When you first boot up your Scanner, you learn that the world are full of an energy called "Exotic Matter" (XM). The two different Factions fight to control this Energy.

There are 2 Factions in the Game.

Enlightened

The Enlightened seek to use the XM to evolve the Human race. Their Leader is Roland Jarvis.

Resistance

The Resistance try to prevent the XM controlling human Minds. The effect of XM is still unclear.
Their Leader is ADA (A Detection Algorythm).

For every action you take (except of walk) you will need XM.XM are shown on the Scanner as little,white Dots.They gather at Portals.

Like I mentioned above,Portals are common at historical places. But what are they?
Portals are the Points where Exotic Matter leaks into our world.
An Agent can claim a Portal for his Faction by powering it up with Resonators.A Portal can be Powered up with up to eight Resonators.

In order to place Resonators,Fire XMP´s etc. you will have to hack Portals.
You can hack every Portal, no exception if it is Green,Blue or Grey.
Enemy Portals will attack you and will cost you more XM Reserves. They also drop not many Items.
Neutral Portals will cost you normal XM Reserves (300XM),but they also drop not many Items.
Friendly Portals will cost you 300XM per hack and you aquire many Items,depending on the Portals Level.
You can Hack a Portal usually every 5 Minutes (also known as Cooldown or CD) and 4 times.After this 4 times,the Portal will bourn out and you have to wait 4 hours before hacking it again.

Resonators are XM Constructs to Power up Portals. They hold a certain amount of Energy within them. They can be destroyed from the Enemy. Every 24 hours a Resonator will lost 15% of it´s Energy. Resonators can be Recharged.

A Link is established by connect two Portals.The Requirements are the following:
-Both Portals hold 8 Resonators
-A Key from the other Portal is aquired already
-There are no other Links in the Way
-The other Portal is within the Range
Links are Powerful Bands of XM.
Fields are established by linking 3 Portals together.They cover the area under itself.
Every Field will produce Mindunits (MU) once. The MU are calculated with the Population Densinity the Field Covers.

You are near a Portal,but it is Controlled from the Enemy? No Problem. Just go to the Portal and Fire some Exotic Matter Pulses (XMP) to take down the Energy of the Resonators.
After destroying all Resonators of the Portal,it will turn grey and is ready for capture.

There are different kind of Mods for a Portal.Every Portal can hold up to 4 Mods,but one Agent can only install 2 Mods per Portal.

There are 3 different kinds of shields: common,rare and very rare.
The shield decreases the damage of enemy XMP´s,also called Mitigation.
Common Shield(CS): +10 Mitigation
Rare Shield(RS): +20 Mitigation
Very Rare Shield(VRS): +30 Mitigation

There are 1 kind of Link Amps: rare.
The Link Amplifier is used to increase the Distance of a Portal you can Link.
Rare Link Amp(RLA): Link Distance *2

There are 1 kind of Force Amp: rare.
The Force Amplifier is used to increase the given damage of a Portal to an enemy.
Rare Force Amp(RFA): Damage *2

There are 1 kind of Turret: rare.
The Turret is used to increase Attack Frequency and Hit Bonus of a Portal to an enemy.
Rare Turret(RT): *2 Attack Frequency and +0.2 Hit Bonus

There are 3 different kinds of Heat Sinks: common,rare and very rare.
Heat Sinks are used to decrease the time of a cooldown.
Common Heat Sink(CHS): +20% cooldown decrease
Rare Heat Sink(RHS): +50% cooldown decrease
Very Rare Heat Sink(VRHS): +70% cooldown decrease

There are 3 Different kinds of Multi-Hacks: common,rare and very rare.
Multi-Hacks are used to increase the amount of Hacks before a Portal burns out.
Common Multi-Hack(CMH): +4 Hacks
Rare Multi-Hack(RMH): +8 Hacks
Very Rare Multi-Hack(VRMH): +12 hacks

All Mods except of the Shields will be less effective if there is already one kind of it installed. Mods are not removeable.

Passcodes are special codes that give you different Items when you redeem them.
They are usually limited in time and/or uses.One Agent can use the same Passcode once,but for example it can be redeemed just 100 times before it is "fully redeemed".

The ADA Refactor (also called ADA) and the Jarvis Virus (also known as Jarvis) are two very special Items in the Game.
The ADA Refactor turn Enlightened Portals (Green Portals) into Resistance Portals (Blue Portals).
The Jarvis Virus turn Resistance Portals into Enlightened Portals.
They are aquired very rare.

There are 8 different Levels an Agent can achieve:
Level 1:The Level of the Agent at the beginning.He can use Level 1 Items.His XM capacity is 3.000 XM.
Level 2:The Level of the Agent after gaining 2.500 Action Points.He can use Level 2 Items.His XM capacity is 4.000 XM.
Level 3:The Level of the Agent after gaining 20.000 Action Points.He can use Level 3 Items.His XM capacity is 5.000 XM.
Level 4:The Level of the Agent after gaining 70.000 Action Points.He can use Level 4 Items and his XMP´s now does enough Damage to capture normal Enemy Portals and destroy the Resonators.His XM capacity is 6.000 XM.
Level 5:The Level of the Agent after gaining 150.000 Action Points.His XMP´s are now very useful.His XM capacity is 7.000 XM.
Level 6:The Level of the Agent after gaining 300.000 Action Points.His XM capacity is 8.000 XM.
Level 7:The Level of the Agent after gaining 600.000 Action Points.His XMP´s are very strong and theoretically he can take over every fiendly Portal.His XM capacity is 9.000 XM.
Level 8:The current highest Level in the Game and achieved after the Agent gained 1.200.000 Action Points.The Agent is now very important for the Faction and often helps with Operations.His XM capacity is 10.000 XM.

Every Portal has it own Level,which decide which Level Items will drop,the strength,the Distance you can Link...
The Portal Level are calculated with the Resonators Level.For example:
You need 8 Level 2 Resonators/16 Resonator Levels for a Level 2 Portal,8 Level 3 Resonators/24 Resonator Levels For a Level 3 Portal etc.