Critical strike

A critical strike is a basic attack or an ability that deals twice its normal damage.

All basic attacks can  critically strike, and only a few abilities can. It's not possible to critically strike structures, with the exception of Jhin.

Most champions have special attack animations for critical strikes. This includes mages and other champions not meant to be built using basic attacks as their main source of damage. Other champions have a sound that plays when they critically strike, typically a grunt of effort.

Champions can increase their chances to critically strike and the damage they deal with critical strikes using items, abilities, and runes. Critical strikes are specially valuable for champions who deal damage primarily with basic attacks rather than abilities. Some champions, like Ashe, have an affinity for critical strikes and benefit more than others from items that improve them.

Critical strike chance

Critical strike chance is a stat that is the percentage of chance that a basic attack of a champion critically strikes.

Every champion starts with 0% critical strike chance, and level-ups do not grant additional critical strike chance.

Critical strike chance can be increased with items and abilities; it stacks additively, and each bonus point acquired directly affects its statistic.

Critical strike chance cannot be increased beyond 100%.

Gold Value ​

• Critical strike chance has a gold value of 40 per point.

General

• Critical strike chance will adjust dynamically based on the number of basic attack that didn't critically strike. At 30% critical strike chance you're sure to have 30 or more attacks critical strike per 100 attacks. If you didn't critical strike for a long time your next attacks will have a higher chance.
• When averaged over a large number of autoattacks and at base critical damage (100% bonus damage), critical strike chance is essentially a damage multiplier where each 1% of critical chance adds 1% bonus damage.
  • Thus at 50% critical strike chance a champion deals (on average) 150% damage with autoattacks, not counting bonus critical strike damage. Because of this, critical strike chance scales well with both attack damage and attack speed. The formula for this damage multiplier is:

Damage multiplier = 1 + (Critical chance × (1 + Bonus critical damage))

Increasing critical strike chance

Items

Item	Cost	Amount	Availability
Brawler's Gloves Brawler's Gloves	400	10 %	All maps
Cloak of Agility Cloak of Agility	800	20 %	All maps
Essence Reaver Essence Reaver	3200	25 %	All maps
Infinity Edge Infinity Edge	3400	25 %	All maps
Molten Edge Molten Edge	3400	25 %	All maps
Phantom Dancer Phantom Dancer	2600	25 %	All maps
Rapid Firecannon Rapid Firecannon	2600	25 %	All maps
Runaan's Hurricane Runaan's Hurricane	2600	25 %	All maps
Stat-Stick of Stoicism Stat-Stick of Stoicism	7237	30 %	Nexus Blitz
Statikk Shiv Statikk Shiv	2600	25 %	All maps
Zeal Zeal	1200	15 %	All maps

Champion abilities

• Tryndamere's Battle Fury
• Yasuo's Way of the Wanderer

Critical strike chance as scaling

Some game elements scale with the champion's amount of critical strike chance.

Champion abilities

Modifying critical strike damage

General

• By default, critical strikes deal 200% of the normal damage (twice as much).
• In most cases, critical strike damage stacks additively.
• Damage modifiers apply to critical strike damage normally.

Champion abilities

• Ashe's Frost Shot
• Fiora's Bladework
• Jhin's Whisper
• Shaco's Backstab
• Yasuo's Intent

Items

• Infinity Edge

Guaranteed critical strikes

Some game elements can critically strike with no dependence on critical strike chance.

Champion abilities

• Fiora's Bladework's second attack
• Jhin's Whisper's fourth attack and Curtain Call's fourth shot
• Kindred's Mounting Dread against low health enemies
• Pantheon's Certain Death against low health enemies
• Shaco's Backstab
• Talon's Noxian Diplomacy when close to his target

Game elements that can critically strike

Champion abilities

Basic attack modifiers

Many abilities in the game enhance basic attacks, causing them to deal increased damage. Since these are basic attacks, they can critically strike, with a few exceptions (see below), however, the ability damage itself will only be amplified by a critical strike for the following abilities.

Other abilities

• Gangplank's Parrrley and Powder Keg
• Garen's Judgment
• Kayle's Fire Waves
• Master Yi's Alpha Strike
• Miss Fortune's Double Up and Bullet Time
• Vi's Excessive Force
• Yasuo's Steel Tempest

Items

Some items that deal bonus damage can critically strike if the basic attack that triggers them critically strikes.

• Dead Man's Plate
• Runaan's Hurricane
• Statikk Shiv

Exceptions

• Camille's Precision Protocol - both enhanced attacks cannot critically strike.
• Fiora's Bladework - the first attack cannot critically strike.
• Jhin's Whisper - the fourth attack can critically strike turrets.
• Twisted Fate's Pick a Card - enhanced attack cannot critically strike.

Others

• Tryndamere's Spinning Slash reduces its cooldown when critically striking enemies

Cosmetic critical strikes

Some abilities are displayed as a  critical strike under certain circumstances but do not interact with critical strike chance or Infinity Edge. These are use for cosmetic purposes to indicate high amounts of damage on an ability.

• Anivia's Frostbite's enhanced damage
• Evelynn's Empowered Whiplash and Last Caress' empowered damage
• Gnar's GNAR! if enemies hit terrain
• Gragas' Barrel Roll's enhanced damage
• Karthus' Lay Waste against a single target
• Kog'Maw's Living Artillery against enemies under 40% of their maximum health
• Nidalee's Takedown against Hunted enemies
• Ryze's Overload against Fluxed enemies
• Swain's Demonflare with 5 Soul Fragments
• Sylas' Kingslayer against a low-heath target
• Vayne's Condemn if the target hits terrain
• Vladimir's Transfusion with Crimson Rush
• Volibear's Majestic Roar against a dashing or airborne target
• Ziggs' Satchel Charge if used to Hexplode a turret

Trivia

• In many MMO settings, a number of attack damage-based assassins or secondary assassin-based champions also benefit from high critical strike chance in varying forms, as a means to help finish off targets faster as well as to deal more damage in bursts overall.

• Some champions may actually use their critical strike animation for their empowered-basic attack if they ever activate a single-use on-hit effect, only it does not actually count as an actual critical strike.

Last updated: February 6, 2019 – V9.3

The most gold efficient way to obtain 100% critical strike chance is with Yasuo:

• Items:
  • Brawler's Gloves (+10% Critical Strike Chance)
  • 2 Cloak of Agility (+20% × 2 Critical Strike Chance)
• Critical Strike Chance Amplification:
  • Way of the Wanderer ( × 2 Critical Strike Chance)
• Relevant mathematics:
  • Yasuo Critical Strike Chance = ( 10% + 20% + 20%) ×  2 = 100% critical chance

 v · e

Champion statistics

Offensive	Ability power ·  Attack damage ·  Attack speed ·  Critical strike chance ·  Critical strike damage ·  Armor penetration ·  Magic penetration ·  Life steal ·  Spell vamp ·  True damage
Defensive	Heal and shield power ·  Health ·  Health regeneration ·  Armor ·  Magic resistance ·  Tenacity ·  Slow resist
Utility	Cooldown reduction ·  Energy ·  Energy regeneration ·  Mana ·  Mana regeneration
Other	Experience ·  Gold generation ·  Movement speed ·  Range