Level

Something’s level is a general indicator of its strength. Agents, portals and some items have levels.

Agents

Your current level is displayed at the upper-right of the scanner screen and your agent profile. As a new recruit, you start as a level 1 agent. You level up when you reach certain AP thresholds (see table below). The green or blue meter at the top of the scanner screen displays your AP progress towards the next level. Tapping that meter will cause your current AP and the AP required for the next level to appear briefly on the screen. Your progress is also visible on your agent profile.

Starting with level 9, you must also achieve certain tiered medal counts in addition to reaching an AP threshold to level up. The medal requirements for the next level will be displayed below your current AP on your agent profile. The highest agent level is 16.

When you level up:

  • you gain the ability to use items of that level (up to level 8, the highest item level),
  • the maximum capacity of your XM reserves increases,
  • your maximum recharge distance increases,
  • the capacity of hypercubes increases, and
  • you receive a field kit containing inventory items.

Additional privileges are granted at certain levels:

Note that all the benefits and privileges you gain from leveling are retained when you recurse, except that you will lose the ability to use items higher than your level.

Requirements and Benefits

Level Requirements Benefits
AP Medals XM
Capacity
Hypercube
Capacity
Max Recharge
Distance
S G P O
1 0 3,000 XM 18,000 XM 250 km
2 2,500 4,000 XM 20,250 XM 500 km
3 20,000 5,000 XM 22,500 XM 750 km
4 70,000 6,000 XM 24,750 XM 1,000 km
5 150,000 7,000 XM 27,000 XM 1,250 km
6 300,000 8,000 XM 29,250 XM 1,500 km
7 600,000 9,000 XM 31,500 XM 1,750 km
8 1,200,000 10,000 XM 33,750 XM 2,000 km
9 2,400,000 4 1 11,500 XM 36,000 XM 2,250 km
10 4,000,000 5 2 13,000 XM 38,400 XM 2,500 km
11 6,000,000 6 4 14,500 XM 40,800 XM 2,750 km
12 8,400,000 7 6 16,000 XM 43,200 XM 3,000 km
13 12,000,000 7 1 17,500 XM 45,600 XM 3,250 km
14 17,000,000 2 19,000 XM 48,000 XM 3,500 km
15 24,000,000 3 20,500 XM 50,400 XM 3,750 km
16 40,000,000 4 2 22,000 XM 52,800 XM 4,000 km

 

Field Kits

All leveled items are given at the agent’s new level, up to level 8.

Level Reso XMP US Shield LA HS MH FA T PC Cap Apex
C R VR R C R VR C R VR R R
2 40 35 5 20 1
3 40 30 10 5 2 2 10 1 1
4 35 30 10 6 2 2 2 2 10 1 1
5 30 30 15 6 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 1 1
6 25 30 15 5 5 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 1 1
7-8 25 30 15 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 10 1 1
9 25 30 15 8 1 3 3 2 2 10 1
10 *20 30 15 8 1 3 3 2 2 10 1
11-16 25 30 15 8 1 3 3 2 2 10 1

* Level 10, for some reason, gives five fewer resonators.

History

  • 30 January 2014: Field kits and the fancy visual effects displayed in the scanner for leveling up are introduced.
  • 6 May 2014: The agent level cap is raised from 8 to 16.
  • 24 November 2014: The mission creator, originally available only to select agents, is made available to level 9 agents.
  • 4 December 2014: The level requirement for the mission creator is reduced to level 8.
  • 21 April 2015: The level requirement for the mission creator is reduced to level 7.
  • 3 September 2015: Portal submission, originally available to all agents, is suspended.
  • 10 May 2017: Operation Portal Recon becomes available to all level 16 agents.
  • 12 June 2017: The requirement for OPR is reduced to level 15.
  • 27 June 2017: The requirement for OPR is reduced to level 14.
  • 5 July 2017: The requirement for OPR is reduced to level 13.
  • 11 July 2017: The requirement for OPR is reduced to level 12.
  • 25 September 2017: Portal submissions are re-enabled for level 11 agents.
  • 10 November 2017: Threshold for portal submissions is reduced to level 10.
  • 8 May 2020: The requirement for Niantic Wayferer is reduced to level 11.
  • 8 June 2020: The requirement for Niantic Wayfarer is reduced to level 10.

Portals

When comparing two portals, the portal with the higher level will:

  • appear larger in the scanner,
  • spew more XM on the ground around it,
  • do more damage to enemy agents,
  • be harder to destroy (when fully charged),
  • require more XM to fully recharge,
  • cost more to flip, and
  • give higher-level gear when hacked.

A portal’s level is determined by summing the levels of its deployed resonators and dividing by 8, rounding down (unless the result is 0, in which case you round up). The highest portal level is 8.

Items

Some items are leveled; higher-level items are more effective than lower ones. The highest item level is 8. You cannot use items that are higher level than you. Below is a list of leveled items and the effect level has on them; see the corresponding articles for those items for more details:

  • Power cube: Affects the amount of XM obtained on use
  • Resonator: Contributes to the portal’s overall level, dictates the total amount of XM the resonator contains, and limits how many resonators of that level can be deployed on the same portal by one agent
  • XMP and ultra strike: Affects XM cost, damage and range