Active Matter Merits: Earning and Claiming Cycle Rewards
Wipes are not mandatory. Creating a new personal timeline is a player choice tied to permanent bonuses and faster access to Harmonization rewards. You can continue playing without wiping; if you do reset, Merits and Prime persist under the current official rules.
Spend Merits without joining another Cycle
Cycle 0: Fundamental Protocol unlocks at Monolith access level DELTA. Eligible players receive access automatically and keep it after a new Personal Timeline. Its Merit exchanges remain available without participation in another Cycle. Check this track before paying for a past Cycle merely to find somewhere to spend Merits.
Fundamental Protocol announcement, September 24 (external) ↗.
Check the earning window before doing the work
The September 14 Q&A says Monolith levels gained between cycles do not receive Merits retroactively. It allows one overflow of the Merit cap; further amounts beyond it are lost. Check the displayed balance and earning conditions before collecting another reward; Cycle 0 spending access is explained above.
Update 0.4.0.76 increased daily Priority Raid contracts to three, redistributing the previous reward amount. Three objectives therefore do not imply three times the earlier total.
Sources Harmonization Cycles Q&A: earning and cap (external) ↗ · 0.4.0.76: daily Priority Raid contracts (external) ↗.
Do you have to wipe your operative?
No. In the September 7 developer response, Matter Team said global forced wipes are not planned and described new personal timelines as the player’s choice. The choice can grant permanent bonuses or provide faster access to Harmonization Cycle rewards, but it is not required to keep playing.
Update 0.4.0.122 explicitly says Merits and Prime persist after wipes. That does not establish that every item, blueprint or progression system persists, so this page does not turn the currency statement into a complete reset-loss checklist.
What changed in reset storage on September 26?
In 0.4.0.156, worn gear moves to temporary storage when you start another Personal Timeline; equipped chronogenes are still lost. Shelter-placed items stay positioned, but retained weapons or equipment can become decoration rather than usable loadout gear. Physical presence in the Shelter therefore does not prove an item survived as usable equipment.
After a reset, inspect temporary storage before preparing another raid. These confirmed categories supplement the currency rule; they do not establish what happens to every blueprint or progression system.
0.4.0.156 Personal Timeline changes (external) ↗.
Verification Developer reply on optional wipes (external) ↗ · 0.4.0.122 currency persistence (external) ↗.
Edition bonuses follow a separate self-wipe re-grant rule. Check edition content and the one-time Prime exception before treating them as Cycle earnings.
Separate entry, purchase and receipt
| What you see | What it means | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle access price | Entry into a previous cycle can require Crystallised Active Matter. | Read the price on that cycle’s cover. |
| Cycle Offer | Unlocking the cycle does not automatically buy every reward. | Read its Merit cost. |
| Global Progression | A separate reward track. | Check cycle advancement; do not assume every reward requires a Merit purchase. |
The Q&A says Global Progression rewards can be claimed later as the cycle advances; creating a new personal timeline is another route. This is not a recommendation to reset progress.
For Cycle 2 offers, 0.4.0.78 changed an unlock to also grant one copy of the item. If you are checking whether an unlock includes the weapon itself, that patch is the relevant distinction.
Sources Cycle access and Global Progression (external) ↗ · 0.4.0.78: Cycle 2 unlocks include one item (external) ↗.
If a past cycle asks you to pay again
According to the Q&A, having rewards from that cycle already establishes participation. If you created a timeline and received Cycle 1 rewards during its active phase but are charged again, the developer directs you to Gaijin support (external) ↗.
Before spending again, identify the cycle and record the existing reward and access screen. This lets support examine the specific mismatch.
Find the right window after the launch update
Update 0.4.0.115 labels Monolith items in Harmonization Cycle Offers and adds a quick-access button to the Harmonization window. Use that entry to check the current cycle and offer instead of interpreting an old “information is classified” label as a new unlock requirement.
The same patch makes two Picatinny riser rails and three dovetail-to-Picatinny adapters unlocked in Cycle 2 available in the Shop as well as the Replicator. Availability after unlocking is a different question from how you earn Merits.
If you completed Monolith Access Levels and created new timelines between update 0.4.0.76 on September 10 and the September 15 release, the September 18 announcement says bonus Merits will match what those levels would have awarded. It separately grants 10 “Red Shards” camouflage copies to players who reset at least five times during the first Cycle. These are dated compensation conditions, not a standing reward for every future reset.
For stream-viewing rewards, use the separate Twitch Drops linking and claiming guide.
For ordinary raid resources and what survives an extraction, see the resource and recovery guide. A full reset-loss checklist and an optimal time to reset are outside this page’s verified scope.
Verification 0.4.0.115 Cycle Offer labels (external) ↗ · September 18 Merits compensation (external) ↗.