Merits are the limited-time event currency tied to Arc Raiders’ community unlock for the new Stella Montis map. Right now they sit in an odd place: you can earn them, you can’t spend them yet, and there’s a hard cap on how many you can stockpile.
Arc Raiders merits: what they are
Merits are a special currency granted during the “Breaking New Ground” live event, which runs alongside the 1.2.0 update that adds Stella Montis. They’re not part of the usual loot, crafting, or token systems. Instead, merits are tied directly to how much you donate to the community tunnel-rebuilding project.
The key points:
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| What merits are | Limited-time event currency for the Stella Montis community event |
| How to get them | Donate basic materials to the Breaking New Ground project |
| Current cap | 900 merits per account during this phase |
| When they matter | Used to claim rewards in the next phase of the event |
| Can you spend them now? | No, they’re banked for the upcoming phase |
How to access the Breaking New Ground event
The merits system only exists inside the Breaking New Ground live event. You don’t see it in regular missions or the workshop.
To get to it:
- From the main menu, select the live event icon in the top-left corner.
- Open the Breaking New Ground event page.
- Go to the Donations tab to see the materials list, the community progress bar, and your current merits.
There’s also a “More information” button at the bottom of the donations screen. That in-game text explains that merits are used to claim rewards in the next phase and that the current phase has a 900-merit cap.
How to earn merits in Arc Raiders
The event asks you to donate only the most common materials in the game. You donate in batches of five units at a time.
| Eligible material | Category |
|---|---|
| Metal parts | Basic crafting resource |
| Fabric | Basic crafting resource |
| Plastic parts | Basic crafting resource |
| Rubber parts | Basic crafting resource |
| Chemicals | Basic crafting resource |
For each donation of 5 of any of these materials, you earn 20 merits. The game tracks donations cumulatively across all five resource types, so you can mix and match whatever you have on hand.
Arc Raiders merits cap: how many you can get
There is a strict ceiling on how many merits you can earn in this phase:
- Max merits this phase: 900
- Merits per donation: 20 per 5 resources
- Donations required to cap: 900 ÷ 20 = 45 donations
- Total resources required: 45 × 5 = 225 basic materials
In other words, once you’ve donated a total of 225 eligible materials (in any combination), you hit the 900-merit cap and stop gaining more. You can still donate after that, but your merits won’t increase.
How long it takes to max out your merits
The community experience so far lines up around the same ballpark: the requirements are low and designed to be reachable for casual players.
- One player reports that it’s “not even a full stack of each” and confirms the 225-material total.
- Another broke down that even with zero saved materials and no Scrappy upgrades, roughly 7–8 matches worth of basic passive income is enough to reach the cap.
- Some players managed to max out their merits in about an hour without focusing solely on donations, just by playing normally and feeding spare materials into the event.
Because most runs naturally generate dozens of basic materials, players who log in even briefly during the event window should be able to reach 900 without a heavy grind.
Can you keep donating after hitting 900 merits?
Yes. The personal currency cap and the community progress bar are separate.
| After 900 merits | What happens |
|---|---|
| Donating more materials | Still increases the global progress toward unlocking Stella Montis |
| Your merits total | Stops at 900 and does not increase further this phase |
| Contribution limits | No daily cap; you can donate as many materials as you want |
Some players have already thrown thousands of materials into the project purely to push the community meter, even after their personal merits stopped going up.
Why the event progress was slowed down
When Breaking New Ground first went live, the community burned through the tunnel-repair objective much faster than expected. The global progress bar climbed into double digits within a couple of hours. Shortly after, the required total was increased and the visible percentage dropped back down, effectively slowing the pace so that more regions and time zones had a chance to log in and donate.
The practical outcome is that you have more time to reach your 900 merits, even if you can only play in short windows.
What Arc Raiders merits will be used for
The in-game information is explicit on one point: merits are not redeemable during Breaking New Ground. They are carried forward into the next stage of the event.
- The event text states that “Merits can be used to claim rewards in the next Phase.”
- Phase 2 is titled “Staking Our Claim” and will introduce a new progression track with rewards and challenges once the community donates enough to fully restore the tunnels.
Details about the exact rewards—whether they are cosmetics, gameplay items, or a mix—have not been shared yet. What is clear is that your balance from Phase 1 becomes your starting budget for that second-phase reward track.
Because of the 900-merit cap, everyone who hits it will enter Phase 2 on equal footing, regardless of how many extra materials they donated beyond the minimum.
Should you keep farming merits beyond 900?
You can’t actually go beyond 900 in this phase, so the real question is whether to keep donating once you’re capped.
Reasons to stop at 900:
- You’ve already locked in the maximum currency for Phase 2 rewards.
- Basic materials are useful for crafting and upgrades, so you may prefer to bank them.
Reasons to keep donating anyway:
- Your extra materials directly accelerate the community’s progress toward unlocking Stella Montis.
- If you have an oversized stockpile of common materials you’re not using, this is a way to convert them into global progress, even if your personal merits don’t rise.
There’s no hidden benefit for donating more after the cap—no extra merits, no exclusive tier—so it’s purely about helping the wider playerbase reach the map unlock sooner.
Practical checklist for Arc Raiders merits
If you just want a quick plan of action, this is the simple loop:
- Open the Breaking New Ground event from the main menu.
- Donate any combination of metal parts, fabric, plastic parts, rubber parts, and chemicals in 5-unit batches.
- Watch your merits climb by 20 per donation.
- Stop once you hit 900 merits, unless you want to keep donating purely for community progress.
- Hold onto those merits until Phase 2, “Staking Our Claim,” goes live and the reward track becomes available.
If you’re worried about missing out, the material requirement is intentionally light. A handful of regular sessions, or even one focused farming block, is enough to secure the full 900 and be ready when merits finally turn into actual loot.
