December has been filled with so many new updates and upcoming events! We have gathered a few things that have been released and will be going over it all in this post! I hope you are excited Agents, let’s dive into it!
Niantic Social
Niantic announced that their new in-game chat, Niantic Social, came out of Closed Beta and went into Open Beta on December 13th!
What is Niantic Social?
Niantic Social is an opt-in feature that enables you to communicate and coordinate real-world gameplay, manage your Niantic Profile and Niantic Friends list, and engage with communities around you, all from directly within Ingress.
Open Beta includes the following features to help you connect with other Ingress Agents and Niantic gamers:
- Private conversations with Direct and Group Messages: Messaging on Niantic Social is the most direct and secure way to communicate with other Agents. No more hoops, hurdles, and URLs from strangers: whether you’re recruiting an Agent that has just captured their first Portal or want to message an ally Agent in the field, Niantic Social is the best way to start chatting. Niantic Social also includes a Profile where you can verify Niantic IDs and game accounts, so you always know exactly who you’re talking to.
- Easily organize meetups: Use the Events feature to coordinate group meetups for Ops, First Saturdays, Anomalies, Field Art, and more! The real-time location sharing feature has also been improved, making it easier than ever to coordinate and keep track of other Agents during these meetups.
- Finding new Agents and Communities near you: Public communities can be created (and joined) by anyone that has access to Niantic Social. While private communities are great for classified faction discussions such as Ops and strategy, public communities are a place for Agents to connect, socialize, and discuss all things Ingress.
- Ingress Official Community Code: whnepURT
Currently Niantic Social DOES NOT have a way to create faction only groups. Meaning that you shouldn’t share anything in there that you dont want the other team to know as everyone can see everything and there is no current way to make Enl only or Res only chats.
How do I get access?
Open Beta is available for all C.O.R.E Agents around the world right now but anyone with access to Niantic social can invite other agents through COMM, Agent Profiles, or their own referral link that will be available soon. Currently refferal links will not work but should be available on the 22nd. The best way to get access is by asking Agents who already have access to invite you!
To learn more about how to grant access to Niantic Social, please visit this page!
Rare Battle Beacons
New Rare Battle Beacons have arrived! Battle Beacons are a way for Agents to host their own competitive events within Ingress, with the simple purchase of a Battle Beacon the In-App store. The first version of the Battle Beacon was released in September 2020 and showed a lot of promise for Agents who wanted to have more of an organized faction-based challenge that could happen any time of the year and without the need to go to an official event. Now, a second, new improved Rare Battle Beacon is available in the In-App store that allows Level 8 Agents to purchase it. This allows even more Agents the ability to run their own events as the original Battle Beacon only allows Level 16+ Agents to purchase and use it.
The Rare Battle Beacon is available now for in an 8 pack bundle for 16,000 (CMU).
For more information on the differences between the two available Battle Beacons, please click here or look at the infograph below.
Niantic Community Day with Rare Battle Beacons
With the newly released Rare Battle Beacons, Niantic has announced on twitter that they will be hosting Rare Battle Beacons at their Community Day #MeetYouOutThere locations. These Community day events will be held this Saturday,18 December, between the hours of 1100-1500 local time in US. You can find the full list of events here but they are also marked in Niantic social, under events for Agents to easily locate and RSVP to. Niantic brand ambassadors will be at these locations to meet attendees so be sure to say hello!
Ingress New Year 2022
A new year is like a neutral Portal, it is up to you to build a good one. Share your New Year’s Ingress Resolution with the Ingress Community with hashtag #IngressNewYear2022!
Niantic Researchers have detected a potential XM fluctuation starting from 20 December 2021 17:00 UTC to 3 January 2022 17:00 UTC! They have stated that we should see these changes within the scanner for the duration of this XM Event!
- 2X AP for deploying Beacons, Frackers, Fireworks, and Battle Beacons
- Drone cooldown reduced to 22 mins
- Distance reduced from 8km to 4km on Kinetic Capsule Programs
- +220AP for each new All-Time Unique Portal Visit as indicated by the Visited layer on the Layers button
Please remember that the KM reduction will only be present in Programs started with the event time frame.
End of the Year Countdown Kits
So Agents can take advantage of this XM Event, Researchers will be providing the following kits in the Ingress In-Game Store for the duration of this fluctuation:
Available from 20 Dec 17:00 UTC to 3 Jan 17:00 UTC
- Limited-time “New Year 2022” Medal (2500 CMU)
- 1 Resistance Firework + 1 Enlightened Firework (0 CMU; single redeem; for accounts older than 30 days)
Free Daily Drops available from 17:00 to 16:59 UTC (0 CMU; single redeem; for accounts older than 30 days)
- 21 Dec: 10 L1 Resonators
- 22 Dec: 10 L2 Resonators
- 23 Dec: 3 Rare LinkAmps
- 24 Dec: 10 L4 Resonators
- 25 Dec: 10 L5 Power Cubes
- 26 Dec: 6 Rare Shields
- 27 Dec: 10 L7 XMPs
- 28 Dec: 10 Ultra Strikes
- 29 Dec: 9 Rare Heat Sinks
- 30 Dec: 2 ITO EN-
- 31 Dec: 2 Niantic Beacons
- 1 Jan: 2 Rare Battle Beacons
- 2 Jan: 2 ITO EN+
There is a lot happening Agents! It is refreshing to see so many changes. If you chose to participate in these events, please remember to pratice your areas health and safety guidelines. Lets ring this new year in and look forward to 2022!