Powerplay merits - help record complete data!

[Oberost]

Ok, so yesterday I arrived from an exploration trip and have some big numbers on the subject...

For 2025 systems worth 2,587 billions I got 386733 merits from UC in a LYR reinforcing system (-35%).
Regarding exobiology, I got 21,439 billions which translated in 245722 merits in the same LYR reinforcing system (-35%).

In total I got 632455 merits. I was rank 0 (I haven't done the initial assignments before), so no bonus whatsoever. After doing the first PP missions I reached rank 84.

In the trip to Beagle point I scanned every system and mapped every planet worth more than 1 million. I also scanned the planets with interesting enough (good payout) biological signals, and of course I got a lot of first discovery, first mapped and first footfall planets.

I know this are gross numbers, but maybe it can help.

 

[DaggaRoosta]

Seems there's a couple of consequential aspects of Powerplay 2.0 merit acquisition that have escaped a lot of people's attention (not our fault, the info about this wasn't well-communicated by Frontier and isn't easy to find):

1. Most merit activities can only be turned in in certain system types (Reinforcing, Undermining, etc.) and only with specific Powerplay factions. Most relevant to this thread: Exobiology can only be turned in for merits in Reinforcing systems belonging to LYR or Antal. Same for Cartography but with more factions: LYR, Antal, Kaine, Mahon, Aisling, Torval. Full breakdown at this link.
2. Some systems are completely excluded from Powerplay activities (and this includes turning in anything for merits). These systems include most capital systems and some of the most well-traveled systems in the game. On the galaxy map these Excluded systems are Stronghold systems (double four-pointed-star) that have a large dot on the upper right:
   
   

 

[Ned Flandalorian]

1. Most merit activities can only be turned in in certain system types (Reinforcing, Undermining, etc.) and only with specific Powerplay factions. Most relevant to this thread: Exobiology can only be turned in for merits in Reinforcing systems belonging to LYR or Antal. Same for Cartography but with more factions: LYR, Antal, Kaine, Mahon, Aisling, Torval. Full breakdown at this link.

The info at that link is out of date, escape pods have been replaced with different activities and all settlement data activities are currently disabled. Also as an ALD pledge, I can assure you merits are given for handing in carto data - maybe not as many as other powers, but it's wrong to say it is limited to those only.

 

[marx]

In my experience, although I haven't checked since the latest update (the one with the decay and all), ALD has always provided personal merits for selling UC and VG data, just not power score. Except when sold in systems that can't be reinforced, as in the second point.

 

[Nowski]

Full breakdown at this link

The link credits my post here but seems to have mangled the information.

As explained there, all activities when done in the appropriate systems award merits for a player pledged to any power. If the particular activity is favoured by the player's power, additional bonus merits will be awarded. Most of the post is taken with listing out which powers favour which activities.

As far as I know the post is up-to-date with the latest changes from FDev (though I see in the notes I still refer to thresholds in exo/carto which I think are now removed, I'll fix this shortly)

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Some systems are completely excluded from Powerplay activities (and this includes turning in anything for merits). These systems include most capital systems and some of the most well-traveled systems in the game. On the galaxy map these Excluded systems are Stronghold systems (double four-pointed-star) that have a large dot on the upper right:

Capital systems for Powerplay - the exactly 12 systems with "Unassailable" System Strength Penalty like Nanomam or Cubeo - earn no merits for any actions performed within them because it's not possible to affect their Powerplay status.

The dot by the Stronghold indicates that the Stronghold has a Stronghold Carrier present. Many non-capital systems have Stronghold Carriers, and merit earning (either for Reinforcement or Undermining, though Exploration and Exobio are Reinforcement only) works normally there.