Merit upgrades
What TornLife's research has established about Merit upgrades, and the questions players asked about it.
What TornLife has verified
- Miscellaneous upgrades per level: Nerve Bar +1 max nerve; Critical Hit Rate +0.5% (base about 12%); Life Points +5% max life; Crime Progression +1% crime experience and skill gain; Education Length -2%; Awareness +20% items found; Bank Interest +5%; Masterful Looting +5% mug money; Stealth +0.2; Hospitalizing +5%; Addiction Mitigation 2%; Employee Effectiveness +1. (documented; Merit › Upgrades › Miscellaneous Upgrades, )
- The in-game wording quoted by players in 2017-2019 was: a continuous boost of 3% to the effect of your crime experience resulting in increased success rates. Players found this ambiguous and asked whether it raised CE gain or success rate. (player reports; Crime Experience merit gain, the truth, )
- Weapon mastery upgrades exist for each weapon type. Each level adds 1% damage and 0.2 accuracy. Temporary Mastery only affects damaging temporary weapons. (documented; Merit › Upgrades › Weapons Upgrades, )
- Free merit resets can be used any time, must be used before buying one with points, and do not raise the points cost. They come from the book High School For Adults and have been given every year since 2018 as a Christmas gift. (documented; Merit › Free Merit Reset, )
- Historical changes: casino token merit removed 02/03/12; stat, health and sword merits removed; hospitalization merit changed from +10 minutes to +5% in the 2021 Medical Revamp. (documented; Merit › Historical Notes, )
- The Life Points upgrade is level-independent: spending at level 1 equals spending at level 50, since the bonus is a percentage of max life. (documented; Merit › Upgrades › Miscellaneous Upgrades, )
- Under Crimes 1.0 the merit gave 3% per upgrade, up to 30% at 10/10 upgrades; a 2017 wiki capture calls it crime success ability, and a 2024 capture of Crimes 1.0 says it boosts crime experience by +3% per merit. (documented; Crimes 1.0 › How to Increase Odds in Crime Success, )
- Fighting stat merits (Sharpness, Brawn, Protection, Evasion) give 3% each to the matching stat, so 30% at 10/10. (documented; Merit › Upgrades › Fighting Stats, )
- Education merits give -2% education time per level, max 20%. Reductions multiply with the WSU stock block and Principal perk, giving 35% with all three. They apply only to courses started afterward. (documented; Education › How to shorten Education time, )
- Each upgrade is incremental, with price rising 1 merit per level, up to 10 upgrades costing 55 merits in total. (documented; Merit › Upgrades, )
- The current wiki Perks page lists the full merit category set: Nerve, Critical hit rate, Life %, Crime success %, Education Length, Awareness %, Bank interest, Mug Amount %, Stealth, Hospitalizing Time, Addiction mitigation %, Employee effectiveness, the four battle stats, and ten weapon-class mastery merits plus Temporary weapons, each at +1% damage/+0.2 accuracy per upgrade. Maximum of 27 merit perks total. (documented; Perks › Personal Perks › Merits, )
- Weapon-class mastery merits increase that weapon's accuracy by +0.2 per upgrade (max +2.00 at 10/10), a bonus unchanged through patch history even as the damage bonus from the same merit was later reduced. (documented; Perks › Personal Perks › Merits, )
- Merits are used to buy incremental upgrades, each upgradeable up to 10 times, at a total cost of 55 merits per upgrade line (price rises by 1 merit per step). (documented; Merit › Upgrades, )
- A developer confirmed that organised crimes (OCs) use only raw crime EXP and the company bonus; crime success-rate merit upgrades do not affect OC success chance. (confirmed by Torn; Issue regarding unclear wording on merit upgrades, )
- A duplicate-submission bug in the merit upgrade transaction could cause merits to be deducted twice and an upgrade to progress beyond the intended single-step state (e.g. an Evasion merit upgrade from 8/10 to 9/10 costing 9 merits could be double-charged); staff confirmed the bug was fixed and affected players' merits were corrected. (confirmed by Torn; Duplicate merit upgrade requests..., )
- A developer said in Dec 2023 the current merit list had 27 options (11 weapon, 4 stat, 5 misc attacking upgrades), that the team feels every meaningful unique bonus already exists (faction trees, company specials), and the long-term plan is to eventually add 'Traits', an expensive 11th upgrade per category giving a niche unique ability with a downside. (confirmed by Torn; Do we need more merit upgrade choices?, )
- Responding to a suggestion for negative-tradeoff merit traits (e.g. +20% Defense at -5% to all other stats), the developer confirmed such traits are the intended design direction, saying benefits would not always outweigh drawbacks, would depend on playstyle, and the goal is to avoid every player choosing the same 'essential' upgrade. (confirmed by Torn; Do we need more merit upgrade choices?, )
- The Torn Wiki confirms Protection, Sharpness and Evasion merit upgrades each give a passive 3% bonus per point to Defense, Speed and Dexterity, capped at +30% at 10/10; it also lists other stacking passive sources (drugs, company bonuses up to 50%, weapon bonuses, armor, permanent overdose penalties), showing merit bonuses stack alongside other passive multipliers rather than being the sole source. (documented; Battle Stats › Increasing/Decreasing Battle Stats › Increasing/Decreasing Battl…, )
- A staff reply from 2016 states that a merit upgrade related to 'blinding temps' does not work as the asker assumed; it only affects damage and accuracy, implying temporary status-effect items/boosters are unaffected by that merit upgrade. (confirmed by Torn; Merit Upgrades for blinding temps, )
- A developer announcement confirms the Points Building price of one merit was raised from 250 points to 300 points, effective 3 September 2024; the cost of a full merit reset remained unchanged at a range of 500 to 5,000 points. (confirmed by Torn; Upcoming points building changes, )
- Patch list #179 (09/02/21) changed the critical hit merit upgrade from +10% (+7% actual) to +5% per level, reducing its effective value from what earlier players may have planned around. (confirmed by Torn; Merit/Patch History, )
- Two new merit upgrades, 'Addiction Mitigation' and 'Employee Effectiveness,' were added in patch #174 (29/12/20), expanding the categories available for long-term investment. (confirmed by Torn; Merit/Patch History, )
- Hospitalizing merit increases outgoing hospitalization time by 5% per level, max 50% at 10/10, the same total obtainable via Aggression faction upgrades; Fortitude faction upgrades separately cut incoming hospital time by 1% per level. (documented; Hospitalize › Increasing Hospitalization time / Decreasing Hospitalization time, )
- Nerve bar can be raised via merits, via a Company bonus, or via a Faction with upgraded Criminality, so the merit is one of three separate routes to the same stat. (documented; Crime › Crime Experience / How to Increase Your Nerve Bar, )
- Faction 'Steadfast' branch gives a separate, respect-funded (not merit) route to boosting gym training gains per stat, up to 10% (1% per upgrade) plus secondary/tertiary trees for extra 5% each, distinct from passive battle-stat merits. (documented; Faction › Upgrades Panel › Special Branches › Steadfast, )
Questions about Merit upgrades
- Which merits in Torn take the longest to obtain, and why?
The single longest-to-earn items are time-gated Honors, not the point-bought Merit upgrades: the marriage honor Stairway To Heaven requires staying m…
- 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…
- How is the Affronted merit obtained in Torn, and what triggers the award that grants it?
The Affronted is a Torn honor whose stated requirement is to "Irritate all job interviewers" . The actual trigger, confirmed twice by the developer, …
- Does Torn ever offer a free merit reset, such as during Christmas?
Yes. The wiki says free merit resets have been given every year since 2018 as a Christmas gift, and they can also come from the book High School For …
- Does the Crime Experience merit increase crime experience gained, or only crime success rate?
In Crimes 2.0, the merit (now Crime Progression) increases the crime experience and crime skill you gain, at +1% per level, up to +10% in total . Und…
Crimes ·
- How do you increase the maximum loan amount available from Duke?
- What is the best order or strategy to spend merits in Torn?
The two guides that rank merits (2020 and 2026) both put Education Length first. It costs 55 merits for all 10 levels . After that the order is playe…