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The Link Amp (short for Link Amplifier) is a portal mod that increases the maximum length of an outbound Link thrown from the equipped Portal. The item was introduced in Update 1.28.1.

Standard Link Amps exist at Rare and Very Rare rarity. Community studies estimate the Rare Link Amp's drop rate at approximately 1 in 500 item rolls. The Very Rare Link Amp never drops from Portals and is available exclusively through Passcodes.

The sponsored SoftBank Ultra Link is found at Very Rare rarity and adds unique effects to the equipped Portal. Insufficient data is available to estimate its drop rate, but it appears to be approximately 1 in 5000 item rolls.

All Link Amps have 0 Stickiness.

SoftBank Ultra Link

The SoftBank Ultra Link (SBUL) is a sponsored Link Amp introduced in Scanner update in partnership with the eponymous East Asian telecommunications company.[1]

In addition to increasing the range to which outbound links can extend, the Ultra Link increases the number of outbound links that can be thrown from the Portal and adds 15% Mitigation to each linked Portal.

Increased Max Outbound Links

Nr. of
SBUL
Outbound
Links
0 8
1 16
2 24
3 32
4 40

Each SoftBank Ultra Link equipped to a Portal allows an additional eight outbound links to be thrown from the Portal. This effect doesn't diminish like other Mod bonuses, allowing up to 40 links to be thrown from a single Portal.[2]

Destroying an Ultra Link will not cause outbound links to be broken, although it will prevent the Portal from being used as a local node.

The mod is irrelevant to inbound links. An unlimited number of links can be made into any Portal with eight Resonators.

Increased Link Mitigation

The Ultra Link applies a fixed 15% Mitigation bonus to all Portals linked to the equipped Portal. [citation needed] If the equipped Portal supports at least one link, this bonus will be applied to the equipped Portal as well.

The Ultra Link Mitigation bonus doesn't stack. Applying multiple Ultra Links to one Portal, or linking one Portal to multiple endpoints with Ultra Links, has no effect. Each Portal will receive the 15% Mitigation bonus in addition to Mitigation provided by the links themselves.

Range Amplification

Rarity Link Amps Range*
- 0 1x
Rare 1 2x
Rare 2 2.5x
Rare 3 2.75x
Rare 4 3x
Very Rare 1 5x
Very Rare 2 6.25x
Very Rare 3 6.875x
Very Rare 4 7.5x
Very Rare 1 7x
Very Rare 2 8.75x
Very Rare 3 9.625x
Very Rare 4 10.5x
* Range depends on the Level of deployed Resonators, multipling the standard range by the numbers above gives the amplified range
Main article: Link#Link Range

Each Link Amp or Ultra Link applied to a Portal increases the length at which it can link to another Portal.

Applying additional Link Amps to a Portal has diminishing effects. The table to the right summarizes multiple mods' effect on link range.

The range amplification is only relevant to outbound links. The mod's presence doesn't affect other Portals' ability to link into the equipped Portal.

Destroying Link Amps has no effect on existing Links. Existing Links outside the Portal's newly-reduced range will remain standing.

Strategy

The Link Amp's role is obvious - throwing extremely long links to create very large Control Fields. In practice, high-level Portals have link ranges of hundreds of kilometers, and few agents will ever approach the limits within their entire careers. More often than not, Link Amps are found deployed haphazardly onto low-level Portals as an agent pads out his Engineer numbers.

That said, Link Amps enable impressive city-blanketing megafields, as well as blocking links with hard-to-reach anchors. Often, the items can be safely deployed in all four slots, as the anchor's obscure location is protection on its own.

A popular prank is for two agents to fill capture an enemy's favorite Portal, fill its Resonator slots with Level 1 Resonators, fill its Mod slots with Link Amps, then use a Flip Card to return it to his or her control. "Pineappling" or "Campfiring" the Portal leaves its owner stuck with an awkward, embarrassing, and largely useless Portal.

The Ultra Link Amp's special features enable some interesting gameplay possibilities. A single Ultra Link can grant extra Mitigation to dozens of nearby Portals, forcing opponents to take it out first. Two connected Portals with a few Ultra Links each can enable just two agents to throw a dense stack of layered fields.

Trivia

  • The maximum length of a Link is 6,881.28km, or about 17.2% of the Earth's equator.
  • On 14-15 March 2018, the longest known link of 6,881.278km was created, 99.99997% of the maximum.[3]

Gallery

References

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