Forgiven merit
What TornLife's research has established about Forgiven merit, and the questions players asked about it.
What TornLife has verified
- A Torn developer (Chedburn) confirmed in 2016 that the Forgiven honor/merit has secret, undisclosed requirements, and that failing to receive it means those requirements were not met. (confirmed by Torn; Forgiven Honor Bar - Didn't trigger, )
- A Torn staff member (bogie) in 2014 said the consensus guess was about two weeks of daily praying, but staff themselves were uncertain whether other factors could shorten or lengthen that. (documented; 'Forgiven award', )
- Praying at the church costs 5 energy per prayer, confirmed by activity log excerpts quoted in bug reports. (documented; Forgiven Merit, )
- Staff (CloudJumper) stated the requirement is theoretically to pray once per day on a strict 24-hour cycle (not the in-game 'Torn day'); praying twice a day is only a recommended safety margin to avoid missing the window, and praying three times a day gives no extra benefit beyond wasted energy. (confirmed by Torn; Forgiven merit, )
- CloudJumper (staff) directly diagnosed a player's failed 14-day streak by pointing out several gaps of more than 24 hours between prayers, which reset the player's progress. (confirmed by Torn; Forgiven Merit, )
- Staff (CloudJumper) reiterated in 2025 that the award description is deliberately kept vague and does not specify a 15-day streak or any other exact number; players have worked out the general requirements themselves through experimentation, not from any published rule. Staff also stated at least 10 players successfully triggered the honor that same day, indicating the mechanic is still functioning and achievable. (confirmed by Torn; forgiven merit bugged, )
- A developer (Chedburn) investigating a 2018 bug report of over two months of daily church prayer without receiving the merit found no issue, implying the player's own behaviour, not a game bug, was the cause. (confirmed by Torn; Forgiven For Your Sins Bug, )
- The Torn Wiki's Award page notes that all Awards/Honors (including Forgiven) are being majorly reworked with the release of Crimes 2.0, and that listed awards may no longer exist for some players while new ones may be unlisted, with the page not yet fully updated to reflect the current post-Crimes 2.0 state. (documented; Award › Honors, )
- A staff reply in 2026 to a player who had prayed 14 days in a row without receiving the merit was dismissive ('The priest likes them more than they like you'), attributing the failure to the player rather than a game malfunction. (confirmed by Torn; Forgiven Merit, )
- The Torn Wiki's Church page lists a sample positive donation-result message, "A most charitable donation, thank you child. I forgive you for your sins," but explicitly notes this message does not trigger the Forgiven honor bar, confirming that donating money to the church (even with forgiveness-themed flavour text) is a separate action from whatever actually grants the merit. (documented; Church › Donating, )
- The Church's Honor Bars table lists five bars with their requirements: Pious (donate $100,000 total), Saintly (donate $1,000,000 total), Forgiven ("Be truly forgiven for all of your sins"), Devout (donate $100,000,000 total) and Sacrificial (donate $1,000,000,000). Unlike the other four, which are explicit money-donation thresholds, Forgiven's listed requirement gives no numeric or mechanical detail. (documented; Church › Donating, )
- Staff explained that Honors/merits on the merits page show "Unknown Rarity" until enough data exists to calculate it, with staff estimating that a rarity is assigned once at least 5 players have unlocked the award; rarity is recalculated automatically once per day. (confirmed by Torn; Arson Skill 100 Merit has no rarity calculation, )
- A developer later (September 2018) replaced the raw-count rarity system with percentage-of-userbase bands: Extremely Rare up to 217 holders (0.01%), Extraordinary up to 2166 (0.1%), Rare up to 5415 (0.25%), Limited up to 10829 (0.5%), Uncommon up to 21659 (1%), then Common. (confirmed by Torn; Merit Circulation & Rarity, )
- By December 2019 the rarity category list ran Very Common, Common, Uncommon, Limited, Rare, Extraordinary, Extremely Rare, One of a kind; the developer then renamed 'Extraordinary' to 'Very Rare' in the live category set, effective from the next scheduled push. (confirmed by Torn; Merit Rarity Bug, )
Questions about Forgiven merit
- What is the Forgiven merit in Torn and how does a player earn it?
Forgiven is one of the Church's "Commitment" honor bars/merits, listed only as "Be truly forgiven for all of your sins" . Players earn it by praying …
- Which merit upgrades are worth buying for long-term benefit, and what are their costs, caps and trade-offs against other uses of points?
A merit costs 300 points (up from 250 before 3 Sep 2024), capped at one per two levels up to 50 by level 100 . The durable buys are percentage catego…