Criticals, or Critical hits (クリティカル*)? / (会心*)? are a recurring battle element in the series.
Contents
Overview
There is a small chance for certain types of attacks to land a Critical hit on the enemy. In that case, the damage of the attack will be multiplied by x1.5. In games that use the Press Turn system such as Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Critical hits will be able to grant multiple actions by using up half a turn icon (causing a normal turn icon to start flashing). In the Persona series the targeted enemy will be Downed, and the user will be able to access 1 More!.
Critical hits can only apply to skills that calculate the Strength stat for damage, rather than those that use the Physical affinity. Although those are generally the same, there are special cases where skills with other affinities are calculated with the Strength stat, instead of the usual Magic stat.
The Critical rate of the user's attacks are affected by their Luck stat. Their Luck also affects their chances of evading critical hits from an enemy attack. The attacks of the user's Critical rate cannot surpass 67%.
If the user has the Passive skill Sharp Student, their odds of being struck with a Critical hit will be halved. In Persona 5 Royal, the passive skill Samurai Spirit boosts the user's evasion against Critical hits; it can only be accessed by equipping the Gauntlet, an accessory only available in the Shin Megami Tensei IV Costume DLC.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Skills Boosting Critical Rate
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaea Rage | Phys | Varies | 30% |
| Debilitate | Stat Debuff | - | - |
| Divine Shot | Phys | Varies | - |
| Might | Support | - | - |
| Deathbound | Phys | Varies | High |
| Pierce | Support | Varies | - |
| Tarukaja | Stat Buff | - | - |
| Dark Might | Support | - | Always |
| Bright Might | Support | - | Always |
| Makakaja | Stat Buff | - | - |
| Rakunda | Stat Debuff | - | - |
| Deadly Fury | Phys | Varies | High |
| Focus | Enhance | - | - |
| Brutal Slash | Phys | Varies | High |
| Lunge | Phys | Varies | - |
| Provoke | Stat Debuff | - | - |
| Taunt | Stat Debuff | - | - |
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Scoring a critical hit may also grant the user of the skill the Smirk status.
Skills boosting Critical Rate
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunge | Phys | 90 | |
| Oni-Kagura | Phys | 150 | |
| Mortal Jihad | Phys | 240 | |
| Critical Wave | Phys | 75 | |
| Megaton Press | Phys | 135 | |
| Titanomachia | Phys | 195 | |
| Bloody Glee | Passive | - |
Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
Skills boosting Critical Rate
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunge | Phys | ||
| Oni-Kagura | Phys | ||
| Mortal Jihad | Phys | ||
| Critical Wave | Phys | ||
| Megaton Press | Phys | ||
| Titanomachia | Phys | ||
| Bloody Glee | Passive | - | |
| Critical Eye | Support | - |
Shin Megami Tensei V
Critical hits roughly land x1.5 the normal damage.
It is possible for the user's Critical rate to be maximized up to 100%.
By default, all attacks in the game follow the user's own Critical rate, with the only exception being that certain skills can have their rate increased.
A special set of skills, which use the regular magical affinities (such as Fire), but are Strength-based, have the chance to land Critical hits, as they're Strength-based, rather than Magic as usual.
Critical hits cannot be landed if the attack is resisted. Guarding has the same effect. The Magatsuhi skill Omagatoki: Critical also allows Magic attacks to score a Critical hit. The effect of this skill allows Critical hits to land even when a demon resists an element, but it doesn't grant a piercing effect: the resistance's damage reduction is put into account, and nulled/repelled attacks still cannot hit to begin with; Omagatoki: Critical still cannot bypass guarding.
Some attacks, such as Carnage Fang, have their damage boosted further specifically if it lands a Critical hit. It is not the Critical damage that's being increased, however, but rather
There are also attacks that have a guaranteed Critical rate, such as Acrobat Kick and Yabusame Shot, the second of which pierces, preventing resistances from nullifying the Critical hit. In the game's code, these attacks are assigned to have a 200% chance of landing a Critical, essentially preventing any stat differences from stopping the attack from landing a critical.[1]
Skills with increased Critical rate
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Needle Spray | Physical | 70 | +20% |
| Steel Needle | Physical | 75 | +20% |
| Critical Wave | Physical | 80 | +20% |
| Titanomachia | Physical | 150 | +20% |
| Dancing Strike | Physical | 80 | +30% |
| Gram Slice | Physical | 140 | +30% |
| Karnak | Physical | 150 | +30% |
| Fatal Sword | Physical | 180 | +30% |
| Brave Blade | Physical | 220 | +30% |
| Javelin Rain | Physical | 260 | +40% |
| Hassou Tobi | Physical | 30 | GUARANTEED |
| Yabusame Shot | Physical | 60 | GUARANTEED |
| Acrobat Kick | Physical | 80 | GUARANTEED |
| Critical Slash | Physical | 160 | GUARANTEED |
| Gaea Rage | Physical | 200 | GUARANTEED |
| Mighty Cleave | Physical | 240 | GUARANTEED |
| Figment Slash | Physical | 300 | GUARANTEED |
| Critical Aura | Support | - | Critical Charge |
| Omagatoki: Critical | Support Magatsuhi |
- | |
| Bloody Glee | Passive | - | +80% |
| Murderous Glee | Passive | - | +150% |
Persona 3 / FES / Portable
Certain status ailments can make users more susceptible to Critical hits. Particularly, Panic, Distress, Freeze, Fear and Shock, with the latter guaranteeing a Critical hit.
Additionally, if a party member's condition is "Great", their Critical rate will increase.
Skills boosting Critical Rate
- Note: This list only compiles attack skills with a Critical rate of 15% or more. For a full list of skills, see List of Persona 3 Skills.
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigantic Fist | Strike | 315 | 15% |
| Deathbound | Slash | 370 | 25% |
| Pralaya | Pierce | 600 | 25% |
| Heaven's Blade | Slash | 500 | 30% |
| Rebellion | Enhance | - | |
| Revolution | Enhance | - | |
| Apt Pupil | Passive | - |
Persona 4 / Golden
Physical skills have an enhanced Critical rate in comparison to Persona 3, although this only applies to single-target attacks; multi-target skills all have low critical rate.
Skills boosting Critical Rate
- Note: This list only compiles attack skills with a Critical rate of 25% or more. For a full list of skills, see List of Persona 4 Skills.
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic Punch | Physical | 150 | 25% |
| Single Shot | Physical | 170 | 25% |
| Power Slash | Physical | 240 | 25% |
| Gigantic Fist | Physical | 560 | 25% |
| Primal Force | Physical | 2200 | 25% |
| Mighty Swing | Physical | 270 | 30% |
| Heaven's Blade | Physical | 460 | 30% |
| Black Spot | Physical | 240 | 35% |
| Cruel Attack | Physical | 260 | 35% |
| Rainy Death | Physical | 350 | 35% (Boosted in rainy/snowy weather) |
| Rebellion | Support | - | |
| Revolution | Support | - | |
| Apt Pupil | Passive | - |
Persona 5 / Royal
Unlike in Persona 3 or Persona 4, bosses are immune to Critical hits with several exceptions.
If the game is set on Merciless difficulty, like with Technicals and weaknesses, the damage from Critical hits will be tripled in comparison to its damage in other difficulties, regardless of the source.
Skills boosting Critical Rate
| Skill | Type | Damage | Critical Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giant Slice | Physical | Medium | 30% (P5 Only) |
| Cornered Fang | Physical | Medium | 35% |
| Brave Blade | Physical | Colossal | 35% |
| One-shot Kill | Gun | Medium | 40% |
| Sword Dance | Physical | Colossal | 40% |
| Lucky Punch | Physical | Minuscule | 50% |
| Miracle Rush | Physical | Medium | High |
| Akashic Arts | Physical | Severe | High |
| Miracle Punch | Physical | Medium | 55% |
| Rebellion | Support | - | |
| Revolution | Support | - | |
| Ultimate Support | Passive | - | |
| Adverse Resolve | Passive | - | +20% (Surrounded only) |
| Fortified Moxy | Passive | - | +15% (Ambushing only) |
| Trigger Happy | Passive | - | +15% (Gun only) |
| Apt Pupil | Passive | - | x2 |
Persona 5 Strikers
In Persona 5 Strikers, the Critical rate of the user is affected by their Agility stat, and their Critical evasion is affected by their Luck stat. Additionally, the Sukukaja set of skills now affect the target's Critical rate.
The Passive skill Critical Boost increases the user's Critical rate.
References
