I think the general concensus is if merits is all you are after, the best way to farm them is to go to an opposing power's controlled system, and start taking out opposing power's ships. They are work 15 merits each. This method just costs fuel and ammunition, though you will rack up a bounty on yourself.i'll just put my question here, so i don't have to open new thread. so guys, is there a way to make those 10,000 merits without actually losing a lot of money? and are ratings really updated once a week, or my game is bugged? i've done some math about those merits that you get by delivering packages to systems your power can expand, but i didn't see actually that any profit can be made. right now i'm talking about archon delaine, and his kumo packages. problem is that ''fast track quota'' is always 1,000 cr per one package, and in the end you'll lose a lot of money. am i missing something? i know you can wait 30 minutes for free quota, but obviously, if you play just let's say 10 hours a week, you won't get much for free.
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If you want to do the hauling side of it for fortification/preparation/whatever, I find sometimes you can get a lucrative trade route going between your capitol and target systems that makes enough profit to cover the fast track costs. This is pretty easy in a Type 7, maybe not so much in something that carries less cargo. Otherwise, yes, you will need to spend your own money.