Easy Merits Guide for New Torn Players
Merits are special objectives in Torn City that reward you with merit points once completed. Those points can be spent on permanent perks, so unlocking merits early gives new players a meaningful head start.
Many merits look intimidating because they reference advanced mechanics, but a surprising number of them can be completed within your first few days of play with almost no battle stats. This guide collects the easiest, most reliably achievable merits and explains exactly how to unlock each one.
The steps below assume you are a fresh player still working through the early levels. Where a merit relies on another player, asking a faction member for a quick favour is usually the fastest route.
Combat merits you can get with low stats
These merits involve attacking other players, but each one targets a weakness rather than raw strength, so even a brand-new account can complete them.
Domino effect — defeat a player with the domino honor bar
Look for a low-level, low-stat target wearing the domino honor bar. Common public targets of this kind sit at very low total stats and very low life, so a single attack is usually enough to defeat them. Because these targets are popular, their life is almost always already low when you find them.
Woodland camo — win 5 attacks
Attack and defeat any five players. There is no requirement on who they are, so picking weak, inactive, or hospitalised targets makes this trivial.
Flatline — defeat someone in one hit
Level 1 deserters can often be defeated in a single hit. A faction member with donator status can use Advanced Search to find you a suitable one-hit target quickly.
Semper Fortis, Manu Forti and Vae Victis — beat someone with more, 2x, and 5x your stats
These three merits reward defeating opponents far stronger than you on paper. The trick is to find a target with extremely uneven stats — high total stats but very low defence, speed, and dexterity. Such a target can be knocked out in one shot despite a huge total, letting you claim all three tiers at once.
Uneven-stat targets change over time, so confirm a candidate's defence, speed, and dexterity are still low before attacking.
Love Struck — defeat a married couple
Find a married couple and defeat both partners. Lower-level couples make easy targets, and a faction member can help you locate one.
Self-defeat and social merits
A few merits require you to be on the receiving end of an action. Faction members are the simplest way to arrange these safely.
Gone fishing — be defeated by a trout
Ask a faction member to attack you while equipped with a trout. Being defeated by the trout unlocks the merit.
Church Mouse — get mugged for $1
Keep a small amount of cash in your wallet (around $21) and wait to be mugged, or ask a faction member to mug you. The mug unlocks the merit.
Economy and property merits
These merits cost a little money but require no combat. They are some of the fastest to complete on a new account.
Pocket money — make an investment in the bank
Go to City, open the Bank, enter any amount, choose a duration, and invest. The merit unlocks the moment your deposit is placed, regardless of the amount.
Landlord — lease a property to someone
Buy a cheap trailer (around $5,000), then rent it out to another player for at least three days. A faction member can take the lease to make this quick and reliable.
Pious — donate a total of $100,000 to the church
You need to donate $100,000 to the church in total. A common way to fund this cheaply is to buy beer in bulk from Bits N' Bobs and resell it on the item market, which can net more than the donation amount.
Time-based merits to start early
These merits unlock after a fixed amount of activity. Starting them on day one means they finish in the background while you play.
Forgiven — pray at church for around two weeks
Visit the church and pray. Keep praying daily for roughly two weeks straight to unlock the merit. Because it is purely time-gated, begin it as soon as possible.
Spinner — spin the roulette wheel 1,000 times
Each day you receive 75 casino tokens. Spend them all at the roulette table and you can reach 1,000 spins in about two weeks. To avoid losing money, place one $10 chip on red and another on black each round, then use Repeat Bets. You only lose on the rare zero.
Betting both red and black keeps your token spend stable so the merit becomes a pure time investment rather than a money sink.
Spray and Pray — fire 1,000 rounds
Equip a primary weapon with a high rate of fire — an inexpensive P90 from Big Al's Gun Shop (often cheaper on the item market) works well. Keep attacking and firing until you have spent 1,000 rounds.
Reading, training, and job merits
The final group covers a chronicle, a stat threshold, and a quirky starter-job merit.
Historian — read a chronicle
Open the chronicles, choose any article, and keep it open while reading. The merit unlocks within about ten minutes, so you can leave it open in another tab while doing other things.
Lean — reach 100 total stats
Train at the gym during your early levels until your total stats reach 100. Higher happiness and a better gym both increase your gains, and moving into a better property raises your happiness — renting a decent property early is a cheap way to boost training.
You can sometimes find a low-happy ranch with zero rent in the property market, which is a great early home for cheap stat gains.
The Affronted — infuriate all starter-job interviewers
Until level 3 you can only work starter jobs: Army, Grocer, Law, Casino, Medical, and Education. During each interview, certain dialogue options will anger the interviewer. Do this across all starter jobs to unlock the merit. If you exhaust the options, you can reapply after roughly three days.
Torn Intel is a community fan resource and is not affiliated with Torn.com. Game mechanics, targets, and prices change over time, so always verify in-game before acting on a specific tip.