Critical strike

A critical strike is a modifier that causes an attack to deal, typically, twice its normal damage. This could represent an attack that hits harder, a lucky strike or damaging a weak area on an opponent.

Most champions have different attack animations for a critical strike, though some do not; this includes mages and other champions not meant to be built using basic attacks for damage. Some of these champions performing a critical strike (if built being able to perform them) may instead have a soundbite that plays in place of an animation, typically a grunt of effort.

Players can increase the chance and the damage of critical strikes with items, abilities, and runes.

It only applies to basic attacks or certain abilities like Gangplank's Parrrley and Yasuo's Steel Tempest that act like a basic attack or Garen's Judgment and Master Yi's Alpha Strike, which are specially stated.

Critical strike is valuable for all champions who primarily deal damage with automatic attacks, rather than through abilities. Some champions, such as Ashe, have an affinity for critical hits and benefit more from items that improve them.

It's important to note that you cannot score a critical strike against a building such as a turret or inhibitor.

Chance

Critical strike chance is the chance of a champion's physical attacks dealing a critical strike. Critical strike chance stacks additively. Runes, items and all abilities can increase critical strike chance.

When averaged over a large number of autoattacks and at base critical damage, critical strike chance is essentially a damage multiplier where each % of crit chance adds 1% damage. Thus at 50% critical strike chance a champion will be doing (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 given by:

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

The maximum critical strike chance you can reach at level 1 through masteries is 20.25%, excluding abilities and items.

Critical strike chance has a hard cap at 100%.

Critical strike chance has a theoretical gold value of 50 gold per 1% critical strike chance. This makes Cloak of Agility the most efficient core item for critical strike chance, as it grants 15% critical chance for the cost of 730 gold with a 48.6 gold per % crit chance efficiency.

Increasing critical strike chance

Items

Core

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Variable Availability

• Summoner's Rift, Howling Abyss Template:Ile
• Item availability needs updating. Template:Ile
• All maps Template:Ile
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Champion abilities

(Note that any ability boosting attack speed has an indirect impact on the number of crits)

• Ashe's Focus gains Focus stacks per second after not dealing damage in the last 3 seconds. At 100 stacks, Ashe will critically strike on her next basic attack. Thereafter, Focus stacks will reset to an amount equal to her critical strike chance.
• Pantheon's Certain Death grants him 100% critical strike chance against targets below 15% of their maximum health.
• Shaco's Deceive grants him 100% critical strike chance on his next attack, but for modified critical damage: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120%.
• Tryndamere's Battle Fury passively increases his critical strike chance by 0.35% per point of Fury he currently has.
• Yasuo's Way of the Wanderer doubles his critical strike chance, but the damage dealt by his critical strikes is reduced by 10%.

Runes

Template:Rune Runes

• Marks:+0.52% / +0.72% / +0.93% (primary)
• Seals:+0.23% / +0.32% / +0.42%
• Glyphs:+0.15% / +0.22% / +0.28%
• Quintessences:+1.03% / +1.44% / +1.86%

Damage

Critical strike damage refers to the amount of damage that a champion's critical strike will deal. All champions have 200% critical strike damage by default, except Yasuo who has 180% to compensate for his doubled crit chance. In most cases, critical strike damage stacks additively. Damage modifiers apply to critical strike damage normally.

Modifying Critical Strike Damage

Champion Abilities

• Shaco's Deceive modifies his base critical strike damage to 140 / 160 / 180 / 200 / 220% from the default of 200%.
• Yasuo's Intent multiplicatively reduces by 10% his total critical strike damage (e.g. 200% to 180%).

Items

• Summoner's Rift, Howling Abyss Template:Ile
• Item availability needs updating. Template:Ile

Runes

Template:Rune Runes

• Marks: +1.24% / +1.74% / +2.23% (primary)
• Seals: +0.43% / +0.61% / +0.78%
• Glyphs: +0.31% / +0.43% / +0.56%
• Quintessences: +2.4% / +3.47% / +4.46%

Notes

• The maximum bonus critical strike damage obtainable is as follows:
  • Runes: 45.51%
  • Items: 50%
• For most champions, the maximum critical strike damage available is 195.51% for a total of amount of 295.51% attack damage on their critical strikes.
  • Including the additional 20% base critical strike damage from rank-5 Deceive, and his passive Backstab, Shaco's will deal 335.51% attack damage on his critical strike.

Skills affected by Critical Chance

Certain skills are capable of Critical Strikes and/or are affected by Critical Chance

• Most of them only do bonus 100% AD  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%) if critical strikes.
  • Blitzcrank's Power Fist
  • Darius' Crippling Strike
  • Draven's Spinning Axe
  • Garen's Decisive Strike
  • Jinx's Switcheroo!
  • Nautilus' Staggering Blow
  • Nidalee's Takedown: Magic damage, benifiting from Life steal.
  • Nocturne's Umbra Blades
  • Poppy's Devastating Blow: Magic damage, benifiting from Spell vamp.
  • Quinn's Harrier
  • Renekton's Ruthless Predator: Only applicable to first hit.
  • Rengar's Savagery
  • Riven's Runic Blade
  • Skarner's Crystallizing Sting: Magic damage, benifiting from Life steal.
  • Shyvana's Twin Bite: Only applicable to first hit.
  • Talon's Noxian Diplomacy
  • Trundle's Chomp
  • Vayne's Tumble
  • Viktor's Discharge: Magic damage, benifiting from Life steal.
  • Volibear's Rolling Thunder
  • Wukong's Crushing Blow
  • Xin Zhao's Three Talon Strike

• Others
  • Caitlyn's Headshot: Critical strikes do bonus (125%AD  ×  Critical strike damage  −  150%) against champions or (175%AD  ×  Critical strike damage  −  250%) against minions and monsters.
  • Gangplank's Parrrley: Critical strikes do bonus entire damage  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%).
  • Garen's Judgment: Critical strikes do bonus AD ratio damage portion  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  150%).
  • Jayce's Hyper Charge: Critical strikes do bonus entire damage  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%).
  • Lucian's Lightslinger: The additional shot does bonus 50%AD ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%) if it is a critical strike.
  • Master Yi's Double Strike: The additional strike does bonus 50%AD × (Critical strike damage  −  100%) if it is a critical strike.
    • Alpha Strike: Critical strikes do bonus 60%AD  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%).
  • Nasus' Siphoning Strike: Critical strikes do bonus base damage  ×  (Critical strike damage  −  100%).
  • Yasuo's Steel Tempest: Critical strikes do bonus (75%AD  ×  Critical strike damage  −  100%).

• Additions
  • Shaco's Backstab: Critical strikes do Damage bonus increases damage after critical modifier.
  • Talon's Mercy: Critical strikes do Damage bonus increases damage after critical modifier.
  • Tryndamere's Spinning Slash: Cooldown is reduced by 1 second for every critical strike. This effect is doubled against champions.

Miscellaneous

Other skills that are not be affected by critical strikes and chances, due to other reasons.

• Affected by Critical strike damage
  • Shaco's Deceive: Causes next auto-attack during the next 6 seconds to deal increased damage, which is described as a "Critical Strike".
  • Pantheon's Spear Shot: Will crit for a +100% damage bonus due to the passive from Certain Death if the target is under 15% health.

• Unaffected by Critical strike damage
  • Anivia's Frostbite: The 2x damage modifier applied by being chilled by Flash Frost is given out as critical strike.
  • Gnar's GNAR!: The damage is given out as critical strike when enemy hits terrain.
  • Gragas' Barrel Roll: The damage is given out as critical strike when the cask ferments after 2 seconds.
  • Karthus' Lay Waste: Appears like a critical strike when acting like a single target spell (hitting only one enemy).
  • Soraka's Starcall: The damage is given out as critical strike when enemy stands in the center.
  • Vayne's Condemn: The double-damage proc'd by being knocked into a wall is given out as critical strike.

Champion statistics