VRBB L8 Maximizer

Basic concepts

Based on reverse-engineering and community experiments, it's understood that VRBB tracking involves two concepts for each resonator on the portal: the visible holder (the name shown on the portal) and an internal faction-specific owner, a concept invented by the community to explain VRBB behavior.

When a VRBB flips from faction A to faction B between phases, the system attempts to transfer the B-side owner of each resonator to match its B-side holder.

There are three actions that affect resonator holder/owner assignments:

1. When agent Ace from faction A deploys or upgrades a resonator, or uses an A-side flip card: the resonator becomes holder = A-owner = Ace, and B-owner = B_system (ADA or Jarvis).
2. When agent Ace from faction A places a VRBB: the A-owner of all resonators is overwritten to Ace.
3. When agent Ace uses a flip card of the opposite faction B: the affected resonator becomes holder = B-owner = B_system, and A-owner = A_system.

This explains a commonly observed situation: if agents Ace and Alice (faction A) deploy resonators first, and then Ace places a VRBB (without further actions), by Phase 3 you'll see all resonators appear to belong to Ace — even those deployed by Alice — because the A-owner of those resonators was overwritten during VRBB deployment.

On the other hand, if Ace first deploys a VRBB on a neutral portal, and then both Ace and Alice deploy resonators, the resonator holders will remain individually assigned in later phases.

---

Why can a player place multiple L8 resonators under VRBB?

This relies on the interaction of two mechanics:

1. When multiple agents from the same faction are present, placing resonators before placing a VRBB will convert the internal A-side owner to the VRBB placer (e.g. Ace). Then, after the portal flips to B (CP2), holders are B-system. When the portal flips back to A (CP3), all resonators owned by Ace are visible as Ace's, allowing other A agents to continue placing. This is called a pseudo flip.
2. After placing a VRBB, but before the final flip (CP4→CP5), if the portal is currently owned by your faction, using a flip card will convert both holder and owner to the system agent. When the portal flips back to your faction in the next CP, the portal is "clean" with only system-held resonators, and your faction can place again.

---

Differences for 3, 4, or 5–7 agents: try starting from a neutral portal?

When there is no double deploy bonus, starting from a neutral or enemy portal, 3 agents from the same faction can only build an opposing-faction L8 portal.

With 4 same-faction agents (or 2 during a double deploy event), starting from a neutral or enemy portal, the only way to achieve a same-faction L8 portal after one VRBB phase is to deploy the VRBB on a neutral or enemy portal and consume one flip card in the process.

With 5–7 same-faction agents (or 3 during a double deploy event), starting from a neutral or enemy portal, it is possible to achieve an L8 portal without using a flip card.

In general, when there are 3–7 same-faction agents, starting from a neutral portal always gives you valid options. You only need to set the portal's team manually during initialization if you're trying to preserve L8 deployments from non-active (non-present) agents.