DISCLAIMER: The information in this article is based on experimental research conducted by the community, and may contain inaccuracies and speculation. While we strive for accuracy in these articles, we make no claims of experimental rigor or unbiased conclusions. Caveat lector.
Occurrence
Each weapon attack has an independent chance of dealing a critical hit. A higher weapon attribute increases this chance. Attacker and target levels are also factors. A few skills can cause or negate critical hits, as specified in their description. If you strike an opponent who is fleeing from you, you will always score a critical hit.
Effects
Whenever a critical hit occurs, the damage done is equal to the maximum damage of the weapon multiplied by approximately sqrt(2), the equivalent of striking for maximum damage with a weapon attribute 4 higher than actually possessed. Non-critical hits are a random value chosen between the minimum and maximum damage values of the weapon.
According to empirical research done by game players, it appears that each weapon attribute point increases the chance to critical hit by ~1.44%. The recorded critical hit rates with a 12 and a 16 weapon mastery were 15% and 23% respectively, while the best linear fit suggests approximately 17.5% and 23.5% (R^2=0.953).
Ensign generated a list based on a study of over 8000 hits, with a result of ~1.44% per point in Weapon Mastery, or more precisely 0.0144x + 0.0027. This table shows his results:
| Weapon Mastery | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Approximate) Critical Hit Probability | 1.0% | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5.1% | 6.5% | 7.9% | 9.2% | 10.6% | 12.0% | 13.3% | 14.7% | 16.1% | 17.4% | 18.8% | 20.2% | 21.6% | 22.9% | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Related Skills
These skills cause critical hits:
These skills involve critical hits in other ways:
Balanced Stance prevents extra damage from critical hits.
Critical Strikes, an Assassin Attribute, improves critical hit chance.