Honor Bars and Merits
The ultimate, long term achievement game. There are hundreds of Honors, Medals and Merits that earn you "merit points", which you then spend to upgrade your character.
Spending Merits
Every enhancement has 10 tiers - The first tier costs 1 merit point, the 2nd costs 2, 3rd costs 3.... all the way to the 10th costing 10 merit points.
There are a few universally agreed upon “must haves” when it comes to what you should spend your merits on. These will SIGNIFICANTLY save you time in the long run (the long run being… years).
EDUCATION — MAX IT OUT
The first category you will want to dump all of your merits into is EDUCATION. MAX OUT EDUCATION. WE REPEAT. MAX OUT EDUCATION. 1% increases may seem like a waste, but it will shave YEARS off of education time. This is pretty much a universally agreed upon must-do.
CRIME PROGRESSION
Again over the long run, this will greatly increase your speed in maxing out your crimes (which, in turn give you more merits and allows you to participate in more OCs!)
BANK INTEREST
Making money might seem hopeless when you first start out, and near impossible before level 15, but one of your main goals as you progress will be to max out your bank investments, all the way up to the cap of $2B. This will end up making you millions of dollars a day in interest. It is the safest and lowest effort way to make mega money in Torn. (You can swap this with #2 if you somehow have a ton of cash (swipe swipe) and start banking early, although it usually takes people a while to build up to this).
Everything else
After you've maxed out these 3, it is much more open as to what you want to achieve in Torn and how you are structuring your character. You will see different advice here. Andyman has a good situational write-up for each of the enhancements – if you find yourself in X situation, then Y enhancement might be good for you. Andyman's enhancement guide →
Resetting Merits
Did you fuck it up? Don't worry. In the Points Market, you can Reset Merits. Torn users are occasionally gifted free resets, otherwise it usually costs 500 points to reset, so do so wisely.
Easy-ish Merits
A lot of these you will naturally get as you play the game, but the more merits you can get early on, the faster your overall progress will happen (remember, it's a snowball effect). Some of these unlock double merits, some of them you can easily combo together, some of these are easy but will cost you $.
Crimes
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trainee Troublemaker | 119,763 | Commit a total of 100 criminal offenses | |
| Digital Duplicator | 68,112 | Commit 100 Counterfeiting offenses | |
| Web Wizard | 39,776 | Commit 100 Cybercrime offenses | |
| Budding Bully | 0 | Commit 100 Extortion offenses | |
| Troublesome Trickster | 51,825 | Commit 100 Fraud offenses | |
| Grass Grower | 0 | Commit 100 Illegal Production offenses | |
| Underworld Upstart | 31,147 | Commit 100 Illicit Service offenses | |
| Petty Pilferer | 109,600 | Commit 100 Theft offenses | |
| Sinister Scoundrel | 52,168 | Commit 100 Vandalism offenses |
Attacking & Defending
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland Camo | 418,477 | Win 5 attacks | |
| Desert Storm Camo | 306,824 | Win 20 attacks | |
| Urban Camo | 241,782 | Win 50 attacks | |
| Arctic Camo | 190,432 | Win 100 attacks | |
| Anti Social | 242,604 | Win 50 attacks | |
| Double Dragon | 139,525 | Assist in a single attack | Coordinate with a friend |
| Self Defense | 97,159 | Win 50 defends | Coordinate with a friend |
| Bouncer | 64,109 | Successfully defend against 50 attacks | Coordinate with a friend |
| Invictus | 183,001 | Successfully defend against someone who has at least double your battle stats | Coordinate with a friend |
| Close Escape | 13,915 | Successfully escape from 50 foes | Coordinate with a friend |
| Kill Streaker 1 | 274,689 | Achieve a best killstreak of 10 | |
| Strike | 161,421 | Acquire a kill streak of 25 | |
| Flatline | 301,645 | Achieve a one hit kill on a target from full life | Find a super low level |
| Semper Fortis | 236,611 | Defeat someone who has more battle stats than you in a solo attack | Coordinate with a higher level faction member |
| Manu Forti | 149,226 | Defeat someone who has at least double your battle stats in a solo attack | Coordinate with a higher level faction member |
| Phoenix | 113,965 | Defeat someone after losing to them within 10 minutes | Coordinate with a friend, or prioritize the same person when you lose |
| Survivalist | 77,885 | Win an attack with only 1% life remaining | |
| Guardian Angel | 49,595 | Defeat someone while they are attacking someone else | Coordinate with a friend |
| Blood Money | 70,711 | Make $1,000,000 from a single mugging | Find a low level selling something expensive. Buy it, then immediately mug them. |
| Yoink | 34,549 | Successfully mug someone who just mugged someone else | Coordinate with a friend |
| Church Mouse | 74,554 | Be mugged for exactly $1 | Coordinate with a friend who only has $1 on them |
| Domino Effect | 249,721 | Defeat someone displaying this honor | |
| Deadly Duo | 31,108 | Attack and defeat an opponent with your spouse | |
| Lovestruck | 95,592 | Defeat a married couple | |
| Going Postal | 42,940 | Defeat a company co-worker | |
| Gone Fishing | 112,904 | Be defeated by a trout | Anyone who wants a trout beating, let me know! |
Weapons & Finishing Hits
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machinist | 33,470 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with mechanical weapons | |
| Stumped | 23,678 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with heavy artillery | |
| Axe Wound | 52,578 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with clubbing weapons | |
| Pin Puller | 27,259 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with temporary weapons | |
| Lend A Hand | 26,655 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with machine guns | |
| Yours Says Replica... | 38,914 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with pistols | |
| 2800 Ft/S | 77,374 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with rifles | |
| Cartridge Packer | 36,409 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with shotguns | |
| Act Of Faith | 40,769 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with SMGs | |
| The Stabbist | 109,610 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with piercing weapons | |
| Slasher | 77,080 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with slashing weapons | |
| Unarmed | 22,021 | Achieve 100 finishing hits with fists or kick | |
| Leonidas | 51,378 | Achieve a finishing hit with Kick | |
| Finale | 47,647 | Defeat someone on the 25th turn of an attack | Coordinate with a friend, using low damage items for majority of strikes (pillow) |
| Spray And Pray | 242,037 | Fire 1,000 rounds | |
| Surplus | 42,982 | Use 100 rounds of special ammunition | |
| Dragon's Breath | 14,129 | Use a 12 Gauge Incendiary round |
City & Exploration
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watchful | 148,982 | Find 10 items in the city | Search the MAP every day (there are add-ons that highlight items) |
| Finders Keepers | 94,229 | Find 50 items in the city | Search the MAP every day (there are add-ons that highlight items) |
| I'm Watching You | 94,218 | Find 50 items in the city | Search the MAP every day (there are add-ons that highlight items) |
| Eagle Eye | 72,641 | Find 100 items in the city | Search the MAP every day (there are add-ons that highlight items) |
| Optimist | 20,749 | Find 1,000 items in the dump | This will cost E, so prioritize as you like |
| Eco Friendly | 37,341 | Trash 5,000 items | Buy the cheapest items you can find and trash them in the dump |
| Lavish | 34,721 | Dump an item with a current market value of at least $1,000,000 | Take your pick |
| Historian | 42,581 | Read a chronicle | Pre-Req - Know how to read |
Casino
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awesome | 66,969 | Won while spinning the Wheel of Awesome | Play these every day until you get this merit |
| Mediocre | 86,753 | Won while spinning the Wheel of Mediocrity | Play these every day until you get this merit |
| Lame | 97,951 | Won while spinning the Wheel of Lame | Play these every day until you get this merit |
| Spinner | 22,858 | Spin the roulette wheel 1,000 times | Takes an average of 15 days if you spend all of your Casino Points |
| Foot Soldier | 39,567 | Beat 10 unique opponents in Russian Roulette | Join games or start your own for cheap |
| One in Six | 23,406 | Win 50 games of Foot Russian Roulette |
Money & Property
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Money | 437,218 | Make an investment in the city bank | |
| Apprentice | 482,213 | Have a recorded networth value of $100,000 for at least 3 days | |
| Entrepreneur | 412,410 | Have a recorded networth value of $250,000 for at least 3 days | |
| Executive | 377,204 | Have a recorded networth value of $500,000 for at least 3 days | |
| Millionaire | 344,591 | Have a recorded networth value of $1,000,000 for at least 3 days | |
| Multimillionaire | 279,510 | Have a recorded networth value of $2,500,000 for at least 7 days | |
| Pious | 85,377 | Donate a total of $100,000 to the church | Not happy about it, but easy merits |
| Saintly | 53,943 | Donate a total of $1,000,000 to the church | Not happy about it, but easy merits |
| Wholesaler | 61,305 | Sell 1,000 points on the market | Buy and Sell |
| Landlord | 61,251 | Lease one of your properties to someone | Any property will do |
| Luxury Real Estate | 48,659 | Own an airstrip | Someone who already owns a PI with an airstrip can give you ownership temporarily |
Faction & Social
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chainer 1 | 151,976 | Participate in a 10 length chain | Once you are out of recruit status, can do this on your own with a Xanax or a point refill |
| Recruit | 160,626 | Earn 100 respect for your faction | Easy once you start participating in chains |
| Apprentice Faction Member | 191,891 | Serve 100 days in a single faction | :) |
| Friendly Fire | 67,583 | Defeat a fellow faction member | We've all done it |
| Welcome | 59,966 | Be online every day for 100 days | Up to you! |
| Silver Anniversary | 217,583 | Stay married to a single person for 50 days without divorce | |
| Two's Company | 42,633 | Refer one friend to Torn who goes on to reach level 10 | |
| Three's a Crowd | 14,276 | Refer two friends to Torn who go on to reach level 10 | |
| Social Butterfly | 6,914 | Refer three friends to Torn who go on to reach level 10 | |
| Pyramid Scheme | 10,409 | Have one of your referrals refer another player who goes on to reach level 10 |
Items & Consumables
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoholic | 46,044 | Drink 500 bottles of alcohol | |
| Diabetic | 58,498 | Eat 500 bags of candy | |
| Sodaholic | 9,596 | Drink 500 cans of energy drink | |
| Pin Cushion | 87,965 | Use 500 medical items | |
| Clotted | 79,109 | Hospitalize yourself by using the wrong blood bag or drinking some Ipecac Syrup. | Will need to have IV Therapy Education completed to use Bloodbags |
| Radaway | 19,493 | Use a Neumune Tablet to reduce radiation poisoning | Use an irradiated bloodbag, then take this tablet |
| Stinker | 26,818 | Successfully prank someone with Stink Bombs | |
| Wipeout | 27,774 | Successfully prank someone with Toilet Paper | |
| Foul Play | 27,126 | Successfully prank someone with Dog Poop |
Progression & Misc
| Name | Rarity | Description | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protege | 163,745 | Complete the mission Introduction: Duke | |
| Lean | 659,725 | Attain 100 total stats | |
| Fit | 355,338 | Attain 1,000 total stats | |
| Energetic | 97,154 | Achieve the maximum of 1,000 energy | Use 3 Xanax without spending any E in between |
| 10-Stack | 104,426 | Increase a merit upgrade to its maximum | Unlock all ten bars in a single merit category (ahem, Education, ahem) |
| Intern | 168,874 | Use 100 job points | |
| Citizenship | 144,904 | Be a donator for 30 days | Buy a donator pack |
| Devoted | 88,494 | Be a donator for 100 days | Buy more donator packs |
| Fresh Start | 77,296 | Reset your merits |