Ingress Slang, Lingo, and Terminology Guide
So recently I’ve gotten myself into Ingress, which is a global mobile capture-the-flag style game that’s been increasing in popularity of late.
While I’m in the process of writing a proper review and starter guide (which is taking longer than expected) I thought I’d start you guys off with a basic lingo / slang reference. The rest will come later, but it’s a fun way to (perhaps confusedly) introduce yourself to Ingress. =)
Originally Posted: January 21, 2014
Update: March 8, 2015 – A few terms added, formatting adjustment
Update: Sept 27, 2015 – Table styled and formatted for readability. Term additions.
For easier navigation, or Ctrl+F (Command+F) to find a specific term!
Items & Game Terms | Players | Actions & Activities | Misc. & Regional Lingo
Items & Game Terminology
| Term | Stands for… | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AP | Access or Action Points | “Experience”, needed to gain levels. Acquired by most active tasks in-game. |
| XM | Exotic Matter | The main resource in Ingress – counts as “energy” and “health”. |
| MU | Mind Unit | A measure of the human population that lives under a control field. |
| res, reso | resonator | An item in Ingress used to take and hold control of portals. |
| R | resonator | [Contextual] Sometimes used as an abbreviation for resonator. “Anyone have spare R7s” is asking if someone has spare level 7 resonators. |
| X(#), Burster | XMP | An item in Ingress used to attack and neutralize enemy resonators in order to neutralize portals. # indicates the level of the item. |
| US | Ultra Strike | Limited item that acts as a personal mod, lets the player target a specific resonator instead of an un-targeted AoE (area of effect) attack that busters usually use. |
| P(#) | Portal | Main objectives in Ingress. Players fight for faction control of portals, which are made from points of interest across the globe. # indicates the level of the portal. |
| Mod | Modification | An object that can be installed to increase the power or capability of another object. For example, installing a Shield MOD on a Portal will increase the defensive power of the Portal. |
| LA | Link Amp | A portal mod that increases the range of links between portals. |
| HS | Heat Sink | A portal mod that decreases the duration of burnout between portal hacks. |
| FA | Force Amp | A portal mod that increases the attack power of a portal. |
| S, PS | Portal Shield | A portal mod that puts a defensive shield over the resonators, dampening the effect of enemy XMP attacks. |
| TR | Turret | A portal mod that increases the rate of portal attacks. |
| MH | Multi-Hack | A portal mod used to increase the amount of times a portal can be hacked before burnout. |
| Link | — | A link is created between two portals by use of the in-game UI. |
| Field | — | A field is created by linking three or more portals. |
| Megafield | — | A field / series of fields that span a much larger area than normal (entire towns, for instance, or sections of a city). Megafields are often meticulously planned and even given names. |
| Anchor | — | A portal that supports one or more fields. |
| Hub | — | [Regional] An area with a large concentration of portals and fields; see also, farm. |
| L(#) | Level (#) | Used in conjunction with other abbreviations to indicate the level of an item, player, or portal. “L8”, for instance, is commonly used to refer to level 8 (max) players. It can be used to describe the level of items as well (L6 res = level 6 resonator). |
| “####” | — | Sequence of numbers indicates resonator levels, when deployed at a portal. “I put 8766 on portal (x)”, for instance, indicates that the player deployed four resonators; level 8, 7, and two 6’s at specified portal. |
| C(i) | Common (item) | Refers to common items, where “i” can be a shield, amp, etc. |
| R(i) | Rare (item) | [Contextual] Refers to rare items, where “i” can be a shield, amp, etc. |
| VR(i) | Very Rare (item) | Refers to very rare items, where “i” can be a shield, amp, etc. The rarer an item, the more powerful its effects. |
| Gear | — | Term used to refer to items obtained by hacking portals. Includes most inventory items (weapons, mods, resos, portal keys) |
Players
| Term | Stands for… | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Agent | — | Players of Ingress. |
| R, Res | Resistance | [Contextual] “r” on its own is sometimes used to imply resistance control / players. IE. “r.P3” would be used to indicate a resistance owned level 3 portal. |
| Smurf | Resistance Player | Term used to refer to Resistance players, who are blue (as are Smurfs). |
| Blewb | New Resistance Player | Refers to new Resistance players – combination of “Blue” and “Newb” |
| Blue | — | The color of the Resistance. When an area / region is referred to as “blue”, this is meant to indicate that area is heavily resistance controlled. |
| E, Enl | Enlightened | “e” on its own is used to imply enlightened control / players. IE “e.P4” would be used to indicate an enlightened controlled level 4 portal. |
| Frog/Toad | Enlightened Player | Term used to refer to Enlightened players, who are green (as are Frogs) |
| Tadpole | New Enlightened Player | Refers to newbie Enlightened players, as tadpoles are baby frogs. (Aww). |
| Green | — | The color of the Enlightened. When an area / region is referred to as “green”, this is meant to indicate that area is heavily enlightened controlled. |
| Lowbie / Newbie | — | Refers to low level / new players. |
| Sponge | — | When non-max players (L1-L7) actively capture, link and field to gain AP, before L8’s come in and upgrade everything to max. This allows low players to gain AP for levels while still creating strongholds for that faction. “Power leveling” so to speak. |
| Spoofer | — | Someone who tricks the GPS in their phone in order to interact with portals that they are not actually anywhere near. “Spoofing” the gps, so to speak. |
| Oracle, Operator, Dispatch | — | A player who uses the intel page [website] to act as a guide to mobile players. |
Actions & Activities
| Term | Stands for…. | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Drop | — | Often used to indicate a deployment of resonators at a portal “Dropped two R8’s on your portal.” Can also refer to the in-game action of dropping items, either to clear inventory or give to another player. |
| Cap | Capture | The act of gaining control of a portal, farm, etc. Enemy portals are captured(capped) by neutralizing and then deploying one’s own resonators. |
| 1/One Cap | — | Act of putting a single resonator on a neutral portal. An act of challenge or aggression. |
| Fill | — | Act of deploying resonators or mods to a portal that is not already completely deployed. For instance, players are only allowed to deploy 2 out of 4 mods per portal, and will sometimes ask a fellow player to “fill” the remaining spots. |
| Upgrade | — | Act of replacing lower level resonators / mods to higher ones. For instance, players are limited to deploying 4 of the same level resonators and will have to use the next level down to complete filling all the spots. |
| Farm/Farming | — | A “farm” (noun) is an area or route with a high concentration of portals (sometimes intentionally built that way) where players can spend a short amount of time hacking to collect items. This action is known as “farming”. When a player says he or she is going to “farm”, this indicates that their goal is to collect a large amount of items. This is often done in preparation for a larger scale attack or right after one, to renew resources. |
| FF8’ing | Flash Farm | When at least eight L8s come together to create an eight farm and quickly farm items before it can be attack by the enemy. |
| Garden | — | [Regional] Similar to a farm, but usually smaller. 5-10 portals, average. |
| “Make green/blue” | — | [Regional]Phrase used when players plan to spend time taking over an area for their faction – green for Enlightened, blue for Resistance. |
| “Gray out” | — | Phrase used when players neutralize a portal / farm. |
| Smash | — | When one player or team destroyed an enemy farm in glorious fashion. “SMASH!!” |
| Upkeep, Maintain | — | The process of actions used to maintain control of a portal or area, including recharging resonators, links, shields, etc. |
| Flip | — | Using an ADA/Jarvis (virus item) to turn a portal from one faction to the other instantly. |
| Hunting | — | Deliberately finding specific portals to attack, depending on a player’s personal motives. Sometimes a player will hunt another player’s portals, or perhaps certain types of portals (etc). This varies from player to player. |
| Pin | — | Sometimes used to refer to a resonator. The action of pinning means placing a resonator on a portal. “I pinned your farm.” |
| Bump | — | When a player “bumps” up the level of a portal by upgrading resonators. |
| Leveling | — | The process of gaining levels to be a more effective / powerful player. |
| “In the field” | — | Refers to mobile players who are out actively interacting with objectives. |
| Ping | — | Act of firing on a portal, often with low level XMP, to send the portal’s owner[s] an alert without the intention to destroy. |
| Clear/Scrub moss | — | [Faction Specific]When resistance players actively attack and capture enlightened portals. |
| Dirty Hacking | — | Hacking an enemy portal for gear |
Misc. & Regional Lingo/Slang
| Term | Stands for…. | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Socks, Socks for Christmas | — | [Regional] Getting undesired items from a hack, such as L1 resonators. |
| Sitrep | Situation Report | [Regional?] Asking for an update on current goings on in one’s territory. |
| Couch/Home, Office/Desk Portal | — | Refers to portals that are hackable from players’ homes or work, making for easy / repetitive interaction. |
| Beer Portal | — | [Regional] Refers to portals that are hackable from popular drinking spots. It is considered bad sportsmanship to attack beer portals, as they are used by both factions, sometimes flipped for fun. |
| Guardian Portal | — | A portal that an agent is holding for his/her guardian badge. |
| Drift | — | When the scanner malfunctions and shows the player at an incorrect location, or generally floats back and forth periodically. |
| Pineapple / Campfiring, Dick Flip | — | [Regional] Capturing a portal by placing all resonators extremely close to the portal, giving it a pineapple-like or campfire-like appearance [img] . This is done often to use an ADA/Jarvis to switch the portal to the enemy faction, making a poorly designed, easily capturable portal for one’s team. |
| Meatballing | — | Similar to the above, however usually unintentional by new players who don’t yet understand how to properly space / deploy. |
| Pop | — | [Regional]Act of breaking shields – “Pop” a shield. |
Credits: Various users of reddit who contributed to my crowdsourcing thread; Enlightened players of Boston.
