Bring on Combat Badges!

thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭

While we're talking about badges elsewhere...it's high time we have badges awarded to us for combat!

In game you have badges for:

1) Builder -- deploying resos

2) Connector -- making links

3) Mind Controller -- creating fields

4) Illuminator -- capturing MU

5) Liberator -- capturing portals

Even though the stats are on our profile for Resos destroyed, portals neutralized, enemy links destroyed, and enemy control fields destroyed, we only have 1 badge, Purifier, awarded for destroying enemy resonators. That's it.

I know this has been discussed before, but I'm bringing it up again because frankly, these are good badges to have and the game cannot be only focused on building; things need to be torn down to be built back up.

(I'd also love an MU destroyed badge, but since that isn't a captured datapoint already, I'm not suggesting it here.)

I say it's high time we have matching destruction badges to complement the creation badges. What say you, fellow agents?

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Comments

  • 1valdis1valdis ✭✭✭✭✭

    Clutter.

  • Aside from Liberator though, each of the badges you listed requires a "specific action" independent from the others.

    • Destroying a portal requires you to destroy all resonators on the portal.
    • Destroying a field requires you to destroy all but 2 resonators on a portal.
    • Destroying a field requires you to destroy all but 2 resonators on a portal.

    That's why there's only one badge.

    Liberator is a little odd, because you can only get Liberator by deploying on a portal but I guess it's to promote variety.

  • PangarbanPangarban ✭✭✭✭✭

    You have a valid point here.

    In addition, some players like to play a game of denying the opposition badges, so this would be one more reason people would single deploy and not link when visiting opposition territory.

    Remembering the Cassandra Neutralizer challenge, a lot of players went so far as to neutralize portals but not even to deploy a single resonator, so as to deny the badge to their "enemy". Niantic had to introduce extra AP for deploying the first and last resonators to encourage people to keep deploying.

  • aaronviannoaaronvianno ✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2021

    Maybe think of new things that rely on creation?

    Eg. Upgrade portals to P7.

    Or make consecutive links to a single portal.

    Or make a total link length of the distance to the Sun.

    Or visit an anomalous portal. This one could actually drive more folk to anomalies.

    Hack media items.

    Successfully redeem passcodes.

  • MonkeyPeltMonkeyPelt ✭✭✭✭

    It would be interesting to see an MU destroyed badge which could provide more incentive to drop perma-BAFs. I get it wouldn't be retroactive, but could be another potential easy onyx for new agents chasing leveling badge requirements, and another opportunity to build community having vets accompany or at least point n00bs to these enemy anchors.

    IMO there needs to be more incentives to destroy. So many areas get built up then builders have to wait for decay, even having opposing factions deploy on portals next to each other. I also realize low player population has a part to play, but that's another topic.

  • grendelwulfgrendelwulf ✭✭✭✭✭

    For a combat badge I would count all three: portals neutralized, Links destroyed, and fields destroyed as one badge stat.

  • ToxoplasmollyToxoplasmolly ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think it's important not to underestimate the desire to "stick it to the other team." Even after deploy bonuses were added to the Cassandra Neutralizer event, my local opposition still didn't bother to deploy on any portals. Even now, they seem content to not build farms, not make MU, etc. But if I so much as touch one of "their" portals, anything I own will get wiped off the map.

    In general, though, I would imagine and hope that incentives to build would eventually become incentives to destroy for the simple reason that Agents will eventually run out of space and need to clear the game board to make room for themselves.

  • thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭

    I would argue they're not the same at all. Destroying fields is directly related to MU control. Destroying links may not impact MU at all. You can destroy portals without fields, portals without links, or any combination of those.

  • grendelwulfgrendelwulf ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yes, but a portal holding multiple links and fields would be a high value target, so why not go all the way? Maybe players would go after those permafields now?

  • mortuusmortuus ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mods destroyed i would like as badge, why is there none ? u dont even get ap for mods deploy fine, but gives us a badge then.

  • thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mods have always been weird to me in this game. Resonators have a direct relationship to portal distance, but mods don't. Mods are just as strong regardless of distance deployed. And while you get AP for deploying them you get none for killing them. Heavily unbalanced in favor of the deployer.

  • phthoruthphthoruth ✭✭✭✭

    I'm in favor of an MU destroyed stat.

    I enjoyed the Unique Neutralized Portals stat we had temporarily. Would like to see that come back.

    A stat for mods destroyed would be good. And AP. You get 125 AP for deploying a mod. You should get 75 AP for destroying one, same as resos.


    Badges would be nice. Any skill based badge would be nice. Additional badges, or additional levels to the current badges. For the existing stats I'd probably suggest neutralizer and salvator (fields) badges.

  • thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭


    I would say at this point, it's already "too easy" in terms of badges to level, especially with the annual year badge, trekker, illuminator, sojourner, and now the new Epoch badge and the Scout / Scout Controller badges. We now have 2 badges that can go to onyx just from doing nothing but hacking a portal every single day. I would say at this point, if you're badge locked there is VERY little excuse.

    So therefore I'd want to disconnect the notion of badges to leveling and instead have badges be a more visual representations of gameplay styles. Being a boomer vs a builder are definitely unique styles and as evinced by above discussion, both are key to gameplay; churn is important. Therefore, we should have SOME badges besides purifier to represent the effort that agents put into the game, just as we have 5 distinct badges for builders to represent their gameplay style.

    I think fields & links destroyed are much more relevant to effective gameplay than resonators destroyed; if you go and wipe out a bunch of single-cap portals, that has far less of an impact than taking down tons of enemy fields & links. Badges for those stats promote that.

  • We now have 2 badges that can go to onyx just from doing nothing but hacking a portal every single day. 

    And one of them requires that if you fail once in a year, you start over, and the other requires you to play for a year and two months at least.

    Those two aren't always easy for players who are more casual or have less regular access to portals. For someone who only plays on weekends, those are basically impossible badges.

    But that said, as has been raised multiple times, destroying stuff is done through the same action. Multiple destroyer badges is credit for the same action.

  • Each of those actions you listed above, except for Liberator, has additional conditions though.

    The only 'additional condition' for destroying fields is that the portal has fields hanging off it. The only 'additional condition' for destroying links is that the portal has links hanging off it.

    • Spec Ops requires you to start a mission.
    • Explorer requires you to hack in different locations.
    • Sojourner and Epoch requires you to hack consistently.
    • Translator requires you to get the Glyphs correct.
    • Liberator - As mentioned previously is the only real case where you get dual credit.
    • Pioneer requires you to travel to different portals.
    • Mind Controller requires you to make fields not just links.
    • Illuminator requires you to make fields over places with decent MU scores.

    Destroying doesn't require any additional effort or real choice.

  • ToxoplasmollyToxoplasmolly ✭✭✭✭✭

    Destroying doesn't require any additional effort or real choice.

    Sure it does, same as any of those other "conditions":

    • Destroying fields requires you to travel to portals with fields hanging off of them.
    • Destroying links requires you to travel to portals with links hanging off of them.

    These are non-trivial requirements when the local opposition doesn't believe in building anything worth a hoot…

  • thesolothesolo ✭✭✭✭✭

    But those are additional conditions. Not sure why you're putting those in quotes. You could earn purifier without ever killing a single link or field, which does nothing to promote MU changes.

  • For me I get the Resos destroyed leads to almost all other actions achieved but mods destroyed is its own action. Sometimes no reso is destroyed but mods are and now I see you can get AP for destroying Mods but no badge. It has been a baffler for me. For a long time, no AP was earned for destroying Mods despite mods deployed earning players AP. I get everything else not being badged but at least mods destroyed gets its own category. Call it Destructor or something.

  • To be honest, as badges for deploying and constructing is available readily, my feeling is so should badges for destroying and destruction. Why not? If Niantic had done it the other way round peeps would have still played similarly because the game never awards AP for holding on to actions only for changing situations which is why deploying AND destroying is together crucial to the game. You can get profile stats for holding onto fields, portals, links, etc. but no AP. As long as portal interactions continue AP will be gained. If the colour of the portal changes you get badges for changing white portal to allied faction colour, for changing from enemy faction colour to white and then for all the stuff that goes with building up stuff. I have seen that MU is given for size of real life population covered but a static amount of AP for creating a field thus a large field and a small field yield the same AP. Destroying fields also can yield up to about 2000 AP depending on when and how much you destroy. Yet no badge. One action to build can yield plenty of results and can build several badges at the same time. One action for deploying = increments to a lot of badges.

    One action in destroying = increment in only one badge. Ingress can be more diverse. It always seems to have been since it adjusts things during events. Why do they insist on leaving one badge for destroying stuff?

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