From aab81acc330c38fb550ef12f80131f90e4be741b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sam <samuv.eth@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:53:51 +0700
Subject: [PATCH] the static world merges into per-cell blobs, behind a flag
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
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- behind WOW_STATIC_MERGE=1, never-fade doodads, fading doodads and interior props bake into one mesh per 133-yard cell and material — −0.99 ms at the Stormwind gates, a wash in Lower Blackrock Spire, GPU flat
- the merged faders fade in-shader on the reference's own fading draw state, so the ramp is as smooth as an individual doodad's
- interior props carry their light-probe slot per vertex, and the arrival cover waits for every unbaked blob so a reveal never shows a hole
- a merge census (WOW_MERGE_CENSUS=1) prices each population before it is built — WMO group geometry merges nothing and stays individual

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 crates/benilla-app/src/entities/wmo_props.rs  |  14 +-
 crates/benilla-app/src/loading_screen.rs      |   4 +-
 crates/benilla-app/src/player/world_focus.rs  |  12 +-
 crates/benilla-assets/src/lib.rs              |   9 +-
 crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs        |  36 +
 crates/benilla-assets/src/model.rs            |  64 +-
 .../benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl |  72 +-
 crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs               |   1 +
 crates/benilla-world/src/static_merge.rs      | 167 ++++
 crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream.rs    |  43 +-
 .../benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/merge.rs | 712 ++++++++++++++++++
 .../src/terrain_stream/spawn/assemble.rs      | 161 +++-
 .../src/terrain_stream/spawn/mod.rs           |  80 +-
 .../benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/weld.rs  |   1 +
 crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs     |   5 +
 15 files changed, 1311 insertions(+), 70 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 crates/benilla-world/src/static_merge.rs
 create mode 100644 crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/merge.rs

diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/wmo_props.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/wmo_props.rs
index 2ae53709..0dd1e4c2 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/wmo_props.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/entities/wmo_props.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ use benilla_world::model_render::ShadeSel;
 use benilla_world::particles;
 use benilla_world::terrain_stream::{
     build_collider_task, fold_interior_probe, m2_anim_bound, m2_fade, placement_collider_data,
-    point_light, spawn_model_entities, PendingCollider, PropLobeLight,
+    point_light, spawn_model_entities, PendingCollider, PropLobeLight, SpawnedModel,
 };
 
 use super::{GameObjects, ModelHandle, VisualAttached};
@@ -260,7 +260,11 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_wmo_gameobject_props(
                 }
                 slot
             });
-            let (ents, host) = spawn_model_entities(
+            let SpawnedModel {
+                entities: ents,
+                host,
+                ..
+            } = spawn_model_entities(
                 &mut commands,
                 mat_cache,
                 materials,
@@ -281,8 +285,10 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_wmo_gameobject_props(
                 &mut tint_reg,
                 &mut anim_table,
                 card_owner,
-                // Never diverted into the WOW_MEGA_STATIC bracket: these props parent under a
-                // MOVING gameobject, and a merged blob bakes world transforms.
+                // Never diverted into the WOW_MEGA_STATIC bracket (nor 1417's production
+                // merge): these props parent under a MOVING gameobject, and a merged blob
+                // bakes world transforms.
+                None,
                 None,
             );
             commands.entity(entity).add_children(&ents);
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/loading_screen.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/loading_screen.rs
index 51a1efd0..0ce214b6 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/loading_screen.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/loading_screen.rs
@@ -467,12 +467,14 @@ fn drive_loading_screen(
                 screen.last_wait_log = now;
                 info!(
                     "loading screen: waiting {:.1}s — {}/{} resident, {} placements pending, \
-                     {} colliders pending, awaiting_snap={}, settling={}, warm={}, ui_pending={}",
+                     {} colliders pending, {} merges pending, awaiting_snap={}, settling={}, \
+                     warm={}, ui_pending={}",
                     now - screen.active_since,
                     progress.ready,
                     progress.total,
                     progress.placements_pending,
                     progress.colliders_pending,
+                    progress.merge_pending,
                     screen.awaiting_snap,
                     player_settling,
                     warm.satisfied(),
diff --git a/crates/benilla-app/src/player/world_focus.rs b/crates/benilla-app/src/player/world_focus.rs
index d2fac828..2b7a48c5 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-app/src/player/world_focus.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-app/src/player/world_focus.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ pub(super) fn release_post_snap_hold(
     mut player: ResMut<Player>,
     progress: Option<Res<WorldLoadProgress>>,
     time: Res<Time>,
-    mut last_counters: Local<Option<[usize; 4]>>,
+    mut last_counters: Local<Option<[usize; 5]>>,
     net_cmds: Option<Res<crate::net::NetCommands>>,
 ) {
     let Some(p) = progress else { return };
@@ -129,7 +129,13 @@ pub(super) fn release_post_snap_hold(
     // Did the stream move since last frame? Any counter changing — a tile spawned, a placement
     // up, a collider queued or attached — is the destination still arriving. Tracked every frame
     // (not just while settling) so the first settling frame compares against a real baseline.
-    let counters = [p.ready, p.total, p.colliders_pending, p.placements_pending];
+    let counters = [
+        p.ready,
+        p.total,
+        p.colliders_pending,
+        p.merge_pending,
+        p.placements_pending,
+    ];
     let progressed = last_counters.replace(counters) != Some(counters);
     if !player.settling {
         return;
@@ -145,7 +151,7 @@ pub(super) fn release_post_snap_hold(
     // still up. Only a stream that has made NO progress for the whole budget — missing data, dead
     // IO — can time out now, which is the case the backstop was always for.
     let now = time.elapsed_secs();
-    if p.scene_ready && p.colliders_pending == 0 && !player.world_stale && focus_matches {
+    if p.presentable() && !player.world_stale && focus_matches {
         player.end_settle(true, now);
     } else if player.world_stale || progressed {
         player.settle_deadline = now + SETTLE_TIMEOUT;
diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/lib.rs b/crates/benilla-assets/src/lib.rs
index 1e2b0b57..1defe94d 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/lib.rs
@@ -32,10 +32,11 @@ pub use world_assets::*;
 
 mod model;
 pub use model::{
-    bone_target_id, merged_static_mesh, submesh_to_skinned_mesh, submesh_to_static_mesh, AnimClip,
-    BillboardInfo, GlobalBone, GlobalSeqChannel, ModelAnimations, ModelAttachment, ModelJoint,
-    ModelMarker, ModelSkeleton, ModelSubmesh, PoseBone, PoseClip, PoseNode, PoseSource, PoseTrack,
-    ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_INDEX, ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_WEIGHT,
+    bone_target_id, merged_static_mesh, merged_static_mesh_faded, submesh_to_skinned_mesh,
+    submesh_to_static_mesh, AnimClip, BillboardInfo, GlobalBone, GlobalSeqChannel, ModelAnimations,
+    ModelAttachment, ModelJoint, ModelMarker, ModelSkeleton, ModelSubmesh, PoseBone, PoseClip,
+    PoseNode, PoseSource, PoseTrack, ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE, ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_INDEX,
+    ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_WEIGHT, ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT,
 };
 mod adt;
 mod terrain;
diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs b/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
index ac76e006..df26e6a2 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/materials.rs
@@ -270,6 +270,42 @@ impl MaterialExtension for WowModelExt {
             attrs.push(crate::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_WEIGHT.at_shader_location(11));
             descriptor.vertex.buffers = vec![layout.0.get_layout(&attrs)?];
         }
+        // The merged fader blob (decisions 1418/1420): a mesh carrying the per-vertex fade
+        // sphere compiles the WOW_MERGED_FADE path — the faithful doodad fade curve computed
+        // per vertex (folded into the tag fade the fragment already consumes) and a clip-space
+        // collapse at zero (the Hidden channel). The blob's material is its blend TWIN, so the
+        // feather is the reference's own translucent ramp. Same rebuild pattern as the joints
+        // above; the two attribute sets never co-occur (merged blobs never skin).
+        if layout.0.contains(crate::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE) {
+            descriptor.vertex.shader_defs.push("WOW_MERGED_FADE".into());
+            if let Some(fragment) = descriptor.fragment.as_mut() {
+                fragment.shader_defs.push("WOW_MERGED_FADE".into());
+            }
+            let mut attrs = Vec::with_capacity(6);
+            for (attr, loc) in [
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_POSITION, 0),
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 1),
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_UV_0, 2),
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_UV_1, 3),
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_TANGENT, 4),
+                (Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_COLOR, 5),
+            ] {
+                if layout.0.contains(attr) {
+                    attrs.push(attr.at_shader_location(loc));
+                }
+            }
+            attrs.push(crate::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE.at_shader_location(12));
+            // The interior-prop half (1418 lane 3): the baked SH-probe slot replaces the
+            // per-entity MeshTag payload.
+            if layout.0.contains(crate::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT) {
+                descriptor.vertex.shader_defs.push("WOW_MERGED_SLOT".into());
+                if let Some(fragment) = descriptor.fragment.as_mut() {
+                    fragment.shader_defs.push("WOW_MERGED_SLOT".into());
+                }
+                attrs.push(crate::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT.at_shader_location(13));
+            }
+            descriptor.vertex.buffers = vec![layout.0.get_layout(&attrs)?];
+        }
         // M2 render flags 0x10 (no depth-write) / 0x08 (no depth-test), per batch. Default: write depth
         // (LEQUAL) like the real client — including transparent batches, which fixes the bleed-through.
         if let Some(ds) = descriptor.depth_stencil.as_mut() {
diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/model.rs b/crates/benilla-assets/src/model.rs
index 03937fe6..6ca09ccb 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/model.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/model.rs
@@ -224,6 +224,29 @@ pub const ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_WEIGHT: bevy::mesh::MeshVertexAttribute =
         bevy::render::render_resource::VertexFormat::Float32x4,
     );
 
+/// A merged fader blob's per-vertex fade sphere (`center.xyz` world-space, `w` = fade radius —
+/// decision 1418): every vertex of one baked placement carries the placement's sphere, and
+/// `wow_model.wgsl` computes the faithful `doodad_fade_alpha` from it per vertex (the erode
+/// lane), replacing the per-entity MeshTag/twin/Hidden fade channels a merged draw cannot
+/// express. Own attribute id for the same reason as the joints above; shader location 12.
+pub const ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE: bevy::mesh::MeshVertexAttribute =
+    bevy::mesh::MeshVertexAttribute::new(
+        "Wow_FadeSphere",
+        988_540_919,
+        bevy::render::render_resource::VertexFormat::Float32x4,
+    );
+
+/// A merged interior-prop blob's per-vertex SH-probe slot (decision 1418 lane 3): the slot
+/// index every vertex of one baked placement carries, replacing the per-entity `MeshTag`
+/// payload (`wow_model.wgsl`'s `WOW_MERGED_SLOT` reads it instead of the tag bits). Shader
+/// location 13.
+pub const ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT: bevy::mesh::MeshVertexAttribute =
+    bevy::mesh::MeshVertexAttribute::new(
+        "Wow_MergedSlot",
+        988_540_920,
+        bevy::render::render_resource::VertexFormat::Uint32,
+    );
+
 /// The app-facing **static** mesh build (decision 0834): geometry only, `RENDER_WORLD`-only
 /// usages — the render world takes the vertex buffers at extract and the main world keeps no
 /// copy. Consumers must pair it with an explicit `Aabb` computed at build time (the exterior
@@ -793,6 +816,25 @@ pub(crate) fn build_global_bones(
 /// the caller's Aabb.
 pub fn merged_static_mesh(
     parts: &[(std::sync::Arc<RenderSubmesh>, Transform)],
+) -> (Mesh, Vec3, Vec3) {
+    merged_static_mesh_impl(parts, None)
+}
+
+/// [`merged_static_mesh`] plus the per-vertex [`ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE`] (one sphere per
+/// PART, replicated onto each of its vertices) — the production blob build (1418). `slots`
+/// (index-parallel with `parts` when `Some`) additionally bakes each part's SH-probe slot as
+/// [`ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT`] — the interior-prop lane.
+pub fn merged_static_mesh_faded(
+    parts: &[(std::sync::Arc<RenderSubmesh>, Transform)],
+    spheres: &[Vec4],
+    slots: Option<&[u32]>,
+) -> (Mesh, Vec3, Vec3) {
+    merged_static_mesh_impl(parts, Some((spheres, slots)))
+}
+
+fn merged_static_mesh_impl(
+    parts: &[(std::sync::Arc<RenderSubmesh>, Transform)],
+    extras: Option<(&[Vec4], Option<&[u32]>)>,
 ) -> (Mesh, Vec3, Vec3) {
     let any_colors = parts
         .iter()
@@ -802,8 +844,10 @@ pub fn merged_static_mesh(
     let mut uvs: Vec<[f32; 2]> = Vec::new();
     let mut colors: Vec<[f32; 4]> = Vec::new();
     let mut indices: Vec<u32> = Vec::new();
+    let mut fade: Vec<[f32; 4]> = Vec::new();
+    let mut slot_verts: Vec<u32> = Vec::new();
     let (mut mn, mut mx) = (Vec3::splat(f32::MAX), Vec3::splat(f32::MIN));
-    for (sub, transform) in parts {
+    for (i, (sub, transform)) in parts.iter().enumerate() {
         let base = u32::try_from(positions.len()).expect("merged mesh under u32 vertices");
         for p in &sub.positions {
             let w = transform.transform_point(wow_to_bevy(*p));
@@ -834,6 +878,15 @@ pub fn merged_static_mesh(
                 ));
             }
         }
+        if let Some((spheres, slots)) = extras {
+            fade.extend(std::iter::repeat_n(
+                spheres[i].to_array(),
+                sub.positions.len(),
+            ));
+            if let Some(slots) = slots {
+                slot_verts.extend(std::iter::repeat_n(slots[i], sub.positions.len()));
+            }
+        }
         indices.extend(sub.indices.iter().map(|i| base + i));
     }
     let mut mesh = Mesh::new(
@@ -846,6 +899,15 @@ pub fn merged_static_mesh(
     if any_colors {
         mesh.insert_attribute(Mesh::ATTRIBUTE_COLOR, colors);
     }
+    if let Some((_, slots)) = extras {
+        mesh.insert_attribute(ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE, fade);
+        if slots.is_some() {
+            mesh.insert_attribute(
+                ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT,
+                bevy::mesh::VertexAttributeValues::Uint32(slot_verts),
+            );
+        }
+    }
     mesh.insert_indices(Indices::U32(indices));
     (mesh, mn, mx)
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl b/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
index d746e58f..abcf93b0 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
+++ b/crates/benilla-assets/src/shaders/wow_model.wgsl
@@ -226,6 +226,15 @@ struct WowVsOut {
     // the VERTEX, like the reference FFP — the tessellation-scale smoothing IS the authored look
     // (wide floor pools, dim hoods). The fragment folds in the live gain and the saturating clamp.
     @location(8) point_lit: vec3<f32>,
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_FADE
+    // The merged fader blob's per-placement fade alpha (decision 1418), computed in the vertex
+    // stage from the baked fade sphere. Constant across a placement's vertices, so plain
+    // interpolation reproduces it exactly.
+    @location(9) merged_fade: f32,
+#endif
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_SLOT
+    @location(10) @interpolate(flat) merged_slot: u32,
+#endif
 }
 
 // The dynamic point-light term at a world-space point (decisions 0016/0273/0278, selection 0285) —
@@ -323,6 +332,29 @@ fn mcnk_cell_anchor(P: vec3<f32>) -> vec3<f32> {
 // attributes to the buffer layout when the mesh carries `ATTRIBUTE_WOW_JOINT_INDEX` — decision
 // 0720; Bevy's `forward_io::Vertex` only declares joints under its own SKINNED path, which no
 // benilla mesh triggers anymore).
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_FADE
+// The faithful per-object doodad fade curve (`model_fade::doodad_fade_alpha`, exact
+// `FUN_00683f80` constants): horizontal-plane distance, `d = dist − radius`, size-bucketed
+// band, `1 − (d − start)/range` clamped. `radius > 7` never fades (never-fade members of a
+// merged blob bake their true radius and land here).
+fn merged_fade_alpha(radius: f32, horiz_dist: f32) -> f32 {
+    if (radius > 7.0) {
+        return 1.0;
+    }
+    var start = 150.0;
+    var range = 50.0;
+    if (radius <= 0.5) {
+        start = 40.0;
+        range = 10.0;
+    } else if (radius <= 2.5) {
+        start = 100.0;
+        range = 25.0;
+    }
+    let d = horiz_dist - radius;
+    return clamp(1.0 - (d - start) / range, 0.0, 1.0);
+}
+#endif
+
 struct WowVertex {
     @builtin(instance_index) instance_index: u32,
 #ifdef VERTEX_POSITIONS
@@ -344,6 +376,15 @@ struct WowVertex {
     @location(10) joint_indices: vec4<u32>,
     @location(11) joint_weights: vec4<f32>,
 #endif
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_FADE
+    // The baked placement fade sphere (decision 1418): `xyz` world center, `w` fade radius.
+    @location(12) fade_sphere: vec4<f32>,
+#endif
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_SLOT
+    // The baked interior-prop SH-probe slot (1418 lane 3) — replaces the MeshTag payload the
+    // per-entity lane carries.
+    @location(13) merged_slot: u32,
+#endif
 }
 
 #ifdef WOW_RIG_SKIN
@@ -473,6 +514,20 @@ fn vertex(vertex: WowVertex) -> WowVsOut {
     // but as uniform DATA: as pipeline state it made every batch index its own pipeline, and a
     // first city sight synchronously compiled ~3000 of them on the render thread (decision 0837).
     out.position.z *= 1.0 + m.sun_scale.y * 1.1920929e-7;
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_FADE
+    // The merged fader lane (decision 1418). Alpha channel: the faithful curve, per vertex.
+    // Hidden channel: a fully-faded placement collapses its clip position past the far plane —
+    // its triangles never rasterize, the shader-side equivalent of `Visibility::Hidden` at
+    // fade 0 (the CPU authority never sees inside a blob).
+    let fade_d = distance(view.world_position.xz, vertex.fade_sphere.xz);
+    out.merged_fade = merged_fade_alpha(vertex.fade_sphere.w, fade_d);
+    if (out.merged_fade <= 0.0) {
+        out.position = vec4<f32>(0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 1.0);
+    }
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_SLOT
+    out.merged_slot = vertex.merged_slot;
+#endif
+#endif
 #endif
 
 #ifdef VERTEX_UVS_A
@@ -629,6 +684,7 @@ fn fragment(in: WowVsOut, @builtin(front_facing) is_front: bool) -> WowFragOut {
         let f = clamp((m.clutter_fade.y - d) / max(m.clutter_fade.y - m.clutter_fade.x, 0.001), 0.0, 1.0);
         base_color.a = base_color.a * f;
     }
+
     // Faithful per-object WORLD-DOODAD distance fade (`FUN_00683f80`/`model_fade.rs`): the fade alpha
     // (1.0 = opaque) rides in the per-instance `MeshTag`; tag 0 (clutter/WMO) ⇒ 1.0 no-op.
     // VERIFIED reference behaviour (`RECONCILE-fade-render-state.md`): a fading doodad is the SAME draw
@@ -664,7 +720,15 @@ fn fragment(in: WowVsOut, @builtin(front_facing) is_front: bool) -> WowFragOut {
     // probe AND its alpha ramp — and a skinned part keeps its rig slot through either.
     let fade_tag = raw_tag & 0x3fffffffu;
     let alpha6 = f32(fade_tag & 0x3fu) / 63.0;
-    let obj_fade = select(alpha6, 1.0, fade_tag == 0u);
+    var obj_fade = select(alpha6, 1.0, fade_tag == 0u);
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_FADE
+    // The merged per-vertex fade composes exactly where the per-entity tag fade did (1420):
+    // every downstream consumer — `faded_alpha`, the multiply-lerp, the additive scale, and
+    // the bit-10 re-discard on UNFADED texel alpha — sees the same algebra an individual
+    // fading doodad produced, so a fader blob on its blend twin feathers exactly like the
+    // reference (and a steady member at fade 1.0 is pixel-identical to the cutout it left).
+    obj_fade = obj_fade * in.merged_fade;
+#endif
     // The per-instance body TINT (instance_tint.rs, decision 0812) — the aura state kit's CharProc 1:
     // an aura painting the whole model one colour (ghost pale blue, poison green, Frostbolt blue).
     // Indexed by the SAME rig slot the vertex stage skins from (bits 19-29), so it needs no tag bits
@@ -872,7 +936,13 @@ fn fragment(in: WowVsOut, @builtin(front_facing) is_front: bool) -> WowFragOut {
     // slot. Evaluated here per fragment over the same basis — note the SH lobe's soft wrap (side-on
     // ≈ 0.088·C) is the reference's authored response, deliberately NOT a hard max(N·L,0).
     // Units/GameObjects never reach this lane (base CGLight — plain day/night ×1.0, §8/§9).
+#ifdef WOW_MERGED_SLOT
+    // A merged interior-prop blob (1418 lane 3): the slot is baked per vertex — the tag's
+    // payload bits belong to the whole blob and carry only fog/alpha.
+    let probe = 7u * in.merged_slot;
+#else
     let probe = 7u * ((fade_tag >> 6u) & 0x1fffu);
+#endif
     let lit_m2_interior = clamp(
         vec3<f32>(
             dot(wow_light.prop_probes[probe + 0u], n1)
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
index 898c4d8c..d48f7533 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/lib.rs
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ pub mod schedule;
 mod shaders;
 pub mod sky;
 pub mod sky_order;
+pub mod static_merge;
 pub mod sun;
 pub mod surface;
 pub mod terrain_stream;
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/static_merge.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/static_merge.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..088e9f87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/static_merge.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+//! **`WOW_MERGE_CENSUS=1` — the production-merge population census** (decision 1417: "the
+//! census comes first").
+//!
+//! Tallies every batch the streamer walks through `spawn_model_entities` into the population
+//! classes 1417's lane-1 predicate carves — anim-excluded / interior prop / WMO vs doodad ×
+//! order-free vs transparent × never-fade vs fader — and prints the table once the stream has
+//! been quiet for two seconds. The point is to read lane 1's yield (and every later lane's
+//! go/no-go) off a live pin instead of a prior: 0922's ~40% transparent share and the
+//! bracket's 21k-row delta are the numbers this either confirms or replaces.
+//!
+//! Statics + a quiet-timer logger, not plumbed state: the tally site is deep in the assembler
+//! (which already threads eleven parameters), and this is a dev reading at a parked pin, not
+//! a production mechanism — the same trade `WOW_HIT_COST` made. Wall-clock quiet is likewise
+//! fine HERE (contrast the bracket's same-shaped flush timer, which 1417 retires for
+//! production in favour of the weld's close rule).
+
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
+use std::sync::Mutex;
+
+use bevy::prelude::*;
+
+/// Is the census armed? One read; the assembler tally and the logger both key on it.
+pub fn census_enabled() -> bool {
+    static ON: std::sync::OnceLock<bool> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var("WOW_MERGE_CENSUS").as_deref() == Ok("1"))
+}
+
+/// The classes, in the lane-1 predicate's own short-circuit order (1417). Indices are the
+/// atomics' layout — append, never reorder.
+const CLASS_NAMES: [&str; 9] = [
+    "excluded: anim/billboard/mat-anim",
+    "interior prop",
+    "wmo order-free never-fade", // measured 1:1 — never merges (1418)
+    "wmo transparent",
+    "wmo FINITE-FADE (anomaly)", // WMOs enroll at radius = INFINITY; nonzero here = investigate
+    "doodad order-free never-fade", // merges
+    "doodad order-free fader",   // merges (1418 — the dense class)
+    "doodad transparent never-fade",
+    "doodad transparent fader",
+];
+const MERGE_LANES: [usize; 3] = [1, 5, 6];
+
+static ROWS: [AtomicU64; 9] = [const { AtomicU64::new(0) }; 9];
+static VERTS: [AtomicU64; 9] = [const { AtomicU64::new(0) }; 9];
+/// Distinct would-be merge keys per class — each class's PREDICTED blob count under its
+/// lane's key (built from [`MergeSite::census_key`]), so a lane's honest row reduction
+/// (rows − blobs) is read off the table before the lane is built. The lane-1 smoke run is the
+/// estimator's validation anchor: 6,892 measured blobs at the SW pin. Spawn-time only, so a
+/// mutex is fine.
+static KEYS: std::sync::OnceLock<Mutex<[std::collections::HashSet<u64>; 9]>> =
+    std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+
+fn keys() -> &'static Mutex<[std::collections::HashSet<u64>; 9]> {
+    KEYS.get_or_init(|| Mutex::new(std::array::from_fn(|_| std::collections::HashSet::new())))
+}
+
+/// Zero the tallies. Called from the map-change teardown (`drop_streamed_world`): the counters
+/// are cumulative and never decrement on tile unload, so without this a rig that logs in on one
+/// map and teleports to another prints the SUM of both worlds — the first LBRS read did exactly
+/// that (its doodad rows matched Stormwind's to the digit, because they WERE Stormwind's).
+pub fn reset() {
+    for a in ROWS.iter().chain(VERTS.iter()) {
+        a.store(0, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+    for set in keys().lock().unwrap().iter_mut() {
+        set.clear();
+    }
+}
+
+/// One batch, classified exactly as 1417's lane-1 predicate sees it — built once per batch by
+/// the assembler and consumed by BOTH the census tally and the production divert, so the
+/// number the census prints and the population the merge takes can never drift apart.
+/// `excluded` is the bracket's anim predicate (anim host / billboard / alpha- uv- rgb-anim /
+/// per-seq material); `order_free` is `Opaque|AlphaTest && !additive` (0858's law: order
+/// information exists only on transparent-pass batches); `never_fade` is
+/// `radius > NEVER_FADE_RADIUS` (WMO group geometry's ∞ radius lands there by construction).
+pub struct BatchClass {
+    pub excluded: bool,
+    pub interior_prop: bool,
+    pub order_free: bool,
+    pub never_fade: bool,
+}
+
+impl BatchClass {
+    /// The merge predicate (1417 lane 1, widened twice by 1418: faders when the fade channels
+    /// moved in-shader, interior props when the probe slot did — what remains here is "static
+    /// and order-free"; per-SITE refusal (WMO group geometry) lives in `divert`).
+    pub fn merges(&self) -> bool {
+        !self.excluded && self.order_free
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn tally(class: &BatchClass, is_wmo: bool, verts: usize, key: Option<u64>) {
+    let &BatchClass {
+        excluded,
+        interior_prop,
+        order_free,
+        never_fade,
+    } = class;
+    let class = if excluded {
+        0
+    } else if interior_prop {
+        1
+    } else if is_wmo {
+        match (never_fade, order_free) {
+            (false, _) => 4,
+            (true, true) => 2,
+            (true, false) => 3,
+        }
+    } else {
+        match (order_free, never_fade) {
+            (true, true) => 5,
+            (true, false) => 6,
+            (false, true) => 7,
+            (false, false) => 8,
+        }
+    };
+    ROWS[class].fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    VERTS[class].fetch_add(verts as u64, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    if let Some(key) = key {
+        keys().lock().unwrap()[class].insert(key);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Print the table once the stream has been quiet for 2 s; re-arm on any new tally (a fresh
+/// tile crossing prints a fresh table).
+pub fn log_merge_census(time: Res<Time>, mut prev: Local<(u64, f32, bool)>) {
+    let total: u64 = ROWS.iter().map(|a| a.load(Ordering::Relaxed)).sum();
+    let (last, moved_at, printed) = &mut *prev;
+    if total != *last {
+        *last = total;
+        *moved_at = time.elapsed_secs();
+        *printed = false;
+        return;
+    }
+    if total == 0 || *printed || time.elapsed_secs() - *moved_at < 2.0 {
+        return;
+    }
+    *printed = true;
+    let mut merge_rows = 0u64;
+    let keys = keys().lock().unwrap();
+    for (i, name) in CLASS_NAMES.iter().enumerate() {
+        let rows = ROWS[i].load(Ordering::Relaxed);
+        let verts = VERTS[i].load(Ordering::Relaxed);
+        let blobs = keys[i].len() as u64;
+        let mark = if MERGE_LANES.contains(&i) {
+            "  <- merges"
+        } else {
+            ""
+        };
+        // `blobs` = distinct would-be merge keys; `net` = the rows the lane would actually
+        // delete (rows − blobs) — the number the 44 ns/row derivative multiplies. Prop-class
+        // keys omit the referrer-set/probe-slot axes, so their net is an optimistic BOUND.
+        info!(
+            "[merge-census] {name:<34} rows={rows:>7}  kverts={:>8}  blobs={blobs:>6}  net=-{:>6}{mark}",
+            verts / 1000,
+            rows.saturating_sub(blobs)
+        );
+        if MERGE_LANES.contains(&i) {
+            merge_rows += rows;
+        }
+    }
+    info!(
+        "[merge-census] merge lanes: {merge_rows} of {total} rows ({:.1}%)",
+        100.0 * merge_rows as f64 / total as f64
+    );
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream.rs
index a7136723..d6bb8dd1 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream.rs
@@ -40,12 +40,14 @@ use benilla_assets::{m2_url, wmo_url};
 
 mod collider;
 mod furnish;
+pub mod merge;
 mod queries;
 mod spawn;
 mod weld;
 
 use collider::{finish_colliders, impassable_wall_data, terrain_collider_data};
 use furnish::furnish_tile_cells;
+use merge::{flush_static_merge, StaticMerge};
 use spawn::prop_light::WmoDoodadInst;
 use spawn::spawn_loaded_placements;
 use weld::{flush_hull_welds, HullWelds};
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ pub use spawn::prop_light::{fold_interior_probe, PropLobeLight};
 // doodad-prop path's spawner (`crate::entities`' `wmo_props`: the ship's sails ride the streamed
 // gameobject entity, and its cargo hulls ride the boat's kinematic body).
 pub use collider::{build_collider_task, placement_collider_data, PendingCollider};
-pub use spawn::{m2_anim_bound, m2_fade, point_light, spawn_model_entities};
+pub use spawn::{m2_anim_bound, m2_fade, point_light, spawn_model_entities, SpawnedModel};
 // The position queries + area authority (their home is `queries`; paths stay `terrain_stream::X`).
 use queries::update_current_area;
 pub use queries::{
@@ -144,6 +146,10 @@ struct TileState {
     /// The welded map-doodad hull colliders this tile owns (decision 1369): batches of the hulls
     /// whose placements registered here first, despawned with the tile like [`Self::wall`].
     welds: Vec<Entity>,
+    /// The merged static-render blobs this tile owns (decision 1417, `WOW_STATIC_MERGE`):
+    /// per-(cell × material) bakes of the doodads whose placements registered here first,
+    /// despawned with the tile exactly like [`Self::welds`].
+    merged: Vec<Entity>,
 }
 
 /// Doodad/WMO placements spawned **once** and shared across the tiles that reference them — the client's
@@ -214,6 +220,11 @@ pub struct WorldLoadProgress {
     pub scene_ready: bool,
     /// Outstanding collider attaches (decision 0610's queue) — published by `finish_colliders`.
     pub colliders_pending: usize,
+    /// Unflushed static-merge accumulators (1418, `WOW_STATIC_MERGE`) — published by
+    /// `flush_static_merge`. Merged world geometry that has not yet baked is a hole the reveal
+    /// must not show; same conservative semantics as the weld backlog inside
+    /// [`Self::colliders_pending`]. Always `0` with the lever off.
+    pub merge_pending: usize,
     /// Focus-neighbourhood placements not yet spawned (the wait instrument's term).
     pub placements_pending: usize,
     /// **Which tile these facts are about** — the focus tile the streamer computed this frame.
@@ -246,7 +257,7 @@ impl WorldLoadProgress {
     /// The world at the focus is presentable — the scene term plus a quiet collider queue. What
     /// both consumers (the screen clear here, the settle release in the streamer) key on.
     pub fn presentable(&self) -> bool {
-        self.scene_ready && self.colliders_pending == 0
+        self.scene_ready && self.colliders_pending == 0 && self.merge_pending == 0
     }
 }
 
@@ -448,6 +459,7 @@ impl Plugin for TerrainPlugin {
             .init_resource::<StreamActivity>()
             .init_resource::<Placements>()
             .init_resource::<HullWelds>()
+            .init_resource::<StaticMerge>()
             .init_resource::<crate::model_forms::ModelForms>()
             .init_resource::<CurrentArea>()
             // **The streaming chain lives in `WorldStage::Stream`** — the load-bearing half of the
@@ -467,6 +479,7 @@ impl Plugin for TerrainPlugin {
                     furnish_tile_cells,
                     spawn_loaded_placements,
                     flush_hull_welds,
+                    flush_static_merge,
                     sync_interior_volumes,
                 )
                     .chain()
@@ -556,8 +569,11 @@ fn stream_terrain(
     // reason as `asset_stores`.
     location: (Option<Res<CurrentMap>>, Option<Res<MapCatalogRes>>),
     mut load_progress: Option<ResMut<WorldLoadProgress>>,
-    mut welds: ResMut<HullWelds>,
+    // Bundled for the same 16-param reason as `asset_stores`: the two stream-batch accumulators
+    // the map-change drop must clear.
+    batchers: (ResMut<HullWelds>, ResMut<StaticMerge>),
 ) {
+    let (mut welds, mut static_merge) = batchers;
     let (mut materials, mut meshes, wdts, _time, mut activity) = asset_stores;
     let (current_map, map_catalog) = location;
     // The shared light buffer + map catalog are set up by other plugins' startup; until they exist
@@ -589,6 +605,7 @@ fn stream_terrain(
             &mut state,
             placements,
             &mut welds,
+            &mut static_merge,
             &mut activity,
         );
         state.map_dir = Some(dir.clone());
@@ -752,6 +769,7 @@ fn stream_terrain(
                     wall: None,
                     clutter: Vec::new(),
                     welds: Vec::new(),
+                    merged: Vec::new(),
                 },
             );
         }
@@ -1038,6 +1056,7 @@ fn drop_streamed_world(
     state: &mut TerrainStreamer,
     placements: &mut Placements,
     welds: &mut HullWelds,
+    merge: &mut StaticMerge,
     activity: &mut StreamActivity,
 ) {
     for ((_tx, _ty), t) in state.tiles.drain() {
@@ -1056,6 +1075,10 @@ fn drop_streamed_world(
     // map's tiles are requested (and their `TileState`s inserted) on this very frame, so a stale
     // accumulator could weld the previous map's geometry into a same-numbered fresh tile.
     welds.clear();
+    // Same staleness argument for the merge accumulators (1417) and the census tallies: both
+    // describe the world just dropped, and tile keys repeat across maps.
+    merge.clear();
+    crate::static_merge::reset();
 }
 
 /// Expire the placement material dedup by **distance** (decision 0793) — the within-map half of
@@ -1082,8 +1105,11 @@ fn release_world(
     mut forms: ResMut<crate::model_forms::ModelForms>,
     mut progress: Option<ResMut<WorldLoadProgress>>,
     mut activity: ResMut<StreamActivity>,
-    mut welds: ResMut<HullWelds>,
+    // Bundled for the same reason as `stream_terrain`'s pair: the two stream-batch
+    // accumulators the world drop must clear (and clippy's argument-count line).
+    batchers: (ResMut<HullWelds>, ResMut<StaticMerge>),
 ) {
+    let (mut welds, mut static_merge) = batchers;
     if state.tiles.is_empty() && state.map_dir.is_none() {
         return;
     }
@@ -1100,6 +1126,7 @@ fn release_world(
         &mut state,
         &mut placements,
         &mut welds,
+        &mut static_merge,
         &mut activity,
     );
     state.map_dir = None;
@@ -1116,7 +1143,13 @@ fn despawn_tile_owned(commands: &mut Commands, t: &TileState) {
     for e in t.entity.into_iter().chain(t.wall) {
         commands.entity(e).try_despawn();
     }
-    for &e in t.liquid.iter().chain(&t.clutter).chain(&t.welds) {
+    for &e in t
+        .liquid
+        .iter()
+        .chain(&t.clutter)
+        .chain(&t.welds)
+        .chain(&t.merged)
+    {
         commands.entity(e).try_despawn();
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/merge.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/merge.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8eee64b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/merge.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,712 @@
+//! **`WOW_STATIC_MERGE=1` — the production static-world consolidation, doodad lanes** (design
+//! 1417, lane order re-ranked by 1418's density verdict; the measured premise is 1413/1416's
+//! 44 ns/row tax).
+//!
+//! The assembler diverts every ADT-doodad batch that is fully static (the bracket's anim
+//! exclusions), **order-free** (`Opaque`/`AlphaTest`, not additive: 0858's law that authored
+//! draw order exists only on transparent-pass batches) and not an interior-slot prop, into
+//! this buffer; the flush bakes each `(owner tile, 133⅓-yd cell, material)` group into ONE
+//! mesh entity with placement transforms baked into the vertices. **Faders merge too** (1418
+//! — they are the dense population, 4.5 batches per blob at the SW pin): each vertex carries
+//! its placement's fade sphere ([`benilla_assets::ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE`]) and
+//! `wow_model.wgsl`'s `WOW_MERGED_FADE` lane computes the faithful fade curve per vertex —
+//! alpha in-shader, `Hidden` as a clip-space collapse at zero. A fader blob draws on its BLEND
+//! TWIN permanently (1420): the reference's own fading render state, whose output at fade 1.0
+//! is pixel-identical to the steady cutout — so the feather is the reference's smooth
+//! translucent ramp, per placement, with no material swap and no dither (1419's ordered-dither
+//! stand-in quantized the ramp to 16 visible steps — the director's report killed it).
+//!
+//! The cell key preserves the frustum-cull locality the bracket's round 1 proved load-bearing
+//! (+1.38 without it, −0.93 with); the owner tile buys the weld's whole lifetime story — the
+//! blob lands in `TileState::merged` and despawns with its tile.
+//!
+//! **WMO group geometry never diverts (1418's verdict):** `batch_order` is a `MatKey` axis, so
+//! every WMO batch already owns a unique material handle — under the correct
+//! `(uid, group, material)` key the measured merge is EXACTLY 1:1, zero rows saved. The WMO
+//! share of the frame belongs to option B's cross-material retained draw, not to any
+//! entity-level lane. [`MergeSite::Wmo`] survives only to feed the census predictor.
+//!
+//! The close rule is the weld's (1369), not the bracket's wall clock: vertex cap + idle-frame
+//! tail, one quiet frame in normal play, [`MERGE_IDLE_FRAMES`] under the arrival cover.
+//! Dead-owner accumulators are discarded, and the whole buffer clears on map drop for the same
+//! tile-keys-repeat-across-maps reason the weld's does.
+//!
+//! **Known v1 gaps, deliberate** (each named in 1417, none reachable at a parked measuring
+//! pin): a tile-straddling doodad's blob dies with its owner tile and nothing re-emits it on
+//! the owner's reload while a neighbour still holds the placement (1369's re-cross gap, shared;
+//! the owner-handoff re-emit is the recorded fix and lands before any default-on). And the
+//! flush is not yet counted into the settle release the way `HullWelds::unflushed` is — under
+//! the cover the idle tail is frames, not seconds, so the reveal race is narrow; still a
+//! before-default-on item.
+
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use bevy::camera::primitives::Aabb;
+use bevy::camera::visibility::NoAutoAabb;
+use bevy::mesh::MeshTag;
+use bevy::prelude::*;
+
+use benilla_assets::materials::WowModelMaterial;
+use benilla_assets::merged_static_mesh_faded;
+use benilla_formats::{ModelBlend, RenderSubmesh};
+
+use crate::interact::WorldObject;
+use crate::mesh_tag::alpha_bits;
+use crate::model_render::{ModelKind, ModelPart};
+use crate::wmo_portal::WmoGroupVis;
+
+/// Vertex cap per blob: bounds any one bake + upload, and keeps a blob's cull bound a
+/// neighbourhood rather than a zone (the weld's `WELD_MAX_TRIS` argument, in render units). A
+/// single oversized batch closes its blob immediately, same as an oversized hull.
+const MERGE_MAX_VERTS: usize = 65_536;
+
+/// Quiet frames that close a live accumulator under the arrival cover; in normal play ONE
+/// quiet frame closes it, so a crossing's new tile blobs appear without a visible hold (the
+/// weld's exact rule — its comment owns the reasoning).
+const MERGE_IDLE_FRAMES: u32 = 15;
+
+/// The doodad spatial cell, ¼ of an ADT tile — the bracket's measured 133⅓-yd locality key
+/// (`mega_static`'s comment records the round-1 failure without it).
+const CELL: f32 = 533.333_3 / 4.0;
+
+/// One accumulating blob: shared geometry + placement transforms + per-placement fade
+/// spheres (index-parallel with `parts`), baked at flush.
+struct MergeAcc {
+    parts: Vec<(Arc<RenderSubmesh>, Transform)>,
+    spheres: Vec<Vec4>,
+    /// Interior-prop accs only (index-parallel with `parts`): each part's SH-probe slot, baked
+    /// per vertex at flush. Empty on every other lane — homogeneous per key by construction,
+    /// because the interior flag is a material axis and the material is in the key.
+    slots: Vec<u32>,
+    verts: usize,
+    blend: ModelBlend,
+    kind: ModelKind,
+    /// [`StaticMerge::frame`] at the last append — the idle clock.
+    last_add: u32,
+}
+
+impl MergeAcc {
+    fn ready(&self, frame: u32, idle_frames: u32) -> bool {
+        self.verts >= MERGE_MAX_VERTS || frame.wrapping_sub(self.last_add) >= idle_frames
+    }
+}
+
+/// Where a diverted batch belongs — built once per placement by the spawn driver, consumed per
+/// batch by the assembler's divert.
+pub enum MergeSite<'a> {
+    /// An ADT map doodad: owned by its first-registering tile (the weld's ownership).
+    Doodad { owner: (i32, i32) },
+    /// WMO group geometry: owned by its placement; `groups` is the asset's per-submesh group
+    /// index table (index-parallel with the submeshes the assembler iterates).
+    Wmo {
+        uid: u32,
+        groups: &'a [u16],
+        portal_gated: bool,
+    },
+    /// A WMO doodad prop (1418 lane 3): owned by its placement, keyed by the referrer-set of
+    /// rooms that name it (`groups` — the blob takes the same set-valued `WmoGroupVis` its
+    /// members carried) and, for an interior prop, carrying the per-prop SH-probe slot the
+    /// bake writes per vertex.
+    Prop {
+        uid: u32,
+        groups: &'a Arc<[u16]>,
+        slot: Option<u16>,
+    },
+}
+
+impl MergeSite<'_> {
+    /// The would-be merge key of one batch under this site, hashed — the census's blob-count
+    /// predictor (each lane's expected blob count = distinct keys in its class). Every site's
+    /// key here mirrors its real divert key exactly.
+    pub fn census_key(
+        &self,
+        batch_idx: usize,
+        mat: &Handle<WowModelMaterial>,
+        transform: &Transform,
+    ) -> Option<u64> {
+        use std::hash::{Hash, Hasher};
+        let mut h = std::collections::hash_map::DefaultHasher::new();
+        match self {
+            MergeSite::Doodad { owner } => {
+                let cell = (
+                    (transform.translation.x / CELL).floor() as i32,
+                    (transform.translation.z / CELL).floor() as i32,
+                );
+                (0u8, owner, cell, mat.id()).hash(&mut h);
+            }
+            MergeSite::Wmo { uid, groups, .. } => {
+                (1u8, uid, groups.get(batch_idx)?, mat.id()).hash(&mut h);
+            }
+            MergeSite::Prop { uid, groups, .. } => {
+                (2u8, uid, groups, mat.id()).hash(&mut h);
+            }
+        }
+        Some(h.finish())
+    }
+}
+
+/// (owner tile, 133⅓-yd cell, material) — a doodad blob's identity.
+type DoodadKey = ((i32, i32), (i32, i32), Handle<WowModelMaterial>);
+/// (placement uid, referrer-set, material) — a prop blob's identity. The `Arc<[u16]>` hashes
+/// by CONTENT, so two props named by the same rooms share a blob and distinct sets never can.
+type PropKey = (u32, Arc<[u16]>, Handle<WowModelMaterial>);
+
+/// The in-flight merge accumulators. Same lifecycle discipline as [`super::weld::HullWelds`]:
+/// fed by the spawn chain, drained one chain-step later, cleared with the world it describes.
+#[derive(Resource, Default)]
+pub struct StaticMerge {
+    /// Flush-system tick, the idle clock. Wrapping u32 — only ever read as a difference.
+    frame: u32,
+    doodads: HashMap<DoodadKey, MergeAcc>,
+    props: HashMap<PropKey, MergeAcc>,
+    /// Running totals since the last drain report (1417's VRAM honesty line): blobs spawned,
+    /// batches baked into them, vertices BAKED (every placement a copy) vs the vertices the
+    /// members' SHARED assets hold (each distinct geometry once — Arc identity), so the log
+    /// states the duplication factor the desk estimate guessed at ~3×.
+    blobs: u64,
+    batches: u64,
+    baked_verts: u64,
+    shared_verts: u64,
+    seen_geometry: std::collections::HashSet<usize>,
+    reported: bool,
+}
+
+/// Is lane 1 armed? Read once; the assembler divert and the flush both key on it.
+pub fn merge_enabled() -> bool {
+    static ON: std::sync::OnceLock<bool> = std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+    *ON.get_or_init(|| std::env::var("WOW_STATIC_MERGE").as_deref() == Ok("1"))
+}
+
+impl StaticMerge {
+    /// Take one mergeable batch into its accumulator. `fade_sphere` = the placement's world
+    /// fade center + radius, baked per vertex at flush (a never-fader carries its true radius
+    /// and the shader's `> 7` arm pins it opaque). `false` = this site never merges (WMO group
+    /// geometry and props — 1418's verdict / the referrer-set key) — the caller spawns the
+    /// batch individually, the fail-open arm.
+    #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+    pub(super) fn divert(
+        &mut self,
+        site: &MergeSite<'_>,
+        _batch_idx: usize,
+        mat: &Handle<WowModelMaterial>,
+        geometry: &Arc<RenderSubmesh>,
+        transform: Transform,
+        fade_sphere: Vec4,
+        blend: ModelBlend,
+        kind: ModelKind,
+    ) -> bool {
+        let frame = self.frame;
+        let acc = match site {
+            MergeSite::Doodad { owner } => {
+                let cell = (
+                    (transform.translation.x / CELL).floor() as i32,
+                    (transform.translation.z / CELL).floor() as i32,
+                );
+                self.doodads
+                    .entry((*owner, cell, mat.clone()))
+                    .or_insert_with(|| MergeAcc {
+                        parts: Vec::new(),
+                        spheres: Vec::new(),
+                        slots: Vec::new(),
+                        verts: 0,
+                        blend,
+                        kind,
+                        last_add: frame,
+                    })
+            }
+            MergeSite::Prop { uid, groups, slot } => {
+                let acc = self
+                    .props
+                    .entry((*uid, Arc::clone(groups), mat.clone()))
+                    .or_insert_with(|| MergeAcc {
+                        parts: Vec::new(),
+                        spheres: Vec::new(),
+                        slots: Vec::new(),
+                        verts: 0,
+                        blend,
+                        kind,
+                        last_add: frame,
+                    });
+                if let Some(slot) = slot {
+                    acc.slots.push(u32::from(*slot));
+                }
+                // The material's interior axis makes a key all-interior or all-exterior; a
+                // ragged slot list would misindex the per-vertex bake, so it is a hard error.
+                debug_assert!(acc.slots.is_empty() || acc.slots.len() == acc.parts.len() + 1);
+                acc
+            }
+            // WMO group geometry never merges: measured 1:1 under its correct key (1418 —
+            // batch_order rides MatKey). The site exists for the census predictor.
+            MergeSite::Wmo { .. } => return false,
+        };
+        acc.spheres.push(fade_sphere);
+        let verts = geometry.positions.len();
+        if self
+            .seen_geometry
+            .insert(Arc::as_ptr(geometry) as *const () as usize)
+        {
+            self.shared_verts += verts as u64;
+        }
+        self.baked_verts += verts as u64;
+        self.batches += 1;
+        acc.parts.push((geometry.clone(), transform));
+        acc.verts += verts;
+        acc.last_add = frame;
+        true
+    }
+
+    /// Accumulators not yet baked — the reveal gate's term (`WorldLoadProgress::merge_pending`;
+    /// the weld's `unflushed` argument, on the render side). An overcount only delays a
+    /// release, never wrongs one.
+    pub(super) fn unflushed(&self) -> usize {
+        self.doodads.len() + self.props.len()
+    }
+
+    pub(super) fn clear(&mut self) {
+        self.doodads.clear();
+        self.props.clear();
+        self.blobs = 0;
+        self.batches = 0;
+        self.baked_verts = 0;
+        self.shared_verts = 0;
+        self.seen_geometry.clear();
+        self.reported = true;
+    }
+}
+
+/// Close ready accumulators into blob entities and hand each to its owner tile
+/// (`TileState::merged` — despawned with the tile, like the welds). A dead owner discards its
+/// accumulator: spawning a blob nothing owns is a leak (the weld's rule, and its reachability
+/// argument — the owner died past the unload line).
+///
+/// Runs in the Stream chain right after `flush_hull_welds`, for the weld's own reason: the
+/// frame's appends see the flush at a deterministic point and the owner lookups race nothing.
+pub(super) fn flush_static_merge(
+    mut commands: Commands,
+    mut meshes: ResMut<Assets<Mesh>>,
+    merge: ResMut<StaticMerge>,
+    mut streamer: ResMut<super::TerrainStreamer>,
+    mut placements: ResMut<super::Placements>,
+    focus: Res<super::ViewFocus>,
+    mut progress: Option<ResMut<super::WorldLoadProgress>>,
+) {
+    let merge = merge.into_inner();
+    merge.frame = merge.frame.wrapping_add(1);
+    let frame = merge.frame;
+    let idle = if focus.paced { MERGE_IDLE_FRAMES } else { 1 };
+    let mut blobs = 0u64;
+    merge.doodads.retain(|key, acc| {
+        let Some(tile) = streamer.tiles.get_mut(&key.0) else {
+            return false;
+        };
+        if !acc.ready(frame, idle) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        blobs += 1;
+        tile.merged.push(spawn_blob(
+            &mut commands,
+            &mut meshes,
+            &key.2,
+            acc,
+            None,
+            true,
+        ));
+        false
+    });
+    merge.props.retain(|key, acc| {
+        let Some(p) = placements.by_id.get_mut(&key.0) else {
+            return false;
+        };
+        if !acc.ready(frame, idle) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        blobs += 1;
+        // The blob takes exactly the vis/tagging its members had (spawn/mod.rs's prop site):
+        // the set-valued `WmoGroupVis` + `ExteriorScene` when the building has an instance and
+        // rooms name the prop; untagged otherwise (no key ⇒ no exemption possible — 0784).
+        let vis = (!key.1.is_empty())
+            .then_some(p.portal_instance)
+            .flatten()
+            .map(|instance| WmoGroupVis {
+                instance,
+                groups: Arc::clone(&key.1),
+            });
+        let exterior = vis.is_some();
+        p.entities.push(spawn_blob(
+            &mut commands,
+            &mut meshes,
+            &key.2,
+            acc,
+            vis,
+            exterior,
+        ));
+        false
+    });
+    merge.blobs += blobs;
+    if blobs > 0 {
+        merge.reported = false;
+    }
+    // Publish the backlog for the reveal gate (this system sits in the Stream chain, so the
+    // consumers read this frame's depth — the weld's publish discipline).
+    if let Some(progress) = progress.as_mut() {
+        progress.merge_pending = merge.unflushed();
+    }
+    // The drain report (1417's VRAM honesty line), once per settled wave: what the merge took
+    // and what the transform-baking duplication actually costs against the shared assets.
+    if !merge.reported && merge.doodads.is_empty() && merge.props.is_empty() {
+        merge.reported = true;
+        info!(
+            "static-merge: {} blobs from {} batches; baked {}kv vs {}kv shared ({:.2}x duplication)",
+            merge.blobs,
+            merge.batches,
+            merge.baked_verts / 1000,
+            merge.shared_verts / 1000,
+            merge.baked_verts as f64 / merge.shared_verts.max(1) as f64
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+/// One closed accumulator → one blob entity carrying exactly what its members carried minus
+/// the per-placement machinery the shader lane now owns (1418): no `DoodadFade` (the baked
+/// fade spheres drive `WOW_MERGED_FADE`; `MeshTag` stays at opaque), no `PickMesh` (nameable,
+/// not pickable — the weld's identity rule, 0929), `ExteriorScene` (every member had it), the
+/// union `Aabb` (authored: `NoAutoAabb`).
+fn spawn_blob(
+    commands: &mut Commands,
+    meshes: &mut Assets<Mesh>,
+    mat: &Handle<WowModelMaterial>,
+    acc: &mut MergeAcc,
+    vis: Option<WmoGroupVis>,
+    exterior: bool,
+) -> Entity {
+    let parts = std::mem::take(&mut acc.parts);
+    let spheres = std::mem::take(&mut acc.spheres);
+    let slots = std::mem::take(&mut acc.slots);
+    let n = parts.len();
+    let (mesh, mn, mx) =
+        merged_static_mesh_faded(&parts, &spheres, (!slots.is_empty()).then_some(&slots[..]));
+    // An interior blob's tag keeps the members' INTERIOR_FOG staging bit (the slot half of the
+    // payload is dead under WOW_MERGED_SLOT — the vertices carry it).
+    let tag = if slots.is_empty() {
+        alpha_bits(1.0)
+    } else {
+        crate::mesh_tag::probe_bits(0)
+    };
+    let mut blob = commands.spawn((
+        Mesh3d(meshes.add(mesh)),
+        MeshMaterial3d(mat.clone()),
+        Transform::IDENTITY,
+        ModelPart {
+            kind: acc.kind,
+            blend: acc.blend,
+        },
+        MeshTag(tag),
+        Aabb::from_min_max(mn, mx),
+        NoAutoAabb,
+        WorldObject {
+            kind: acc.kind,
+            label: "static-merge".into(),
+            id: 0,
+            detail: format!("{n} batches merged"),
+        },
+    ));
+    if exterior {
+        blob.insert(crate::exterior_cull::ExteriorScene);
+    }
+    if let Some(vis) = vis {
+        blob.insert(vis);
+    }
+    blob.id()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::super::{ModelHandle, Placement, Placements, TerrainStreamer, TileState, ViewFocus};
+    use super::*;
+    use benilla_assets::{ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE, ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT};
+    use bevy::app::TaskPoolPlugin;
+    use bevy::ecs::system::RunSystemOnce;
+
+    fn geometry(verts: usize) -> Arc<RenderSubmesh> {
+        Arc::new(RenderSubmesh {
+            positions: vec![[0.0, 0.0, 0.0]; verts],
+            ..Default::default()
+        })
+    }
+
+    fn test_app() -> App {
+        let mut app = App::new();
+        app.add_plugins(TaskPoolPlugin::default());
+        app.init_resource::<Assets<Mesh>>();
+        app.init_resource::<StaticMerge>();
+        app.init_resource::<TerrainStreamer>();
+        app.init_resource::<super::super::Placements>();
+        app.init_resource::<ViewFocus>();
+        app
+    }
+
+    fn blank_tile() -> TileState {
+        TileState {
+            handle: Default::default(),
+            entity: None,
+            material: None,
+            next_cell: 0,
+            furnished: false,
+            placements: Vec::new(),
+            liquid: Vec::new(),
+            wall: None,
+            clutter: Vec::new(),
+            welds: Vec::new(),
+            merged: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn divert_doodad(merge: &mut StaticMerge, owner: (i32, i32), at: Vec3, verts: usize) {
+        let mat = Handle::<WowModelMaterial>::default();
+        assert!(merge.divert(
+            &MergeSite::Doodad { owner },
+            0,
+            &mat,
+            &geometry(verts),
+            Transform::from_translation(at),
+            Vec4::new(at.x, at.y, at.z, 1.5),
+            ModelBlend::Opaque,
+            ModelKind::Doodad,
+        ));
+    }
+
+    /// Two doodads in the same cell on the same material accumulate into ONE blob; a third in
+    /// a different cell opens a second accumulator (the locality key round 1 proved out).
+    #[test]
+    fn cell_key_partitions_doodad_accumulators() {
+        let mut merge = StaticMerge::default();
+        divert_doodad(&mut merge, (0, 0), Vec3::new(1.0, 0.0, 1.0), 3);
+        divert_doodad(&mut merge, (0, 0), Vec3::new(2.0, 0.0, 2.0), 3);
+        divert_doodad(&mut merge, (0, 0), Vec3::new(CELL + 1.0, 0.0, 1.0), 3);
+        assert_eq!(merge.doodads.len(), 2);
+        let joint = merge
+            .doodads
+            .values()
+            .find(|a| a.parts.len() == 2)
+            .expect("same-cell parts share an accumulator");
+        assert_eq!(joint.verts, 6);
+        assert_eq!(joint.spheres.len(), 2);
+    }
+
+    /// WMO group geometry never diverts (1418's 1:1 verdict) — the site exists for the census
+    /// predictor only.
+    #[test]
+    fn wmo_site_refuses_the_divert() {
+        let mut merge = StaticMerge::default();
+        let mat = Handle::<WowModelMaterial>::default();
+        assert!(!merge.divert(
+            &MergeSite::Wmo {
+                uid: 7,
+                groups: &[4, 9],
+                portal_gated: true,
+            },
+            0,
+            &mat,
+            &geometry(3),
+            Transform::IDENTITY,
+            Vec4::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, f32::INFINITY),
+            ModelBlend::Opaque,
+            ModelKind::Wmo,
+        ));
+        assert!(merge.doodads.is_empty() && merge.props.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    fn blank_placement(portal_instance: Option<Entity>) -> Placement {
+        Placement {
+            model: ModelHandle::M2(Default::default()),
+            transform: Transform::IDENTITY,
+            entities: Vec::new(),
+            spawned: true,
+            doodad_set: 0,
+            name_set: 0,
+            doodads: Vec::new(),
+            portal_instance,
+            refs: 1,
+            owner: (0, 0),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// An interior-prop blob (1418 lane 3) lands in its placement's entity list carrying the
+    /// set-valued room key, the per-vertex probe slots, and the INTERIOR_FOG-staged tag.
+    #[test]
+    fn interior_prop_blob_carries_rooms_and_baked_slots() {
+        let mut app = test_app();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<ViewFocus>().paced = false;
+        let instance = app.world_mut().spawn_empty().id();
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<Placements>()
+            .by_id
+            .insert(7, blank_placement(Some(instance)));
+        let rooms: Arc<[u16]> = Arc::from([3u16, 5].as_slice());
+        {
+            let mut merge = app.world_mut().resource_mut::<StaticMerge>();
+            let mat = Handle::<WowModelMaterial>::default();
+            for slot in [11u16, 12] {
+                assert!(merge.divert(
+                    &MergeSite::Prop {
+                        uid: 7,
+                        groups: &rooms,
+                        slot: Some(slot),
+                    },
+                    0,
+                    &mat,
+                    &geometry(3),
+                    Transform::IDENTITY,
+                    Vec4::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, f32::INFINITY),
+                    ModelBlend::Opaque,
+                    ModelKind::Doodad,
+                ));
+            }
+        }
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        let placements = app.world().resource::<Placements>();
+        let owned = placements.by_id.get(&7).unwrap().entities.clone();
+        assert_eq!(owned.len(), 1);
+        let blob = owned[0];
+        let vis = app.world().get::<WmoGroupVis>(blob).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(vis.instance, instance);
+        assert_eq!(&*vis.groups, &[3, 5]);
+        // The tag keeps the interior-fog staging bit with the slot half dead (probe 0).
+        let tag = app.world().get::<MeshTag>(blob).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tag.0, crate::mesh_tag::probe_bits(0));
+        let mesh3d = app.world().get::<Mesh3d>(blob).unwrap().0.clone();
+        let meshes = app.world().resource::<Assets<Mesh>>();
+        let mesh = meshes.get(&mesh3d).unwrap();
+        // 3 verts per part, slots 11 then 12 replicated per vertex.
+        match mesh.attribute(ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT).unwrap() {
+            bevy::mesh::VertexAttributeValues::Uint32(v) => {
+                assert_eq!(v, &[11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12]);
+            }
+            other => panic!("slot attribute has the wrong format: {other:?}"),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// An EXTERIOR prop blob (no slots) bakes no slot attribute, and a prop no room names
+    /// takes no vis key and no exterior tag (the untagged-not-gated-blind rule, 0784).
+    #[test]
+    fn exterior_and_unnamed_prop_blobs_stay_plain() {
+        let mut app = test_app();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<ViewFocus>().paced = false;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<Placements>()
+            .by_id
+            .insert(9, blank_placement(None));
+        let rooms: Arc<[u16]> = Arc::from([].as_slice());
+        {
+            let mut merge = app.world_mut().resource_mut::<StaticMerge>();
+            let mat = Handle::<WowModelMaterial>::default();
+            assert!(merge.divert(
+                &MergeSite::Prop {
+                    uid: 9,
+                    groups: &rooms,
+                    slot: None,
+                },
+                0,
+                &mat,
+                &geometry(3),
+                Transform::IDENTITY,
+                Vec4::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 4.0),
+                ModelBlend::Opaque,
+                ModelKind::Doodad,
+            ));
+        }
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        let placements = app.world().resource::<Placements>();
+        let owned = placements.by_id.get(&9).unwrap().entities.clone();
+        assert_eq!(owned.len(), 1);
+        let blob = owned[0];
+        assert!(app.world().get::<WmoGroupVis>(blob).is_none());
+        assert!(app
+            .world()
+            .get::<crate::exterior_cull::ExteriorScene>(blob)
+            .is_none());
+        let mesh3d = app.world().get::<Mesh3d>(blob).unwrap().0.clone();
+        let meshes = app.world().resource::<Assets<Mesh>>();
+        let mesh = meshes.get(&mesh3d).unwrap();
+        assert!(mesh.attribute(ATTRIBUTE_WOW_MERGED_SLOT).is_none());
+        assert!(mesh.attribute(ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE).is_some());
+    }
+
+    /// The idle tail closes a quiet doodad accumulator into a blob owned by its tile, with the
+    /// authored bound, the per-vertex fade spheres, and no per-entity fade enrollment.
+    #[test]
+    fn idle_tail_closes_a_doodad_blob_onto_its_tile() {
+        let mut app = test_app();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<ViewFocus>().paced = true;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<TerrainStreamer>()
+            .tiles
+            .insert((3, 4), blank_tile());
+        divert_doodad(
+            &mut app.world_mut().resource_mut::<StaticMerge>(),
+            (3, 4),
+            Vec3::new(5.0, 0.0, 5.0),
+            3,
+        );
+        for _ in 0..(MERGE_IDLE_FRAMES - 1) {
+            app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        }
+        assert_eq!(app.world().resource::<StaticMerge>().doodads.len(), 1);
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        assert!(app.world().resource::<StaticMerge>().doodads.is_empty());
+        let streamer = app.world().resource::<TerrainStreamer>();
+        let owned = streamer.tiles.get(&(3, 4)).unwrap().merged.clone();
+        assert_eq!(owned.len(), 1);
+        let blob = owned[0];
+        assert!(app.world().get::<NoAutoAabb>(blob).is_some());
+        assert!(app
+            .world()
+            .get::<crate::model_fade::DoodadFade>(blob)
+            .is_none());
+        // The baked mesh carries one fade sphere per vertex — the WOW_MERGED_FADE contract.
+        let mesh3d = app.world().get::<Mesh3d>(blob).unwrap().0.clone();
+        let meshes = app.world().resource::<Assets<Mesh>>();
+        let mesh = meshes.get(&mesh3d).unwrap();
+        let spheres = mesh.attribute(ATTRIBUTE_WOW_FADE_SPHERE).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(spheres.len(), 3);
+    }
+
+    /// A dead owner discards the accumulator — no blob, no leak (the weld's rule).
+    #[test]
+    fn dead_owner_discards_the_accumulator() {
+        let mut app = test_app();
+        divert_doodad(
+            &mut app.world_mut().resource_mut::<StaticMerge>(),
+            (9, 9),
+            Vec3::ZERO,
+            3,
+        );
+        let before = app.world().entities().len();
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        assert!(app.world().resource::<StaticMerge>().doodads.is_empty());
+        assert_eq!(app.world().entities().len(), before);
+    }
+
+    /// The vertex cap closes an accumulator without waiting for the idle tail.
+    #[test]
+    fn vert_cap_closes_immediately() {
+        let mut app = test_app();
+        app.world_mut().resource_mut::<ViewFocus>().paced = true;
+        app.world_mut()
+            .resource_mut::<TerrainStreamer>()
+            .tiles
+            .insert((0, 0), blank_tile());
+        divert_doodad(
+            &mut app.world_mut().resource_mut::<StaticMerge>(),
+            (0, 0),
+            Vec3::ZERO,
+            MERGE_MAX_VERTS,
+        );
+        app.world_mut().run_system_once(flush_static_merge).unwrap();
+        let streamer = app.world().resource::<TerrainStreamer>();
+        assert_eq!(streamer.tiles.get(&(0, 0)).unwrap().merged.len(), 1);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/assemble.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/assemble.rs
index 265df90c..5f8cfd21 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/assemble.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/assemble.rs
@@ -56,6 +56,22 @@ impl PlacementHost {
     }
 }
 
+/// What [`spawn_model_entities`] spawned.
+pub struct SpawnedModel {
+    /// The caller's despawn list — everything this placement owns as world roots (anim host,
+    /// parts, world-root cards; owner-following cards manage their own lifecycle and stay out).
+    pub entities: Vec<Entity>,
+    /// Index-parallel with the `submeshes` slice: the entity each batch spawned, `None` where
+    /// no entity exists (a missing render form, or the `WOW_MEGA_STATIC` divert). This exists
+    /// because POSITION IS A CONTRACT: the WMO path zips per-batch group indices against what
+    /// was spawned, and a skipped batch must hold its slot rather than shift every later batch
+    /// onto the wrong group — which is exactly what the bracket's bare `continue` did to the
+    /// surviving entities of a diverted building (found by 1417's constraint map).
+    pub by_batch: Vec<Option<Entity>>,
+    /// The anim host, when the model animates (see [`PlacementHost`]).
+    pub host: Option<PlacementHost>,
+}
+
 /// Spawn a model's submeshes at `transform` with the full doodad/WMO component set. Returns the spawned
 /// entities (for refcounted despawn).
 ///
@@ -122,11 +138,18 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
     // ([`crate::mega_static`] — an EXPERIMENT lever; its module doc owns the caveats). `None`
     // on the moving-prop path (a merged blob cannot ride a gameobject).
     mut mega: Option<&mut crate::mega_static::MegaStaticPending>,
-    // Returns the spawned entities + what the anim host armed for this placement, when the model
-    // animates: the joint set (bone-indexed) the emitter spawn rides its host bone off (0130 phase
-    // 4), and the FILE sequence slot its variation roll landed on, which the emitters' rate/gate
-    // tracks must be sampled against (decision 0760).
-) -> (Vec<Entity>, Option<PlacementHost>) {
+    // `Some` on the world-static streamer paths lane 1 covers (ADT doodads + WMO group
+    // geometry): the production merge buffer and this placement's merge site (decision 1417,
+    // `WOW_STATIC_MERGE`). `None` on the WMO-prop and moving-gameobject paths.
+    mut merge: Option<(
+        &mut super::super::merge::StaticMerge,
+        super::super::merge::MergeSite<'_>,
+    )>,
+    // Returns the spawned entities + the per-batch map + what the anim host armed for this
+    // placement, when the model animates: the joint set (bone-indexed) the emitter spawn rides
+    // its host bone off (0130 phase 4), and the FILE sequence slot its variation roll landed
+    // on, which the emitters' rate/gate tracks must be sampled against (decision 0760).
+) -> SpawnedModel {
     let kind = if is_wmo {
         ModelKind::Wmo
     } else {
@@ -161,6 +184,9 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
     // The parts the lazy-rig wake will promote static → skinned (decision 0863) — the ones that
     // got a [`crate::doodad_anim::SkinnedTwin`] below.
     let mut lazy_parts: Vec<Entity> = Vec::new();
+    // The per-batch slot map (see [`SpawnedModel::by_batch`]) — every `continue` in the loop
+    // below leaves a `None` in place instead of shifting later batches.
+    let mut by_batch: Vec<Option<Entity>> = vec![None; submeshes.len()];
     for (batch_idx, sub) in submeshes.iter().enumerate() {
         // The batch's app-built render form (decision 0834). Callers gate spawning on the forms
         // being complete, so a miss here is a broken contract — skip the batch rather than panic.
@@ -240,34 +266,6 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
             light,
             seq_owner,
         );
-        // The `WOW_MEGA_STATIC` divert (the consolidation bracket): a fully static batch — no
-        // anim host, not a billboard card, no per-entity material animation — skips its entity
-        // entirely; the merge flush draws it inside one blob per MATERIAL, which preserves every
-        // material semantic by construction (the handle is already deduped over blend, shade,
-        // batch order, fog policy...). Shared-table UV/tint loops would merge fine too (the
-        // table drives the material, not the entity), excluded anyway to keep the bracket's
-        // divert predicate trivially auditable.
-        if let Some(mega) = mega.as_mut() {
-            if crate::mega_static::enabled()
-                && !animated
-                && sub.billboard.is_none()
-                && sub.alpha_anim.is_none()
-                && seq_owner.is_none()
-                && sub.uv_anim.is_none()
-                && sub.rgb_anim.is_none()
-            {
-                mega.parts.push((
-                    cutout.clone(),
-                    crate::mega_static::PendingPart {
-                        geometry: sub.geometry.clone(),
-                        transform,
-                        blend: sub.blend,
-                        kind,
-                    },
-                ));
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
         // The blend twin for the distance-fade feather pass (reuse the cutout when already blend, or when
         // this is a non-fading interior prop). A MULTIPLY batch (Mod/Mod2x — the weapon-rack
         // ARMORREFLECT sheen) also reuses its steady self: its blend equation reads no alpha, so no
@@ -312,6 +310,96 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
                 seq_owner,
             )
         };
+        // The 1417 batch classification — ONE source for both the census tally and the
+        // production divert below, so the population the census prints and the population the
+        // merge takes can never drift apart.
+        let class = crate::static_merge::BatchClass {
+            excluded: animated
+                || sub.billboard.is_some()
+                || sub.alpha_anim.is_some()
+                || seq_owner.is_some()
+                || sub.uv_anim.is_some()
+                || sub.rgb_anim.is_some(),
+            interior_prop: interior_probe,
+            order_free: matches!(sub.blend, ModelBlend::Opaque | ModelBlend::AlphaTest)
+                && !sub.additive,
+            never_fade: radius > crate::model_fade::NEVER_FADE_RADIUS,
+        };
+        // A merged FADER blob lives permanently in the reference's own fading render state —
+        // the blend twin (blend on, cutout ref on unfaded alpha, depth-write forced on) — with
+        // per-vertex alpha; at fade 1.0 that state is pixel-identical to the steady cutout, so
+        // nothing changes while it is steady and the feather is the reference's smooth
+        // translucent ramp (1420, superseding 1419's ordered-dither erode, which quantized the
+        // ramp to 16 visible steps — the director's report). Never-faders keep the cutout and
+        // the opaque bins; a steady interior prop never fades at all, so it keeps the cutout
+        // AND bakes an infinite sphere (its members carry no `DoodadFade` — the merged path
+        // must not invent one).
+        let merge_mat = if class.never_fade || steady_interior_prop {
+            &cutout
+        } else {
+            &blend
+        };
+        let merge_sphere = if steady_interior_prop {
+            Vec4::new(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, f32::INFINITY)
+        } else {
+            Vec4::from((transform.transform_point(local_center), radius))
+        };
+        if crate::static_merge::census_enabled() {
+            let key = merge
+                .as_ref()
+                .and_then(|(_, site)| site.census_key(batch_idx, merge_mat, &transform));
+            crate::static_merge::tally(&class, is_wmo, sub.geometry.positions.len(), key);
+        }
+        // The production consolidation divert (`WOW_STATIC_MERGE=1`, 1417/1418): an order-free
+        // static doodad batch — faders included, their fade rides the baked sphere through the
+        // shader's WOW_MERGED_FADE lane — merges into its site's blob instead of spawning. Its
+        // `by_batch` slot stays `None`; a refused divert (a WMO/prop site — 1418's verdict)
+        // falls through and spawns individually.
+        if let Some((merge, site)) = merge.as_mut() {
+            if crate::terrain_stream::merge::merge_enabled()
+                && class.merges()
+                && merge.divert(
+                    site,
+                    batch_idx,
+                    merge_mat,
+                    &sub.geometry,
+                    transform,
+                    merge_sphere,
+                    sub.blend,
+                    kind,
+                )
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+        // The `WOW_MEGA_STATIC` divert (the consolidation bracket): a fully static batch — no
+        // anim host, not a billboard card, no per-entity material animation — skips its entity
+        // entirely; the merge flush draws it inside one blob per MATERIAL, which preserves every
+        // material semantic by construction (the handle is already deduped over blend, shade,
+        // batch order, fog policy...). Shared-table UV/tint loops would merge fine too (the
+        // table drives the material, not the entity), excluded anyway to keep the bracket's
+        // divert predicate trivially auditable.
+        if let Some(mega) = mega.as_mut() {
+            if crate::mega_static::enabled()
+                && !animated
+                && sub.billboard.is_none()
+                && sub.alpha_anim.is_none()
+                && seq_owner.is_none()
+                && sub.uv_anim.is_none()
+                && sub.rgb_anim.is_none()
+            {
+                mega.parts.push((
+                    cutout.clone(),
+                    crate::mega_static::PendingPart {
+                        geometry: sub.geometry.clone(),
+                        transform,
+                        blend: sub.blend,
+                        kind,
+                    },
+                ));
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
         // Register both variants' materials for the per-frame UV scroll (idempotent per material —
         // every instance of the batch lands on the same deduped handle).
         // A period-0 loop is a constant the material seed already wrote (`sample(0.0)` IS its
@@ -484,6 +572,7 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
             }
             (entity, local_center)
         };
+        by_batch[batch_idx] = Some(entity);
         // Animated material alpha (decision 0130 phase 2): the rare batch whose colour-alpha/weight
         // tracks animate (fire flicker) or constantly dim gets its per-instance sampler; the
         // visibility authority composes the value into the render-alpha tag + the A ≤ 0 cull.
@@ -577,7 +666,11 @@ pub fn spawn_model_entities(
         let anchors = h.finish(commands);
         PlacementHost { anchors, root, arm }
     });
-    (out, placement_host)
+    SpawnedModel {
+        entities: out,
+        by_batch,
+        host: placement_host,
+    }
 }
 
 /// The `Aabb` a placed submesh is culled with: its build-time bind-pose bound, widened by the
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/mod.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/mod.rs
index 2774c27a..38615143 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/spawn/mod.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ mod assemble;
 mod fx;
 pub(crate) mod prop_light;
 
-pub use assemble::spawn_model_entities;
+pub use assemble::{spawn_model_entities, SpawnedModel};
 pub use fx::point_light;
 use fx::{
     emitter_fade, spawn_emitters_for, spawn_lights_for, spawn_ribbons_for, spawn_wmo_lights_for,
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ use super::collider::{
     build_collider_task, doodad_bodies_disabled, doodad_hulls_bare, placement_collider_data,
     PendingCollider,
 };
+use super::merge::{MergeSite, StaticMerge};
 use super::weld::{hull_weld_disabled, HullWelds};
 use super::{
     doodad_ground_shade, ModelHandle, Placements, ShadeResolve, TerrainStreamer, SPAWN_BUDGET,
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ type SpawnTables<'w> = (
     ResMut<'w, ModelForms>,
     ResMut<'w, HullWelds>,
     ResMut<'w, crate::mega_static::MegaStaticPending>,
+    ResMut<'w, StaticMerge>,
 );
 
 #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
     // model-forms cache (decision 0834).
     tables: SpawnTables,
 ) {
-    let (mut probes, mut activity, focus, mut forms, mut welds, mut mega) = tables;
+    let (mut probes, mut activity, focus, mut forms, mut welds, mut mega, mut merge) = tables;
     let Some(shared_light) = shared_light else {
         return;
     };
@@ -163,7 +165,11 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                         };
                     let (radius, center) = m2_fade(&m.bounds, p.transform.scale.x);
                     let anim_bound = m2_anim_bound(&m.bounds);
-                    let (mut ents, host) = spawn_model_entities(
+                    let SpawnedModel {
+                        entities: mut ents,
+                        host,
+                        ..
+                    } = spawn_model_entities(
                         &mut commands,
                         mat_cache,
                         materials,
@@ -186,6 +192,7 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                         &mut anim_table,
                         None, // world-static placement: cards bake their world pivot
                         Some(&mut *mega),
+                        Some((&mut *merge, MergeSite::Doodad { owner: p.owner })),
                     );
                     // ADT doodads are exterior scene: from inside a WMO they draw only through a
                     // portal window (`0x683700`, fed solely by the per-window walk `0x682fa0` — see
@@ -279,7 +286,14 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                     }
                     // WMOs carry no authored bounds → never size-fade (∞ radius), rely on the far-clip.
                     // (`m2: None` ⇒ no anim host, so the joint half of the return is always empty.)
-                    let (mut ents, _) = spawn_model_entities(
+                    // Hoisted above the spawn: the merge site needs it (a portal-gated building's
+                    // blobs take `WmoGroupVis`), and the instance logic below reuses it.
+                    let has_portals = !m.portal_refs.is_empty() && !m.portal_infos.is_empty();
+                    let SpawnedModel {
+                        entities: mut ents,
+                        by_batch,
+                        ..
+                    } = spawn_model_entities(
                         &mut commands,
                         mat_cache,
                         materials,
@@ -302,6 +316,14 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                         &mut anim_table,
                         None, // world-static placement: cards bake their world pivot
                         Some(&mut *mega),
+                        Some((
+                            &mut *merge,
+                            MergeSite::Wmo {
+                                uid: unique_id,
+                                groups: &m.submesh_group,
+                                portal_gated: has_portals,
+                            },
+                        )),
                     );
                     // A world WMO placement is exterior scene too (`0x6856c0`, fed by the same
                     // per-window populate `0x682fa0`): from inside one building, another building
@@ -319,14 +341,14 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                             .entity(*e)
                             .insert(crate::exterior_cull::ExteriorScene);
                     }
-                    // Portal visibility + interior tracking: tie every group submesh entity (the `ents`
-                    // here are exactly the submeshes, in order, before colliders/lights are appended
-                    // below) back to one per-placement instance that holds the placement transform + the
-                    // per-frame visible set. The cull is per-group, so a building with a portal graph
+                    // Portal visibility + interior tracking: tie every group submesh entity (the
+                    // `by_batch` map is index-parallel with the submeshes — the structural form of
+                    // what used to be a positional promise on `ents`, which the mega divert's
+                    // `continue` silently broke) back to one per-placement instance that holds the
+                    // placement transform + the per-frame visible set. The cull is per-group, so a building with a portal graph
                     // gets tagged; a portal-less prop keeps all groups visible but still spawns the
                     // instance when it carries a WMOAreaTable identity — the interior down-ray
                     // (`wmo_portal::track_current_interior`) needs it. See `crate::wmo_portal`.
-                    let has_portals = !m.portal_refs.is_empty() && !m.portal_infos.is_empty();
                     if has_portals || m.wmo_id != 0 {
                         let instance = commands
                             .spawn(WmoPortalInstance {
@@ -362,7 +384,8 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                             let group_key: Vec<Arc<[u16]>> = (0..m.group_nav.len() as u16)
                                 .map(|g| Arc::from([g].as_slice()))
                                 .collect();
-                            for (&entity, &group) in ents.iter().zip(&m.submesh_group) {
+                            for (&entity, &group) in by_batch.iter().zip(&m.submesh_group) {
+                                let Some(entity) = entity else { continue };
                                 let Some(groups) = group_key.get(group as usize).cloned() else {
                                     continue;
                                 };
@@ -381,9 +404,8 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                     }
                     // The building's embedded MLIQ liquid (Stormwind's canals + fountains, the
                     // Ironforge lava, dungeon pools): one flat animated surface per group with water,
-                    // spawned at the placement transform on the shared per-kind material. Appended
-                    // AFTER the portal-instance zip above, which requires `ents` to still be exactly the
-                    // submeshes in order.
+                    // spawned at the placement transform on the shared per-kind material. (The group
+                    // zip above reads `by_batch`, so appends to `ents` no longer threaten it.)
                     // Spawned a group at a time so each surface can take that group's cull key: a
                     // pool belongs to the room it sits in, and a culled room's lava must go with it
                     // (decision 0689 — the same defect as the props, on the same building).
@@ -572,7 +594,11 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                     slot
                 }
             };
-            let (mut ents, host) = spawn_model_entities(
+            let SpawnedModel {
+                entities: mut ents,
+                host,
+                ..
+            } = spawn_model_entities(
                 &mut commands,
                 mat_cache,
                 materials,
@@ -595,11 +621,31 @@ pub(super) fn spawn_loaded_placements(
                 &mut anim_table,
                 None, // world-static placement: cards bake their world pivot
                 Some(&mut *mega),
+                // The prop merge site (1418 lane 3): keyed by the rooms that name the prop,
+                // slot baked per vertex for the interior lane.
+                Some((
+                    &mut *merge,
+                    MergeSite::Prop {
+                        uid: unique_id,
+                        groups: &d.groups,
+                        slot: interior_slot,
+                    },
+                )),
             );
             // The slot frees itself when the prop despawns (streaming out) — the component hook
-            // returns it to the table whoever does the despawn.
-            if let (Some(slot), Some(&first)) = (interior_slot, ents.first()) {
-                commands.entity(first).insert(PropProbeSlot(slot));
+            // returns it to the table whoever does the despawn. A prop whose every batch
+            // diverted into a merge blob (1418 lane 3) spawns a bare carrier row for the hook:
+            // the blob aggregates many props and cannot own any single slot's lifetime.
+            if let Some(slot) = interior_slot {
+                let owner = match ents.first() {
+                    Some(&first) => first,
+                    None => {
+                        let carrier = commands.spawn_empty().id();
+                        ents.push(carrier);
+                        carrier
+                    }
+                };
+                commands.entity(owner).insert(PropProbeSlot(slot));
             }
             // Portal-cull the prop with the rooms that name it — the reference commits a WMO's
             // doodads per VISIBLE group (`0x695aa0` over the group's MODR refs, from the
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/weld.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/weld.rs
index a4107fe7..bcf1a7f0 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/weld.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/terrain_stream/weld.rs
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ mod tests {
             wall: None,
             clutter: Vec::new(),
             welds: Vec::new(),
+            merged: Vec::new(),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
index 6a3df1f8..a8fe0439 100644
--- a/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
+++ b/crates/benilla-world/src/world_plugins.rs
@@ -256,6 +256,11 @@ impl Plugin for WorldFoundation {
         // the flag off nothing ever diverts, the buffer stays empty, and the flush early-outs.
         app.init_resource::<crate::mega_static::MegaStaticPending>();
         app.add_systems(bevy::app::Update, crate::mega_static::flush_mega_static);
+        // `WOW_MERGE_CENSUS=1` — the 1417 population census (module doc): tally rides the
+        // assembler, this is just the quiet-timer printer.
+        if crate::static_merge::census_enabled() {
+            app.add_systems(bevy::app::Update, crate::static_merge::log_merge_census);
+        }
         // `WOW_UPLOAD_BUDGET=<MB>` — cap the render app's per-frame GPU asset upload (bevy's
         // `RenderAssetBytesPerFrame`, unlimited by default; only assets implementing `byte_len`
         // participate, which covers meshes and images — exactly the streaming payload). An