Editing Critical Hit

'''Critical Hits'''  are a recurring feature of the {{DQSeries}}. 

==Function==
Every time any character makes an attack, they have a small chance of that attack being a "Critical Hit," (会心の一撃, ''Kaishin no ichigeki'', lit. "satisfying blow/hit") which drastically increases the damage dealt on that particular turn. Since critical hits ignore defence, it makes them an instant kill on all [[metal monsters]], provided the monster does not dodge the critical hit. Weapons that strike multiple times, such as the [[Falcon knife earrings]], can strike critically, but weapons that strike multiple targets cannot (Flails, {{Whip}}s, {{Boomerang}}s). 

However, many {{MFamilies}}s also can get critical hits, usually termed a ''terrific blow'', ''brutal hit'', or ''desperate attack'' (痛恨の一撃, ''tsūkon no ichigeki''). For {{MFamilies}}s, there are different variations of critical hits: the first of which simply ignores the target's defence, much like the critical hits landed by playable characters. The second variation lands an attack that simply deals 250% the amount of their normal attack. Some {{MFamilies}}s and bosses also have a variation which deals a fixed amount of damage, as well.

==Appearances==
==={{DQ}} & {{DQ2}}===
The critical hit rate is fixed at {{fraction|1|64}}. {{Monster}}s gained the ability to land critical hits starting in the second game.

==={{DQ3}}===
[[Martial Artist]]s have their rates based on their level, calculated as level/256 for a cap of 25% at level 64. All other characters have a 1/64 chance to land a critical hit.

==={{DQ3HD}}===
Critical hits now involve the [[Luck]] stat instead of being fixed to a 1/64 chance or being based on the Martial Artists' levels. The Luck stat is measured against a level's hidden benchmark and then multiplied by the vocation's innate crit rate. For example, a Gadabout with 999 Luck at level 90 is calculated as ''6 X (999 / 310) '', resulting in a critical hit chance of 19.33%.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Hidden benchmark per level, universal
|-
! Lv !! *0 !! *1 !! *2 !! *3 !! *4 !! *5 !! *6 !! *7 !! *8 !! *9
|-
| 0 || - || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 17 || 19 
|-
| 1 || 22 || 25 || 29 || 32 || 35 || 39 || 43 || 46 || 50 || 54
|-
| 2 || 57 || 61 || 65 || 70 || 74 || 79 || 83 || 88 || 94 || 99
|-
| 3 || 105 || 110 || 116 || 121 || 127 || 132 || 138 || 144 || 150 || 155
|-
| 4 || 160 || 164 || 169 || 174 || 178 || 182 || 187 || 191 || 195 || 200
|-
| 5 || 204 || 208 || 211 || 215 || 219 || 222 || 225 || 229 || 232 || 235
|-
| 6 || 238 || 240 || 243 || 246 || 249 || 251 || 254 || 257 || 260 || 262
|-
| 7 || 265 || 268 || 271 || 273 || 275 || 278 || 280 || 282 || 285 || 287
|-
| 8 || 289 || 292 || 294 || 296 || 298 || 300 || 302 || 304 || 306 || 308
|-
| 9 || 310 || 312 || 314 || 316 || 318 || 320 || 322 || 324 || 326 || 328
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Vocation !! Crit Value !! Level Range
|-
| rowspan="4" | [[Gadabout]] || 3 || 1–9
|-
| 4 || 10–20
|-
| 5 || 21–30
|-
| 6 || 31–99
|-
| rowspan="17" | [[Hero (Vocation)|Hero]] || 2 || 1–5
|-
| 2.5 || 6–10
|-
| 3 || 11–15
|-
| 3.5 || 16–20
|-
| 4 || 21–25
|-
| 4.5 || 26–30
|-
| 5 || 31–35
|-
| 5.5 || 36–40
|- 
|6 || 41–45
|-
|6.5 || 46–50
|-
|7 || 51–55
|-
|7.5 || 56–60
|-
|8 || 61–65
|-
|8.5 || 66–70
|-
|9 || 71–75
|-
|9.5 || 76–90
|-
|10 || 81–99
|-
| [[Mage]] || 3 || 1–99
|-
| rowspan="17" | [[Martial Artist|Martial]]<br>[[Martial Artist|Artist]] || 4 || 1–4
|-
| 5 || 5–9
|-
| 6 || 10–14
|-
| 7 || 15–20
|-
| 8 || 21–25
|-
| 9 || 26–30
|-
| 10 || 31–35
|-
|11 || 36–40
|-
|12 || 41–45
|-
|13 || 46–50
|-
|14 || 51–55
|-
|15 || 56–60
|-
|16 || 61–65
|-
|17 || 66–70
|-
|18 || 71–75
|-
|19 || 76–80
|-
|20 || 81-99
|-
| [[Merchant]] || 2 || 1–99
|-
|[[Monster Wrangler|Monster]]<br>[[Monster Wrangler|Wrangler]] || 3 || 1–99
|-
| [[Priest]] || 2 || 1–99
|-
| [[Sage]] || 2 || 1–99
|-
| [[Thief]] || 2 || 1–99
|-
| [[Warrior]] || 2 || 1–99
|}

Prior to the May 23rd, 2025 update patch the rates for the Hero and Martial Artists were:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Vocation !! Crit Value !! Level Range
|-
| rowspan="7" | [[Hero (Vocation)|Hero]] || 2 || 1–9
|-
| 2.5 || 10–20
|-
| 3 || 21–30
|-
| 3.5 || 31–40
|-
| 4 || 41–50
|-
| 4.5 || 51–60
|-
| 5 || 61–99
|-
| rowspan="7" | [[Martial Artist|Martial]]<br>[[Martial Artist|Artist]] || 4 || 1–4
|-
| 5 || 5–10
|-
| 6 || 11–26
|-
| 7 || 27–33
|-
| 8 || 34–71
|-
| 9 || 72–80
|-
| 10 || 81–99
|-
|}

==={{DQ4}}===
Tsarevna [[Alena]]'s rate is based on the Martial Artists of ''Dragon Quest III'', calculated as Level/256. The cap is level 64, with a rate of 25%.

In the [[Nintendo DS]] and [[Cell phone]] versions of ''Dragon Quest IV'', [[Alena]]'s critical hit rate was tweaked to  ''(Level x 0.75)/256''. In the [[Nintendo DS]] version, the effect still stops at level 64, making her critical rate cap at 18.75%; however, the [[Cell phone]] version raises the cap to level 89, granting her a rate of 26.07% - provided, of course, the player is willing to raise her that high.

==={{DQ5}}===
The critical hit rate returns to {{fraction|1|64}} and cannot be improved. Certain {{MFamilies}}s and bosses will land desperate attacks that deal a fixed amount of damage, such as [[Hammerhood]]s, [[Urnexpected]]s, [[King Korol]] and [[Nimzo]] in his second form.

==={{DQ6}} & {{DQ7}}===
Characters have the standard {{fraction|1|64}} rate unless they become martial artists at [[Alltrades Abbey]]. After taking up the art of the fist, the character's rank in the vocation will improve their chance to land a critical until they hit the cap of {{fraction|1|8}} at rank 8. This gives a party of [[Martial Artist]]s a 50% chance to score a critical when using normal attacks and single-target skills that utilizes their strength stat.
*[[Paladin]]s have a similar vocation trait, in that they have a chance to instantly slay a target based on rank. Though this will not work on boss {{MFamilies}}s, it will still slay [[Metal slime]]s at a {{fraction|1|8}} rate when mastered.

==={{DQ8}}===
A character will double their critical hit rate to {{fraction|1|32}} after investing enough skill points in the appropriate section. [[Yangus]] can raise his rate to {{fraction|1|8}} by equipping the [[Megaton hammer]].

Enemies that can perform a desperate attack include [[Hammerhood]], [[Crème caraslime]], [[Brownie]], [[Dead Bowdy]], [[Gorerilla]], [[Pink pongo]], [[Gold golem]], [[Cherreevil Blossom]], [[Metal slime knight]], [[Cyclops]], [[Gold golem]], [[Troll]], [[Golem]], [[Abominape]], [[Beelzebuzz]], [[Tyrantosaurus]], [[Red horn]], [[Stone golem]], [[Dark dullahan]], [[Dark sabrecat]], [[Box of Tricks]], [[Gemon]], [[Boss troll]], [[Great troll]], [[Gigantes]], [[Mimic king]], [[Megalodon]], [[Rhapthorne]] in his first form, [[Heavy hood]], [[Hell's gatekeeper]], [[Pandora's box]], [[Coffer of death]], [[Juggerwroth]], the [[Lord of the Dragovians]] in his Vermillion, Silver, Golden, and Divine forms, [[Geyzer in Memoriam]], [[Tortured Soul in Memoriam]], [[Skeleton in Memoriam]], [[Walking Corpse in Memoriam]], [[Trap Box in Memoriam]], [[Don Mole in Memoriam]], [[Soul Mole in Memoriam]], [[Great Argon Lizard in Memoriam]], [[Darkbird in Memoriam]], [[Dark Turkey in Memoriam]], [[Sir Leopold in Memoriam]], [[Dark Servant in Memoriam]], [[Dancing Flame in Memoriam]], [[Ruin in Memoriam]], [[Shadow in Memoriam]], [[Marcello in Memoriam]], and [[Dhoulmagus in Memoriam]].

Infamous Monsters who can perform a desperate attack include [[Arges]], [[Brontes]], [[Steropes]], [[Brickman]], [[Stoneman (Recruit)]], [[Goldman (Recruit)]], [[Digby (Infamous Monster)]], [[Dugan]], [[Lonely Joe]], [[Michael J.]], [[Mudison]], [[Orrid]], [[Pa Troll]], [[Pierce]], [[Ray Churls]], [[Snap Case]], and [[Spot (DQ8)]].

==={{DQ9}}===
Beginning in {{Dragon Quest IX}} and carrying forwards to {{X}} and {{Heroes}}, the frequency of critical hits became dependent on a character's deftness.

For {{IX}}, the algorithm is ''{{Deftness}}/100 + 3% (with weapon skill trait boost)''. Wearing the Critical Acclaim will add another 4%, and thus the maximum rate is ''(999/100) + 3% + 4% = 16.99%'' at 999 deftness, the critical hit up skill trait and the Critical Acclaim revocation medal.

As an example, if you have a character with '''211''' deftness and 22 skill points invested in their Sword Skill (and they don't have the Critical Claim revocation medal), when they attack with a sword they'll have a ''('''211'''/100) + 3% = '''5.11%''''' chance to crit.

The natural, unbolstered rates for each vocation are:
{| style="width:65%; height:100px; text-align:center" border="1" 
|-<---!Headings are up first.!---> style="font-weight:bold; background:#A3AB47"
| Class || Base {{Deftness}} at Level 1 || Chance to Crit || Base {{Deftness}} at Level 99 || Chance to Crit
|- style="font-weight:normal"
| [[Ranger]] || 30 || 0.3% || 500 || 5%
|-
| [[Thief]] || 18 || 0.18% || 402 || 4%
|-
| [[Mage]] || 14 || 0.14% || 304 || 3%
|-
| [[Minstrel]] || 12 || 0.12% || 304 || 3%
|-
| {{Luminary V}} || 16 || 0.16% || 259 || 2.6%
|-
| [[Gladiator]] || 15 || 0.15% || 256 || 2.6%
|-
| [[Martial Artist]] || 11 || 0.11% || 255 || 2.6%
|-
| [[Priest]] || 9 || 0.09% || 206 || 2.1%
|-
| [[Warrior]] || 5 || 0.05% || 111 || 1.1%
|-
| [[Armamentalist]] || 7 || 0.07% || 110 || 1.1%
|-
| [[Sage]] || 3 || 0.03% || 57 || 0.57%
|-
| [[Paladin]] || 1 || 0.01% || '''9''' || '''0.09%'''
|}

==={{DQ10}}===
{{Stub}}

==={{DQ11}}===
Every 200 points of {{Deftness}} increases the critical hit chance by 1%, leading to a natural cap of 5%. Skill panel, pep boosts and equipment bonuses can raise this chance even further. Also, for the first time in the series, {{Boomerang}}s are able to land critical hits.

==={{SSB5}}===
Critical Hits are a unique trait to {{Hero Smash}}'s moveset in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. His Smash Attacks have a 1/8 chance to result in a Critical Hit, which doubles both the damage and knockback. The Critical Hit sound effect from the {{DQSeries}} plays when it occurs. His [[Hatchet Man]] command in his Down Special: Command Selection will always result in a Critical Hit should it connect.

==Weapons==
Certain weapons can guarantee the chances of a character getting a critical hit in exchange for low accuracy. The [[Hela hammer]] has an accuracy of 3/8ths, the [[Headsman's axe]] has a 3/4ths accuracy, a 1/8th chance to critical, and a 1/8th chance to miss outright. The [[Megaton hammer]] has a 1/8th critical chance and no reduction to accuracy at all.

These weapons would lose these traits as the series adopted deftness-based calculations with the ninth entry, and would often simply be powerful members of their respective weapon families in subsequent games.

==Skills==
With the implementation of skills in {{V}}, certain abilities were designed with instant critical hit rates in mind. These skills would often have a paltry {{MP}} cost, but suffer the same low accuracy as the above mentioned weapons in older titles.
*[[Hatchet Man]]
*[[Thunder Thrust]]
*[[Frenzy]]
*[[Whopper Chop]]

==Spells==
==={{DQ9}}===
Beginning with {{IX}} spells can also land critical hits, where the spell "goes haywire". This not only increases damage output of attack magic, but also boosts healing spells. If a status-changing spell goes haywire, its chance of working increases to 100% (barring the target being immune). Investing 54 skill points into the [[Mage]]'s Spellcraft skill will increase the chance of a spell going haywire.

==={{DQ11}}===
By default, spells have a critical chance equal to half of that of a normal attack, but the [[Zam]] line instead uses twice the normal critical chance, or four times that of other spells. When a spell goes critical, it deals between 1.5x and 2x the normal damage (Zam line spells deal 2x to 2.5x damage instead); healing spells heal 1.2x to 1.6x the normal amount. [[Magic Burst]], [[Fullheal]] and [[Omniheal]] can go critical, but the critical has no effect on the spell itself. The chance of a critical spell can also be boosted with certain pieces of equipment, most of which are restricted to {{Veronica 11}} and [[Rab]]. Additionally, all three of the main spellcasters in the party ({{Veronica 11}}, {{Serena 11}}, and [[Rab]]) will receive boosts to their critical spell chance when they are pepped up.


{{Series_mechanics}}

[[Category:Recurring elements]]
[[Category:Game mechanics]]