INTRODUCTION
One of the most significant changes in T4 is the revamp of Critical mechanics. This article is an updated explanation for the previous guide on Critical and Critical Resist.
MECHANICS
How is critical damage calculated in T4?
Critical damage is simply two times of the original damage.
Normal Non-crit damage = (%Amp * M.att + Add. dmg)*(1 - %dmg reduction from defence)
Crit damage = 2 * (%Amp * M.att + Add. dmg )*(1 - %dmg reduction from defence)
The calculation is very different from pre-T3 era (where defence is neglected for crit damage)
In battle, the color of the crit damage figure = yellow.
For the sake of the discussion, i call that “
Yellow Critical”.
Critical stats in your stats window is a figure that tells you, the
probability to deal critical damage.
The equation that convert the stats to the % probability has been derived and proven to be
linear.
Now here comes the other important point question.
What is Critical Resist?
A natural idea that comes to mind, is that Critical resist would reduce the chances of your opponent to deal critical damage to yourself.
.
It has been shown that Critical Resist is actually related to
the chance of reducing the critical damage figure dealt to you.
When critical damage is resisted, the
x2 multiplier is removed.
Resisted Crit damage = (%Amp * M.att + Add. dmg )*(1 - %dmg reduction from defence)
Again, this is very different from the crit resist formula pre-T4 (where a 0.35 mutliplier is applied to the crit dmg).
When critical damage that has been resisted, the word "Critical" will appear whitish with a crack across the word "critical". Hence we normally call it “
White Critical”. If you’ve fought electric ogre in apocalypse or lava golem in Sea Dragon Nest, you will see this White Critical very often.
Although the dmg dealt is exactly the same as normal uncrit dmg, the broken crit word tell us that, you are actually dealing crit dmg to your target, BUT it get resisted and the x 2 multiplier is removed.
So the chance for "Yellow Crit" should goes this way:
Yellow Crit chance = ( % attacker crit chance ) * ( 1 - % target's crit resist)
[ Thx Dyhakys/Azure for the confirmation ]
From the perspective of effective crit chance (which is the chance to deal x 2 dmg), crit resist in T4 does function AS IF it reduces the crit chance.
Does higher crit reduce the chances of dealing White Crit?
No.
The only effective way to reduce white crit is by reducing opponent's crit resist stats with debuff from skills (will be elaborated later) or wind suffix.
Crit resist is actually double edge sword type of stats . It will make your opponent deal alot of white crit if he has very high crit stats, while it is useless against an opponent that has very low crit.
Ok, if you have understood everything that i described, you must be wondering why would the developer allow players to get seemingly infinite crit stats if there is
a cap of 89% crit chance.
The answer is :
The crit chance is dependant on the level of the ATTACKER.
( Thx Tarkel for pointing that out. Before T4, crit chance is dependent on the level of the target only. )
For a lvl32 attacker, ~7120 crit stats will net you 89% crit chance.
For a lvl40 attacker, ~9790 crit stats will give you 89% crit chance.
For a lvl50 attacker, ~17,800 crit stats will give you 89% crit chance.
For a lvl60 attacker, ~33,100 crit stats will give you 89% crit chance
[ thx perfecti for confirmation on max crit value]
The above assumes that the target is lower level or same as the attacker. The crit chance on a target with level higher than the attacker has not been rigorously tested.
Since the critical stats is proven to be
linear, you can scale it according to your current crit stats to find out the % chance to deal critical damage.
Crit resist % is calculation based on similar mechanics, with the cap at
89% too.
Critical after T4 is better or worse than T3?
This question often come to mind when the mechanics change was introduced in CDN/KDN.
The answer again lies on the target you are hitting, specificially, the defence of the target.
Assume your target is level 50, and your board dmg is 10000.
The 2 lines show the crit dmg before and after T4.
Crit dmg before T4: Constant , regardless of defence of your target
Crit dmg after T4: Decrease linearly , with increasing target defence
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As you can see, the dmg of crit after T4 higher if the target has lower defence.
However, as the defence of the target increase, beyond 6000+, the dmg of old crit is superior.
This is just one side of the story.
Let look at the resisted crit dmg before and after T4.
Take note of the effectiveness of the new crit system even when the target has high crit resist. The dmg of resisted crit damage is far superior than the old crit.
Therefore, overall i think the new T4 crit system is still a very good means to boost DPS.
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CRIT & CRIT RESIST BUFF/DEBUFF
Various crit and crit resist related buff/debuff are described in this section. Only the stats, cd and duration for max skill level at lvl60 cap are shown and discussed.
Crit Buff
•
Owl's Sight (Archer): + 70% crit chance, 20sec duration (120 sec CD)
•
Eagle Anger (Archer): +20% crit chance, 180sec duration (10sec CD)
These 2 buffs of archer are extremely powerful. They add (NOT multiply) the % directly upon the crit chance in your stats window.
For example, if your crit chance is 10%, after the Owl'S Sight buff, you would have 10%+70% = 80% ! of crit chance.
•
Battle Howl (Merceneary): +3320 crit, 180sec duration (10sec CD)
With skill + 1 accessory, it will become +6640 crit, which is also equivalent to additional 20% crit chance at lvl60 cap.
It is widely believed that, the crit buff will not be able to overcome the 89% crit cap. However, there is one single skill which allows this crit cap to be violated: Soul Scream
•
Ghost Scream ( Soul Eater): +55% crit chance, 15sec duration (40sec CD)
Again, the 55% chance is added (NOT multiplied) to the crit chance in your stats window[ Thx Eros Eros for the test].
This is a special skill since it is not a buff to a char; It is a status which is applied to the target and anyone who hit it will have additional chance to deal crit damage.
It is widely believed (not proven), this debuff can violate the 89% crit cap since it is not applied to the char itself, but on your target.
Crit Debuff
•
Taunting Howl (Mercenary): - 16% crit rate, duration 10sec (CD 16)
•
Provoke (Paladin): -14% crit rate, duration 14 sec (CD 11sec)
Unlike the archer's buff, the minus % crit rate is calculated through multiplication.
For example, if your crit stat is 10000, you are affected by taunting howl's debuff, your crit stats will be : 10000 * ( 1 - 0.16) = 8400 .
Crit Resist Buff
None ( except for Agi suffix armor )
[ if you can think of any, please let me know ]
Crit Resist Debuff
•
Chemical Bomb (Engineers): 30% crit resist reduction for 20sec at max lvl
•
Soul Scream (Soul Eater): 15% crit resist reduction for 15sec at max lvl
The calculation for these 2 debuffs are done by multiplication.
For example, if your crit resist stats is 10000, you are affected by soul scream, your crit resist stats will be: 10000*(1-0.15) = 8500
Acknowlegement:
Special thanks to fellow Freedom members who help me with various test.
