Ran it as a hero today and got 20 merits.
I understand why this was changed. It was a super fast method of gathering merits that could be done from 20 on. There is now NO reason to do tips at all really. Story Arcs are completed at about the same rate, and you can change alignments instantly with Null.
The rewards should be set around 30, that way if you spend the 10 merits to get tips, you're still finishing up 20.