What's the fastest way to level up to level 2 in ingress?
I've started playing ingress recently, and it's fun, but it's really annoying to be unable to use most of the items you get when you're at level 1. The level 1 xmp's are too weak to take over much of anything that's not already weakened unless you have a lot of them.
I've been walking around hacking things for hours trying to level up, but it's taking quite a long time. It seems like all I can do at this point is hack enemy portals for 100 AP at a time since I run out of level 1 xmp's before destroying resonators. If I'm lucky I find a friendly portal without all the shields filled in, but even that is only 150 AP. I can't deploy higher level resonators that enable long links. I've been around friendly portals that an enemy was trying to attack and was able to save it by recharging as they attacked, but that doesn't give any AP points. So it seems like just level grinding till you get to the higher levels.
Am I missing something obvious or easy to get AP points early in the game?
Solution 1:
Hack plenty of enemy portals. You get 100 AP for hacking an enemy portal, but none for hacking a friendly one.
If there are no unclaimed portals around (highly likely in some locations), find a level 1 enemy portal and start slugging away. You'll want a few dozen XMP bursters at minimum to destroy the portal, but the rewards are high--destroying 8 resonators and planting 8 of your own on a single portal will get you almost a quarter of the way there. Even if you don't manage to capture the whole portal, you'll still have gotten 75 AP for each resonator you destroy.
Deploying portal shields is a good way to get AP that may not be obvious at first. Check every friendly portal you encounter to see if it has a full complement of shields. If it doesn't, deploy as many as you can. You get 150 AP for each one.
Solution 2:
Creating links and fields generates the most AP at that stage.
http://ingressportal.com/research/experience-ap/
Solution 3:
Finding neutral portals and filling them with resonators is probably the fastest way of gaining AP.
Each portal you build up with 8 resonators and 4 shields will reward you 2000AP. Do this 5 times and you are level 2 :-)
Avoid to recharge lonely portals (recharging a portal will give you 10AP per charge), sometimes it is better to let them decay to neutral and then rebuild them, more AP at the end.
Solution 4:
Also, when working with higher-level players remember that upgrading another player's resonators gives AP now, too.
So in a team with a level 1, a level 2, a level 3 and a level 4 player:
- All together blow the old resonators up. The L4 has the highest chance do deal the killing blows. (600+ AP)
- Then the L1 places 8 L1 resonators and one shield (1750+150 AP)
- Then the L2 upgrades 4 L1 to L2 and places one shield (260+150 AP)
- Then the L3 upgrades 4 L2 to L3 and places one shield (260+150 AP)
- Then the L2 upgrades 4 L1 to L2 (260 AP)
- Then the L4 upgrades 4 L3 to L4 and places one shield (260+150 AP)
- Then the L3 upgrades 4 L2 to L3 (260 AP)
In total: 1900 AP for the L1 player, 670 AP for the L2 and L3 each, 1010 AP for the L4
Solution 5:
Since nobody else has mentioned it, the fastest way I've seen new players level up is to work with a higher level player. The higher level player can destroy or weaken a portal for you, and then you can place all the resonators. Or since I hit level 8 there's little point me creating fields for points, so I just give away my extra keys so others can make fields and get the points.
Higher level players will often be excited to help a new player level up because they know that the more active people they have on their team, the more help they'll have defending their territories. Also, once people hit level 8 they really don't have any reason to keep earning AP, so they might as well help their team out as much as possible.
Just ask in the Faction chat in your Comm to see if anybody's nearby who wants to help you past the early levels.