Good fielding is mostly about order. The same six links can make three fields or four depending on when you throw each one. This guide covers the rules that decide that, then the patterns agents use most. In agent slang, to throw a link is to make one, usually a long one, and an anchor is a corner portal of a field.
The rules that shape every plan
- You need a key to the far portal. The key is used up by the link, and the link costs 250 XM.
- Both portals need all eight resonators.
- Links can't cross any other link, friendly or enemy. Clear or avoid anything in the way before you travel.
- One link makes at most two fields, one on each side. If several triangles could form on the same side, only the outermost one does.
- Long links can't start under a field. A portal covered by a field can only throw short links out, under 2 km. The field's own anchors don't count as covered by it, and they can throw in to portals inside it.
- A portal can have eight outgoing links, or up to 40 with SoftBank Ultra Links. Incoming links are effectively unlimited, so point long-running patterns inward.
- Range comes from the starting portal. Check it with the link distance calculator.
One link, two fields
When two portals share neighbors on opposite sides, the link between them closes a field on each side at once. Set up the four outside links first, then throw the middle link last. That one link earns 313 AP plus 2,500 AP for the two fields.
Cover it, then throw back in
This is the most useful pattern to learn. You build a small field, cover it with a bigger one, then throw one more link back to the small field's tip. That last link splits the big field and makes two new ones.
Everything inside ABD ends up under two layers of fields. D has to be placed so that C sits inside triangle ABD. The tally:
| Step | Links | Fields | AP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small field ABC | 3 | 1 | 2,189 |
| Cover it from D | 2 | 1 | 1,876 |
| Throw back to C | 1 | 2 | 2,813 |
| Total | 6 | 4 | 6,878 |
Why order matters: if you throw D to C first, the last link from D has both A and C on the same side of it. Only the outermost triangle forms, so you finish with one field fewer for the same six links. Always make the inner field first and the throw-back last.
Keys to carry: if you start at A, throwing to B and C, then go to B and throw to C, the whole pattern takes one key for A, two for B and three for C. C is the portal you'll burn through, so farm it first.
Stacking a pyramid
A pyramid repeats the same idea along a line of portals running away from a base. Pick two base anchors, A and B, and a line of portals leading away from the middle of them. Go up the line starting with the nearest portal. At each one, link to A and to B, then link back to the portal before it for two more fields.
After the first field, each new portal adds three links and three fields, and you need a key for each of A and B at every step. For a long line that's a lot of keys, so divide the farming with a teammate. The base anchors get targeted once the other faction notices, so pick ones that are hard to reach or have someone watching them.
Fans
A fan uses one anchor and a curved row of portals around it. Work along the row in order. At each portal, link to the anchor and to the previous portal in the row, and each stop after the first closes a field. Because the links point inward, the anchor's eight-outgoing limit doesn't apply, but you'll need one anchor key for every portal in the row.
Working under fields
If an enemy field covers your neighborhood, you can't throw long links out of it, but short links under 2 km are allowed. To build something big, take down one anchor of the blanket first. Taking out any anchor removes every field it holds up, along with all its links.
Before you leave the house
- Draw the plan and check it for crossed links.
- Count keys per portal, and carry a spare or two for the ones you need most.
- Use the key farming calculator to work out how long the farming takes.
- Check that every portal you'll throw from has the range, and bring link amps if not.
- Bring enough XM capacity and power cubes. Six links is 1,500 XM before you've recharged anything.
- Look at the Intel map right before you go. Someone may have put a new link across your plan.
Common mistakes
- Making the big field first. The small ones inside it then can't form, because their portals can't throw out.
- Forgetting the portal you're standing at needs all eight resonators, and arriving without enough to fill it.
- Carrying keys in a capsule and not unloading them before you get there.
- Throwing the throw-back link first, which loses a field as shown above.