The recovery rule
Fatigue is the workload meter. Delves, quests, cup ties and festival fixtures all add to it, and a hero over about 78 stops counting as fit for selection (see hero state). Each rest day the game takes some of it away:
- 5.8% of the hero’s current fatigue,
- plus 2.5% for every Infirmary level (and 3% more if the hall has taken the long-ward specialisation),
- with a floor of 0.6 a day so low fatigue still drains.
Early Riser multiplies the amount removed each day by 1.25. Light Sleeper multiplies it by 0.75, and the two can never share a hero.
| Fatigue, no Infirmary upgrades | Ordinary hero, first day | Early Riser, first day |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | about −4.1 | about −5.1 |
| 50 | about −2.9 | about −3.6 |
| 30 | about −1.7 | about −2.2 |
Because recovery is a share of what the hero is carrying, the trait does most when fatigue is high. Over a six-day cycle starting at 70, an Early Riser clears about 25 points against about 21 for an ordinary hero. That four-point gap is roughly a quarter of one delve’s wear, cleared for free.
What it does not do
It does not reduce how much fatigue work adds. Hardy takes a quarter off delve, quest and cup-tie wear, and Road-Hardened halves quest fatigue. Those lower the wear; Early Riser clears it faster. All three stack.
It also stacks with the Infirmary rather than replacing it: the 1.25 multiplies whatever rate the hall already gives, so a better Infirmary makes the trait worth more in absolute terms.
Where it shines
- Tight schedules. Back-to-back delves during a cup run or a league push are where faster recovery decides whether a hero is fit for the next one or flagged worn.
- Small rosters. When you cannot rotate, faster recovery is effectively an extra body.
- Core starters who play nearly every fixture and never get a long rest.
Jobs, the route and flavour
- Expedition jobs like it. Expedition postings list Early Riser as a liked trait (“They are up before the fire is”), adding 5% to the hero’s suitability.
- Forks. Early Riser gives no lean at a dungeon fork; as leader they use the default odds.
- Flavour. Quest reports have Early Riser lines, and on pair duty the hero speaks with the “tireless” voice shared with Tireless, Light Sleeper, Vigilant, Watchful and Hardy.
It has no effect in combat and never shows in a delve report; you see it only in how rarely the hero is flagged tired. The hero card links the trait to Stamina, which is descriptive.
Rarity and history
- Rarity: common, positive · draw weight 100 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 25
- Founding draft: any card.
- In the wiki’s archive: first present in the 2.1.8 build (absent from 2.0.7).
Recruiting
A small but genuine plus on any hero you expect to use often. It is worth more on your core starters than on depth players who sit out half the schedule anyway.