What Is War Merit?

War Merit is a new rare currency introduced in Season 6. Unlike resources (Food, Iron, Coins, Oil) or standard season currencies, War Merit is earned specifically through faction warfare contributions — participating in Altar captures, City Destruction attacks, defensive repels, and similar faction activities.

War Merit is spent in the War Merit Shop on season-exclusive rewards.

War Merit Rewards Players Who Fight

War Merit is a direct reward for being an active, contributing faction member. Players who sit in their bases farming resources without participating in Altars, City Destruction, or cross-faction fights earn significantly less War Merit. This is the deliberate design — the rewards favour faction participation over passive accumulation.

How You Earn War Merit

War Merit comes from faction warfare contributions:

Altar captures — participating in the rally that captures an Altar awards War Merit to attendees
City Destruction attacks — successful attacks on enemy cities contribute War Merit
Garrison defence repels — successfully defending against enemy rallies awards defensive War Merit
Faction-wide milestone rewards — hitting season goals (X Altars held, Y cities destroyed) releases War Merit to all contributing alliance members
Daily War Merit stipend — a daily flat amount based on your faction rank tier (see below)

The exact amounts per activity vary but the pattern is consistent: the more directly you contribute to your faction's war effort, the more War Merit you earn.

Tier Ranks

War Merit introduces Elite Ranks / tiered faction status. Your personal War Merit rank determines:

Your daily War Merit stipend — higher tiers grant more War Merit passively per day
Access to premium War Merit Shop items — top-tier items often have a tier-rank gate, not just a cost gate
Visual status and alliance standing — higher ranks are visible to your alliance and enemies

Tiers typically advance by cumulative War Merit earned across the season. A player who fights consistently from Week 1 will out-rank a player who joins the fight late, even if the latter works harder in the final weeks.

The War Merit Shop

The War Merit Shop is a new shop interface where War Merit is the currency. Typical offerings include:

Hero shards — including those for Awakening progression (check the shop rotation; some weeks offer Kimberly/DVA/Tesla shards, other weeks offer SSR→UR Braz shards)
Exclusive Weapon materials — materials for pushing existing EWs to Level 20+ (useful because Awakening requires EW 20+ as a prerequisite)
Skill books and medals — refill your skill investment stockpile
Gear materials — late-season gear upgrades
Decoration duplicates — push meta decorations to Level 3+ for the Damage Reduction / Skill Damage unlocks (see the Decorations Tier List)
Resource chests — standard Food/Iron/Coins/Oil packages
Cosmetic/prestige items — avatars, banners, marks of faction standing

Shop inventory rotates; the specific items vary by week. Check the shop daily rather than planning against a fixed inventory list.

Spending Priority

Given a fixed War Merit budget, here's the priority order most players should follow:

1. Exclusive Weapon materials (if you need EW 20+)

If your Kimberly/DVA/Tesla Exclusive Weapons are under Level 20, the Awakening prerequisite blocks you entirely. Pushing an EW to 20+ unlocks everything else. This is the highest-value War Merit spend for a player whose EWs are behind.

2. Named Awakening Shards (if offered)

When the War Merit Shop offers Kimberly, DVA, or Tesla Awakening Shards, buy them. War Merit is roughly comparable in value to the Battle Pass's named shards — with the benefit of being free to accumulate if you fight enough.

3. Braz shards (for the S6 SSR→UR promotion)

Braz's promotion requires accumulated SSR shards. If the shop offers Braz shards, it's a solid medium-priority spend to prepare for the promotion window.

4. Decoration duplicates

Especially S-tier decorations (Win in 2026, Rock The End, etc.) that unlock Damage Reduction at Level 3. The global-buff multiplier from decorations is one of the highest power-per-shard trades in the game.

5. Skill books / medals

Lower priority than the above; supports hero progression but doesn't solve specific bottlenecks.

6. Resource chests — last resort

Resources are available from many sources. Spending War Merit on resources wastes the currency's unique access to tier-gated items.

Daily Stipend: Why Tier Matters

The daily War Merit stipend is a flat award based on your Elite Rank / tier. A higher-tier player:

Earns X War Merit every day passively (regardless of that day's activity)
Compounds faster over the season than a lower-tier player
Can afford more War Merit Shop purchases overall

The practical effect: the rich get richer. Early-season faction participation locks in a higher tier, which compounds into more War Merit, which unlocks more tier-gated shop items, which strengthens your hero roster, which helps you participate more effectively in late-season fights.

Translation: push faction participation from Day 1 of Season 6 to lock in a high tier. Catching up mid-season is much harder than it looks.

Relationship to Other Season 6 Systems

Altars (guide) — the primary source of War Merit via capture participation
City Destruction (guide) — another major source via successful attacks
Global Expedition (guide) — provides Awakening shards directly (free), whereas War Merit provides them indirectly (via shop)
Factions (guide) — your faction's overall performance gates some top-tier War Merit rewards

War Merit is the glue that connects Season 6's mechanics into a reward loop — fight for Altars, destroy cities, earn War Merit, spend it on Awakening materials, come back stronger for the next fight.

Common Mistakes

Saving War Merit for "the best item" — the War Merit Shop rotates. Items you pass on may not reappear. Spend as you go on items that meet your needs, don't save infinitely
Skipping daily contribution — the daily stipend and tier progression reward consistent daily activity. A single high-activity week won't catch up a week of inactivity
Spending War Merit on resources — low value. Resources have many sources; War Merit has one
Ignoring the EW 20+ prerequisite for Awakening — if your hero's EW is Level 18 and you have spare War Merit, buy the EW materials before the Awakening shards. Shards without EW 20+ don't help
Ignoring War Merit for players in low-activity alliances — even solo fighting earns you War Merit from every Altar rally you join. Don't let your alliance's pace dictate yours

Related Guides

Season 6 Overview — the big picture
Altars Guide — War Merit source #1
City Destruction Guide — War Merit source #2
Global Expedition Guide — the free-route alternative for Awakening shards
Hero Awakening Guide — why EW 20+ matters and how War Merit accelerates it
Decorations Tier List — S-tier decoration priorities, a high-value War Merit spend

War Merit Guide

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