Keep getting “Hack acquired no items” in Ingress

ingress

This just started happening to me. For a long while I was getting something pretty much every time I hacked a portal. Tonight I'm frequently getting the message "Hack acquired no items.". Sometimes it's happened 3 portals in a row. Is there something that triggers this, or is it just really bad luck tonight?

Hack acquired no items

Best Answer

As far as I know when you hack a portal there is a certain probability that you get nothing. As well as there is a probability to get a good loot.

My observations:

  • Hacking enemy portals has a much higher "no item" probability, my estimates would be around 50%
  • Hacking the same portal several times in a row, significantly increases the "no item" probability. I had an opportunity to hack the same portal 5 times within 30 minutes (this by the way causes burn out) 2 days in a row, usually at least 2 of later trying (3-5) did not bring me any items except sometimes a portal key.
  • Portal key has a different "acquire" probability than items
  • I believe if while hacking you jump out of the portal's reach you also get a "no items" message, but I have to test this to confirm