

 

[Wicket]

What visual cue tells me I have hacked a portal?

select the portal, click the button [hack] and it'll say "hacking..." if successful you'll get loot, if not it'll say something along the lines of "hacking received no items.." easy as pie!

 

[a2Squard]

Hack your own team's portals as well - much loot to be had

 

[j_grouchy]

Well...I'd love to hack a portal...if I could FIND one. I have not found a single portal at any time while the game is open. I hate how you can only zoom out to about a 1/4 mile radius (if that). All I see is the map and a bunch of glowing dots I can't collect. This is possibly the least interesting "game" I've ever...well, I can't really say "participated in" since I'm not really able to do anything at this point.

 

[etnpnys]

Well...I'd love to hack a portal...if I could FIND one. I have not found a single portal at any time while the game is open. I hate how you can only zoom out to about a 1/4 mile radius (if that). All I see is the map and a bunch of glowing dots I can't collect. This is possibly the least interesting "game" I've ever...well, I can't really say "participated in" since I'm not really able to do anything at this point.

Dude - I don't know where you live but you need to go to Ingress and look for portals there. Note your zoom level in the bottom right - you won't see weaker portals if you are zoomed way out on the map.

Once you know where a few are, you go there with your phone.

 

[Wicket]

Well...I'd love to hack a portal...if I could FIND one. I have not found a single portal at any time while the game is open. I hate how you can only zoom out to about a 1/4 mile radius (if that). All I see is the map and a bunch of glowing dots I can't collect. This is possibly the least interesting "game" I've ever...well, I can't really say "participated in" since I'm not really able to do anything at this point.

the little dots probably can't be collected cause your XM bar is full, it's the bar across the top of your screen. You use that to hack (which you haven't been able to do yet), attack and survive. Anyways do like @etnpnys said and go to the site and you can proper explore around and find where some portals are and then hack away.

 

[HAAS599]

How do you change factions?

Will you keep your loot and leveling?

 

[Tre Lawrence]

How do you change factions?

Will you keep your loot and leveling?

I believe you can request via the email you got the invite from. From what I understand, it busts your back down to level 1.

Basically, you are starting fresh.

 

[Ola Rozenfeld]

A few questions, sorry if they are too basic, but I just can't figure it out!

- Under what conditions hacking produces a portal key? Is it completely random? What else does the key enable besides linking?
- How can I see enemy portal defense strength from inside the app? The defense strength is shields, right? Or is it the resonators' charge? Or somehow both?
- What influences which items I get when I hack a portal? In particular, do the portal's defenses influence this?
- I fired XMP at an enemy portal, but this seemed to have no effect on it (I saw -1% or something). How does the attacking work, I mean, what's the formula? What influences the result and how?
- To destroy enemy resonators, I need to fire XMP at a portal with its shields destroyed, right?
- There seem to be two ways to fire at a portal -- one to press-hold the portal and select "Fire XMP" and the other is to go to the Items menu, select the XMP burster, and press "Fire". Is there any difference? Also, why is the option sometimes disabled?
- What are passcodes? How are they used?
- Does it make a difference from which range I fire at a portal?
- Will it really help to quickly run away after firing, or I'll get hit anyway?
- Which portal actions can be executed remotely, and for which do you need to be in range? Or it depends on some conditions?

Thank you!!!

 

[Scott Kenyon]

A few questions, sorry if they are too basic, but I just can't figure it out!

- Under what conditions hacking produces a portal key? Is it completely random? What else does the key enable besides linking?
- How can I see enemy portal defense strength from inside the app? The defense strength is shields, right? Or is it the resonators' charge? Or somehow both?
- What influences which items I get when I hack a portal? In particular, do the portal's defenses influence this?
- I fired XMP at an enemy portal, but this seemed to have no effect on it (I saw -1% or something). How does the attacking work, I mean, what's the formula? What influences the result and how?
- To destroy enemy resonators, I need to fire XMP at a portal with its shields destroyed, right?
- There seem to be two ways to fire at a portal -- one to press-hold the portal and select "Fire XMP" and the other is to go to the Items menu, select the XMP burster, and press "Fire". Is there any difference? Also, why is the option sometimes disabled?
- What are passcodes? How are they used?
- Does it make a difference from which range I fire at a portal?
- Will it really help to quickly run away after firing, or I'll get hit anyway?
- Which portal actions can be executed remotely, and for which do you need to be in range? Or it depends on some conditions?

Thank you!!!

It's random as to what you receive from hacking. The key allows you to link and remotely recharge the resonators if your faction controls the portal.

Enemy portal defense is three parts. Resonator strength, which is displayed in the portal info screen. Shields, which are shown in map overview as an animation of a dome around the portal. The enemies ability to either remotely recharge the resonators by possession of a portal key, or better yet by them being at the portal and deploying resonators as you destroy them.
Items you get from having portals are random, however level restricted items are related to the level of the portal. If you are having a level three portal, you have equal chance to gain any item, but the items that are level governed will all be around level three.
Attacking works like any video game area of affect spell, however the damage is greatest where you stand. It becomes less the greater the distance the target is from your position. Also, xmp level plays a role in this. Bigger level xmps do more damage and have a larger blast radius. Using a level one xmp against a level three resonator will result in terrible damage, as level three resonators have more hp. Shields also factor into mitigating your damage.
Running away does nothing for you, save maybe for some exercise.
The only thing you can do remotely is view and recharge portals.

I hope this helps.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Ola Rozenfeld]

Yes, this is very helpful, thank you very much!

 

[xlDeMoNiClx]

So I got my code the other day, but couldn't find where to put it in until after. When I put it in it says it's invalid.

Also, when I turn off the app and go back in I've lost all the XM I've collected and am back to only the 600 you start out with so I can't even complete the first tutorial. This is made worse when I start out with tons of XM all over the place then after walking for a minute the map will change completely and won't match my area at all and there's no XM whatsoever to be seen anywhere.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Wicket]

So I got my code the other day, but couldn't find where to put it in until after. When I put it in it says it's invalid.

Also, when I turn off the app and go back in I've lost all the XM I've collected and am back to only the 600 you start out with so I can't even complete the first tutorial. This is made worse when I start out with tons of XM all over the place then after walking for a minute the map will change completely and won't match my area at all and there's no XM whatsoever to be seen anywhere.

Am I doing something wrong?

the tutorials will auto give you everything you need, if it's not it may be a bug.. you could try clearing the app data/cache and try again. just a thought.

 

[xlDeMoNiClx]

the tutorials will auto give you everything you need, if it's not it may be a bug.. you could try clearing the app data/cache and try again. just a thought.

Anything is worth a shot. Is there a way to do it just for that app?

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Anything is worth a shot. Is there a way to do it just for that app?

Yep... go to Ingress in Manage Apps in your device settings.

 

[sledge007]

Interesting, I didn't even input my invite code, I just clicked the link in the email and if I remember correctly, it started up the game and I was in. Same email address on the phone as my account. Sucks about the XM, I never have a problem finding it around here, nothing a 2 minute drive won't fill up. I have to drive or take the train downtown....there aren't any portals within walking distance, unless I want to walk for a couple of hours

 

[sledge007]

I will just add that it depends on where you're actually standing, as to the damage you inflict on a resonator. There is a 35 meter radius around a portal, 70 meter diameter...almost 210 feet. If you are standing on one side of the portal, and the opposition planted their resonators on the other side, you are wasting your ammo. A good indication is when you use your XM blaster, and only inflict 1% damage. Try moving around to another side of the portal and attack again. If it is still only inflicting 1%, there's a possibilty that it is getting remotely recharged. I find if after the third attempt you are STILL only inflicting 1% damage......time to move on. Go farm/hack some portals.

Talk to your team, find out who's been there the longest. Chances are they have literally hundreds of low level items that they don't really use anymore, ie lvl 1 resonators, blasters. Meet up with them, they can drop items in front of you, and you can pick them up. Team up together, let them destroy the portals, while you fill them up with resonators, followed by linking.....if you want to level up fast, that's a good way to do it.

Just some tips.