A critical strike is a basic attack or ability that deals twice its normal damage.
All basic attacks and some abilities can critically strike. Most champions cannot critically strike structures. The exceptions are , , and .
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 and abilities. Critical strikes are specially valuable for champions who deal damage primarily with basic attacks rather than abilities. Some champions, like , have an affinity for critical strikes and benefit more than others from items that improve them.
Critical strike chance
Critical strike chance is the chance that a basic attack of a champion critically strikes. Every champion starts with 0% critical strike chance, and level-ups do not increase the critical strike chance.
The critical strike chance can be increased with items and abilities; it stacks additively, and each bonus point acquired directly affects its statistic. It cannot be increased beyond 100%.
Gold Value : The critical strike chance has a gold value of Template:Gold value math/var per point.
The critical strike chance changes dynamically depending on the number of basic attack that didn't critically strike. For example, if you have a 30% critical strike chance you guaranteed to have 30 or more attacks that critically strike per 100 attacks. If you don't critically strike for a long time your next attacks have a higher chance of critically strkining.
When averaged over a large number of autoattacks critical strike chance is essentially a damage multiplier. At base critical damage (100% bonus damage) each 1% of critical chance adds 1% bonus damage. For example, the damage dealt with autoattacks by a champion with 50% critical strike chance and base critical damage is on average 150% of the damage he would deal if he had 0% critical strike chance. For this reason the 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
This table is automatically generated based on the data from Module:ItemData/data.
Champion abilities
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
- when used to
Items
Guaranteed critical strikes
Some game elements can critically strike with no dependence on critical strike chance.
Champion abilities
- second attack
- fourth attack and shot
- against low health enemies
- when used to
- 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.
- and
- (only the base damage)
- (only to primary target)
- with empowered basic attacks
- (only to primary target)
- and with
- Other abilities
- , , , and
- and
- and (while )
- and
Items
Some items that deal bonus damage can critically strike if the basic attack that triggers them critically strikes.
Exceptions
- - both enhanced attacks cannot critically strike.
- turrets. - the first attack cannot critically strike, and the second attack will also critically strike
- - the fourth attack can critically strike turrets.
- , and - enhanced attacks cannot critically strike.
Others
- cooldown when critically striking enemies. reduces its
- 50% armor penetration against bonus armor. grants all critical strikes
Cosmetic critical strikes
Some abilities are displayed as a critical strike under certain circumstances but do not interact with critical strike chance, , or . These are use for cosmetic purposes to indicate high amounts of damage on an ability.
- far end of the first two casts, center of the third
- enhanced damage
- and empowered damage
- doubled damage against targets that have already been terrified recently.
- if enemies hit terrain
- against a single target
- 40% of their maximum health against enemies under
- , , and against a target marked by
- against enemies in the center
- against a single target
- against enemies
- 20% of their maximum health against enemies under
- if it executes a champion
- 50% of their maximum health if it hits a target under
- against enemies
- if used against a low-health target
- and to all units hit in the center
- with maximum damage
- if it a champion
- if the target hits terrain
- with
- on a wounded target and
- if used to Hexplode a turret
- leap attack against 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.