FAST ANSWER / QUEST TIMING
Treat the least reduction as the current lead, not a rule.
One recent community reply reports that a party with -1, -2, and -2 cycle effects behaves like -1 cycle. That is a useful test case, but it has not been independently verified here and should not be treated as a universal stacking formula.
- Record the same quest, base duration, party, equipment, and build before dispatch.
- Run a baseline, then compare a party with one reduction against a mixed -1 / -2 / -2 party.
- Repeat after restoring the same state before publishing a general rule.
What the recent report actually says
A player asked whether quest-duration reductions stack across the whole party. The reply claimed that every knight needs the reduction for it to matter and used a -1, -2, -2 party as an example that only shortens the quest by one cycle. This is a community observation, not an official mechanic explanation.
- Keep the wording as a lead: 'reported to use the smallest reduction'
- Do not rewrite the claim as additive stacking
- Record whether the effect appears before dispatch or only after the quest returns
Why this matters for dispatch decisions
A shorter quest can change which knight is available for the next request, but speed is not automatically the same as a better result. Keep duration, outcome class, relationship cost, and resource reward in separate columns so a faster failure does not look like an upgrade.
- Quest duration before and after the party change
- Critical Success, Critical Failure, or Unexpected Outcome
- Relationship, armor, treasury, or item changes
- Whether the next quest board or character state changed
The minimum useful verification
Use one quest with a repeatable base duration. Keep the preceding day, quest choice, equipment, and party order unchanged. Test one reduction, then the mixed party, then a party where every member has the same reduction. If the result changes after any unrelated variable moves, mark the interaction unresolved.
What will change when it is verified
Once the behavior is reproduced in the current build, replace the community-report label with an in-game verification label, add the exact quest and build, and link the result from the knight roster. Until then, use this page to prevent a costly assumption rather than to promise a fixed formula.
Baseline source: official Sovereign Tower page on Steam. Additional reference: recent community discussion on knight stats and quest duration. This note is an independent editorial guide; evidence status is shown where it matters.