Torn City Merits: their Use

As you make progress, you can earn merits, which you can use on several options. This page provides you with an overview the benefits you can gain by using merits.

Some general tips: the higher your level is, the more you gain by using (most of) the merits. So if you are thinking of using them for something that is level-related (such as health, stats, money) you might want to consider waiting for a bit longer. Saving up merits has not harmed anyone.

Incremental upgrades

These upgrades cost more for each level. Level 1 costs one merit point, level 2 costs 2 level points, lvl 3 cost 3 points etcetera.

This means you will have to carefully consider whether or not you want to buy another upgrade for each next level. The costs go up, the benefit stays the same...

Benefit	Comment
Increase max nerve bar by 1	Not worth it, unless (example): you are doing 7 nerve crime and have a 20 nerve bar. The +1 lets you do one more of this crime with a full nerve bar.
+5 casino tokens each day	Well, if you like gambling... but I wouldn't do it.
Increase critical hit rate +1%	Now this is interesting, it is a lasting benefit and might win you a few critical fights.
Increase awareness	You will find more items, but mostly these are worthless. Don't waste your merit on this.
Masterfull looting	Said to increase the amount of cash you get by mugging. I used one, not noticing any difference. Wouldn't recommend it, as there are more profitable ways to use the merit.
Improve stealth	If you attack someone, there is an increased chance he never knows it was you. Usefull if you are a hitman, but if not... why would you want to hit someone and then hide? I'd want them to KNOW it was me, so they know not to mess with me... However, if you want to remain unknown, this is a good one.
Increased interest	Was good once...but then they capped the bank (making many, including me, lose a lot of merits). Since this cap, banking has become a lot less profitable.
Hospitalize for +10 minutes	Nice, but with all those morphs... don't know if it is gonna make much of a difference.

Non-Incremental upgrades

Non-Incremental upgrades are those for which the cost is fixed, no matter how many times you use them, the benefit and costs are always the same.

Benefit	Effect	Comment
Life	Increase life by 50 * level	This is a nice one, more life means more chance of winning fights. And with 50* level, this upgrade is more effective than upgrading defense (see below)
Increase crime success rate	Said to improve crime-success	Don't know anybody who has seen an improvement...
Respect bonus	Respect of your faction goes up by 10	Could be usefull if you are low on respect, more respect helps succeeding OC's. However, if you'd get kicked, your merit is gone... if you do this, make sure you are gonna stick with that faction. No longer available from september 2008
Strength bonus	10*level	A nice boost to your stats.
Defence bonus	10*level	A nice boost to your stats. However, less effective than Increasing life (see below)
Speed bonus	10*level	A nice boost to your stats.
Dexterity bonus	10*level	A nice boost to your stats.

Defence boost or life boost? An example.

Defence affects the amount of damage you can absorb without losing health. Armour plays an important role here. Say you , lvl 10, have an armour which gives 50% and you are being attacked by someone hitting 300 damage. You start the fight with 1000 health points.

Option 1 - buying defence: With your merit you gain 10 * 10 = 100 defence, meaning the attacker can do (50%*100=)50 less damage. Your attack can then only do 250 damage, meaning he has to hit you 4 times. Before, he could do 300 damage, and he ALSO had to hit you 4 times to beat you. Not much of a gain, is it?

Option 2 - buying health: Your merit gains you 50 * 10 = 500 healthpoints. Your attacker still does 300 damage. However, first, he had to hit you 4 times to take your 1000 health. Now, he must hit you five times to win, increasing your chance of actually winning the fight.

These calculations can be done at any level, with any armour, with any stats. They always show that option 2 is the better one.

Buyable items

You can also use your merits to buy some special items.

Item	cost	Comment
Yasukuni sword	10 merits	An excellent melee weapon, doing about 35% more damage than the samurai sword. Very expensive in the markets.
Xbox360	2 merits	Enables you to use energy to gain happiness. Very usefull when you just bought a better house and are waiting for happiness to regenerate. (For example: it normally takes 3 DAYS to gain a full happy bar when you move into the palace)
Rusty sword	1 merit	A pretty useless weapon, better get a samurai sword for $80,000 in the markets or $75,000 in Mexico.
Coat Hanger	1 merit	You NEED this to do GTA. But first, check the price in the item market. Most of the time, you will find it cheaper than $25,000 * level, which is the money you can get for the merit. I strongly recommend buying this item in the market and using the merit elsewhere.
Firewalk virus	1 merit	DON'T DO IT: it is a single use item, only used in a lvl 25+ mission. It earns only 75K....