Critical Hit: Difference between revisions

[[File:critical kick 4026.png|frame|[[Persona 4|"Critical hit to the]] [[Groin Attack|nads.]]"]]

 

 

In a game which relies heavily on numerical statistics, particularly an [[RPG]], a character will have a chance of doing [[For Massive Damage|noticeably increased damage]] with an attack if [[Random Number God|the right number comes up]]. The likelihood of this occurring may or may not be affected by the aforementioned stats, and sometimes magic may be given this little perk as well. Sometimes this is accompanied by different damage text or special effects (which may be more than just graphics).

** 4th edition [[Dungeons & Dragons]] has all creatures affected by critical hits. All weapons deal max damage on a crit. Magical weapons and some heavy weapons deal extra damage on top of that. However, all weapons deal critical damage on 20s alone again (except when augmented by certain powers or feats).

*** And then there are "High Crit" weapons,such as the scimitar, katar, and greataxe, which (on a crit) deal maximum damage and an extra weapon damage die roll. This can become absolutely ridiculous - a greataxe, if maximum damage is rolled on the extra roll, will deal 24 damage - and don't get me started on a two-blade ranger double critting on a Twin Strike with scimitars and rolling max damage each time (not counting enhancement, it deals 32 damage, enough to kill a level 1 creature.)

**** 5% of the time isn't exactly once in a lifetime.

* ''[[Role Master]]'' had pages upon pages of critical hit tables. It was famous for them. Overcoming your opponent in a battle in Rolemaster isn't so much about draining their hit points but landing criticals. Each attack consists of an attack roll (adding your skill bonus for the weapon you're using and subtracting the enemy's defensive bonus), and if the weapon's attack table indicates that you get a critical hit you roll for the critical (the severity of which depends on whether your hit resulted in A, B, C, D or E criticals) and see how well you succeed in that critical, the results of which range anywhere from small wounds to smashed skulls, so the criticals play a... erm, ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|critical]]'' role in resolving a combat.

* ''[[EarthBound]]'' has ''SMAAAASH!!'' attacks, the chances of which are based on your Guts stat. The ''[[Infinity+1 Sword]]'', the [[Improvised Weapon|Gutsy Bat]], lets you get a lot of these.

** The Casey Bat, borrowing from the story of Casey At The Bat, either connects with a ''SMAAAASH!!'' hit, or misses entirely. Also borrowing from that classic tale, it misses ''a lot''.

* The ''[[Fallout]]'' games play this one straight and provide 'Perks' which may affect the chance of it happening or how much damage is done.

** And if you get the "Sniper" perk and have 10 Luck (the maximum), ''every shot you fire'' is a critical hit. (The same is true of "Slayer" and melee or unarmed attacks.) At this point you can take out an entire military base with a BB gun (reload every 100 shots, can get five shots a turn with a few perks).

*** ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' plays with this, giving Marth the Final Smash "Critical Hit" which does a ridiculous amount of damage (60%) and is the most likely attack to KO an opponent in one hit, aside from an attack used by the [[SNK Boss]]. When it hits, they even show a ''Fire Emblem'' health counter going from full to zero.

** An offshoot of this is the Lethality/Silence skill that Assassins have, which is even less likely than a Critical Hit, which just kills the opponent regardless of how much more damage would be needed. The Assassin might only be able to do 1 natural damage per hit, but if they pull this out the enemy even at full health just drops.

*** With Ragnell and Aether, Ike can pretty much solo the rest of the game and the bonus maps, although the final boss is still troublesome.

*** The most lethal of them all is the Black Knight's mastery skill in ''Radiant Dawn'', Eclipse: it does ''quintuple'' damage and negates defense, so if he's wielding Alondite, he does a grand total of ''280'' damage. NO character in the series, player character, final boss, or otherwise, has more than ''120'' HP. Hell, roughly 90% of those characters won't even break ''45 HP'' normally.

 

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', a natural 20 was actually a prophesy, for when Roy was to know to take a shot at a moment when such a roll was needed most.

* Spoofed in ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'', where Red Mage uses it in a game of [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]].

 

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[[Category:Videogame Effects and Spells]]

[[Category:Older Than the NES]]

[[Category:For Massive Damage]]

[[Category:CRPG Tropes]]