Double Trouble

critical hits

Don't mix up Critical Hits with Crushing Blow. Abbreviations look very similar, but that's all to it.
Critical Hits are graphically indicated as a little yellowish 'impact' circle on enemy's torso. In environment with lots of concurring animations I've found the CS animation been skipped lots of the time.

Deadly Strike

Some items grant a chance of doing Deadly Strikes - DS - which doubles physically delivered damage. It doubles only the physical part of that blowing, throwing or shooting, but before the conversion into another kind of damage some skills do steps in. So actually some part of elemental damage is also doubled. This applies to skills:

• Amazon
  • Cold Arrow
  • Fire Arrow
  • Magical Arrow
  • Lightning Bolt
• Barbarian
  • Berserk
  • Frenzy (via Berserk synergy)
  • Concentrate (via Berserk synergy)

Paladin's Vengeance only gets a boost for its physical part, not the elemental part, since elemental damage is not converted from overall physical damage, but calculated with sole base weapon damage.

other classes and skills

• Every successful attack (blowing, throwing, shooting) is able to become a critical hit via DS.
• Amazon, Assassin and Barbarian may use their owns skills granting them a chance of doing Critical Strikes
• Amazon's passive skill Critical Strike spawns as oskill on the armor runeword Peace / ShaelThulAmn and on the 2H staff or pole runeword Insight / RalTirTalSol, so any character or hireling can gain this skill.
• a combination of a chance of Critical Strike and any mastery's chance of doing a Critical Hit (due to that sodding crossclass skill business with oskills and stuff) won't simply sum up, but is calculated as a cascade.
• Paladin's Smite can't become a critical hit.
• Paladin's Vengeance doubles just its physical part, not the elemental part.
• Spells, even when delivering physical damage, don't gain a critical chance.

Critical Strike

Amazon, Assassin and Barbarian can deliver critical hits based on their own skills. This works same like Deadly Strike. However, they can't quadruple damage via skill in combination with DS items, since both chances exclude each other. This was changed some patch ago (1.06?).
Now the actual chance for doing double damage follows this formula:

simple formula

C_ddam = CS + (DS / 100 * (100 - CS))

C_ddam: resulting chance to double damage CS: chance for Critical Strike DS: chance for Deadly Strike

complete formula

C_ddam = 100 - (100 - CS_oskill) * (100 - CH_mastery) * (100 - DS_equip) * (100 - crit_MonStats)

C_ddam: resulting chance to double damage CS_oskill: chance for Critical Strike (Zon's skill) CH_mastery: chance for Critical Hit via a Mastery DS_equip: chance for Deadly Strike via equipment monsters and hirelings only: crit_MonStats: chance for critical hit from MonStats.txt

see also:

• damage order
• Critical Strike on Insight at the Basin

skills granting a chance for critical hits

• Amazon
  • Critical Strike,
    with any weapon equipped
• Assassin
  • Claw Mastery,
    with claw(s) equipped
• Barbarian
  • Sword Mastery,
    when fighting with swords
  • Axe Mastery,
    when fighting with axes in melee
  • Mace Mastery,
    when fighting with blunt weapons
  • Pole Arm Mastery,
    when fighting with pole arm
  • Spear Mastery,
    when fighting with spears or javelins in melee *
  • Throwing Mastery,
    when throwing weapons *

* The important difference is between melee and ranged fight. Throwing javelins counts as ranged attack, close combat with throwing axes counts as melee, and vice versa. Only one mastery is applied.
see also: kinds of weaponry

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Hirelings

Only Act5 Barbarians have a 5% passive chance of doing critical hits.
Amazon's passive skill Critical Strike spawns as oskill on the armor runeword Peace / ShaelThulAmn and on the 2H staff or pole runeword Insight / RalTirTalSol, so any hireling can gain this skill; this is calculated separately from the Barbarian Hireling's inbuilt chance, it doesn't plainly sum up.

Items granting Deadly Strike chance work similar to characters and hirelings.
Barbarian Hirelings also double equipped elemental damage if their inbuilt 5% Chance of doing a Critical Hit defined in MonStats.txt is applied. Elemental damage is neither doubled if the Chance of doing a Critical Strike via oskill nor if the Chance of doing a Deadly Strike via equipment is applied.

see also:

• Deadly Strike, explanation by onderduiker at the Basin

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Monsters

All monsters have a 5% passive chance of doing critical hits.
Here a critical hit also may occur with spells, and even death explosions.

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Credits

• adeyke
• onderduiker
• RTB
• Ruvanal

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Contact me via E-Mail, if you like.

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