Talk:Critical hit

Because this is an extended example and it probably doesn't belong in the main article, I'll put it here. This is an example of how to milk critical hits for all they're worth, and more. :D

Imagine this build: Bard(5)/Red Dragon Disciple(10)/Frenzied Berserker(8)/Weapon Master(7)

The character knows Improved Power Attack, which gives +20 damage with a two-handed weapon because of Enhanced Power Attack. She also has a modest strength of 26 because of the Red Dragon Disciple levels (and could get it higher if she chose to put more points into it), which becomes 36 when she uses Greater Frenzy.

She has Great Cleave and Whirlwind Attack, both of which can score critical with each hit they make and take Improved Power Attack into account. Supreme Cleave from the Frenzied Berserker gives her 2 cleaves per kill. The build also gets 5 attacks per round whenever she isn't using Whirlwind Attack.

If she is a weapon master focused in a Falchion and has learned the Improved Critical feat for that weapon, each of those hits has a 40% chance of threatening a critical (13-20 threat range). Then she just has to succeed at another attack roll to confirm, and each confirmed critical hit deals x3 damage. If you imagine the Falchion has NO special properties and none of her equipment gives bonuses to strength or damage (such as in a low-magic persistent world), but she is using her bard Inspire Courage inspiration (might as well, it's free to have active), here's the damage she'll do:

3*2d4(falchion base damage) + 3*13*1.5(two-handed strength bonus during Frenzy) + 3*20(imp. power attack) + 3*1(inspire courage bludgeoning damage)

= 6d4 + 57 + 60 + 3

min: 6 + 57 + 60 + 3 = 126 damage max: 24 + 57 + 60 + 3 = 144 damage

The chance to make a critical hit like this is given every time she hits an opponent with cleave, whirlwind attack, any of her attacks per round, or an attack of opportunity. As you can see, this makes the build extremely deadly. The strength bonus and power attack alone add 117 damage to each critical hit.

An item that boosts strength by 2 would add another 1 to her strength bonus (capping out the temporary strength boost to +12 when stacked with Frenzy), adding another +3 damage. More importantly, if the weapon had a +5 enhancement bonus it would add +15 damage to the critical. A +8 enhancement would add +24 damage.

This makes weapon masters extremely valuable in situations where you cannot rely on magical equipment, such as a low-magic world. That said, the extra damage from better equipment in this example is not bad but still unnecessary, since the build already deals 126 - 144 damage regularly with criticals, and 40 - 56 damage whenever a critical hit is not scored. Thus a weapon master is quite valuable in almost any situation where enemies are not immune to critical hits.

THAT is the power of critical hits taken to an extreme. :D

It should be noted, however, that in a high magic world or a world that allows a character to craft insanely good weapons, such as Mask of the Betrayer (MOTB), a heavy focus in critical hits may pale in comparison. In MOTB, for example, you can put 5d6 bonus elemental damage on a weapon up to 4 times for a total of +20d6 per attack, in addition to the weapon's normal damage. 20 - 120 damage per attack can be pretty nasty when you're dual wielding with Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting and getting 10 attacks per round. So, criticals aren't the only non-spell way to spam mass damage. :D

Wazat 20:26, 3 June 2008 (UTC)