The ship raid is easily the best way. You need to be on the ship after the shields go down, fighting Rikti, and you should be getting tons of Merits so long as you're on a full team. It's far and away faster than anything else you might do.
I'm not sure what exactly you were doing wrong in the raid you describe, but raids are the way to go. As for "is 100 a lot?", not really. You're probably going to want several hundred depending on what you want to buy/unlock and what you don't care about.
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I'm suspecting the OP was solo during the raid? If so... yeah, be sure you're on a team, or you might as well be throwing spitballs at it from Founder's Falls for all the credit (and merits) you'll get.
Have you done the introduction mission from levantera?
You can get a small amount during ship raids if nothing changed recently.
Really... I don't recall seeing that. >.< (Of course, I'm usually already badged up to earn merits during missions, invasions, and such by that time, so I'd likely not notice.)
Interesting.
I just did a raid and pulled in over 400 merits.
I suspect the OP was solo, which seriously hurts your merit earning potential.
@Roderick
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I'm confused because others on my team received 100+. I was SKd to them and fighting the whole time so I wasn't just standing around mooching
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I'm suspecting you didn't read this part
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I'm confused because others on my team received 100+. I was SKd to them and fighting the whole time so I wasn't just standing around mooching
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I'm suspecting you didn't read this part
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Read but that didn't stick. >.<
OK. I'm going to throw in with the "Did you do the welcome to vanguard mission arc" suggestion as well in that case.
Actually, I did NOT do any missions prior to the raid. I just hit 36 and decided to go to RWZ today to work on the unlock when I saw the global message that a raid was going on. I figured this would've been the best way to get started.
I joined the team of 6 members as they were beginning to destroy the pylons so I was there a good long while at the side of my mentor hacking away at anything I could.
But yeah, I'm guess it's the whole not doing the intro mission. Does it matter which contact I speak to first?
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All due respect, the OPs original post makes very little sense. Presumably, they are a member of Vanguard and were on a team for about 2 seconds before the raid ended. The worst raid I ever did still earned me about 200 some merits. The best will net you more than 450.
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I'm pretty sure they'll all point you to Levantra. Borea does repeatable missions (hope I'm not confusing the two.) You'll talk to levantra, she'll send you to Borea who'll send you on a quick mission. When you get back, you'll talk to the rest of the Vanguard muckety-mucks, then come back with a "Badge earned" message.
When you have that member of vanguard badge (I believe it's in Accolades,) you'll get merits for Rikti kills, no matter where. (Note it's a chance of them - not every qualifying rikti will drop merits. Rikti are not meant to be taken internally. Not valid in some states, check local laws. Some settling during shipping may occur, Rikti: packing criteria: weight, not volume. )
Yeah, that's definitely the problem. I don't have that member of Vanguard badge, so that must be why.
After the raid, which (once again) I was there the whole time fighting on a big team, I talked to Borea and she sent me on a mission to take out a Rikti Leader so I did that and didn't get much from it.
I'll speak to Levantra and get that whole membership thing started.
Thanks for the insight on this.
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If he got any merits at all (he mentioned getting ten,) he did.
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You can still get Vanguard merits without having done Levantera's arc, but the drop rate is extremely low.
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If he got any merits at all (he mentioned getting ten,) he did.
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You can still get Vanguard merits without having done Levantera's arc, but the drop rate is extremely low.
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Yeah, that's probably why I only got 10 merits for the entire raid.
I did the first mission after joining the vanguard where you rescue Faultline and Fissionette and I got 5 merits just from that one alone.
Thanks again, everyone. I would've ended up wasting so much time had I not asked.
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I think you'll get Vanguard Merits for bombs or the GM but not for Rikti kills if you haven't done the RWZ intro arc.
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I get the full vanguard armor on 9/10 of my toons so I've spent many an hour in the war zone, what I do is the following.
Always log off in the RWZ to eventually get the vanguard recruit day job badge.
Upon log in, run timed/paper missions or any arcs you have not completed in the zone untill your badge timer runs off.
Look for a team or make one yourself and don't leave the zone until you have 50 merits atleast.
Join or build your own mother ship raid teams, this is the single greatest way to get vanguard merits in bulk, with a good team you can net 200-300 merits atleast per raid
Or you can also do it the long and solo way, I've done it before on arcs and missions, takes me about 10 levels to get nthe full set or vanguard armor, thats 1050 merits. it is sooooooo tiresome and can completely burn you out but it's worth it if you get what you need.
All in all following the above methods and joining raids will get you thousands of merits in a few days, plenty of raid experience and knowledge of team dynamics in the RWZ, you'll know that map like the back of your hand when your done, you'll finish every arc and you'll get everything you want.
Good luck and don't worry, those merits will pile up and soon you'll have merits to spare.
Shhh. My common sense is tingling. ~ Deadpool
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I think you'll get Vanguard Merits for bombs or the GM but not for Rikti kills if you haven't done the RWZ intro arc.
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I've never noticed Vanguard merits for U'kon, and there's no sign of it in my logs. Just the 2 reward merits, even when I delivered the killing blow.
As I said, you can get merits without having done the arc. It happened to my rad defender when I hit 35. I ran in and joined Protector's weekly raid, noticed that I got a fraction of the normal amount of merits. I then quickly ran Levantera's arc and got the usual ton of merits on the next run.
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My personal member of the Vanguard, The Purple Claw, made it his sole purpose to lead teams through the standard Levantra, Borea and other Vanguard contact missions. I realise the discussion is actually about the 'fastest' way to earn Vanguard Merits, but I found my method to be the 'best' for me, ie. MORE FUN! 
Now you're a member of Vanguard, go kick some Rikti back to where they came from! Earth for Humans!
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I was just part of a Rikti Ship raid in RWZ and I only ended up getting about 10 vanguard merits. I was told this was the best way to get them but I'm confused because others on my team received 100+. I was SKd to them and fighting the whole time so I wasn't just standing around mooching.
That aside, I'm looking for the best way to get merits now. Do I just get them from doing the missions or do they drop randomly off Rikti from street sweeping? Also, is 100 a lot because I want a good idea of how long I'll be spending in the RWZ because I don't plan on leaving till I unlock the broadsword.
Thanks for the reply.
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