I really think riot should give us a proper definition of "Critical Strikes"

D2Vincent··9 votes·1,078 views

What exactly am I talking about you say? Well let me give you the scenario here.

Most ADC's will stack items that give "Critical Strike chance" or the chance that their next strike will do double damage to their target. Sounds simple right? Well there are 3 particular instances where things get confusing.

When Anivia hits an enemy with her E while the enemy has recently been hit by either her Q or R, the enemy is dealt Double Damage.

When Karthus hits a SINGLE enemy with his Q ability, the enemy takes double damage.

When Soraka hits an enemy with the Center of her Q, the target takes %50 more damage

These 3 instances of damage are somewhat considered "Critical Strike" damage. and I'm saying somewhat for a couple reasons.

it's considered a Critical Strike when it's applied to a target with Randuin's Omen, which blocks %10 of all Critical Strike damage, which has been confirmed by Riot to be a working thing.

It's also NOT considered a critical strike when either the item Infinity Edge or the mastery Warlord's Bloodlust is involved. Infinity Edge gives Critical Strikes a %50 damage increase, and Warlord's Bloodlust makes Critical Strikes give %15 of the damage back as health and gives %20 attack speed. Granted, nobody in their right mind would build IE or have Warlord's Bloodlust on either Karthus or Anivia, but it still begs the following Question:

If Karthus's Isolated Q, Anivia's Q/R + E combo, and the center of Soraka's Q ARE considered Critical Strike damage, then why doesn't Infinity Edge or Warlord's Bloodlust give the benefits? And if they're NOT considered Critical Strike Damage, why do they get blocked by Randuin's omen?

some Riot Feedback is Highly Appreciated!

13 Comments

RisenDarkKnight3 votes

I've seen enemy annivia's take warlord's bloodlust twice. My friend thought they were doing it for the heal on landing her e but I guess they just had the wrong mastery page haha.

But seriously they need to fix that. If those two abilities dont' get the benefits of being crits they shouldn't have the drawback (omen).

charcharmunro2 votes

Also Soraka hitting with the center of her Q.

ApexInTheCircle2 votes

League of legends? Clarity? What type of nonsense do you speak of?! What blasphemy do you spew from your finger tips?!!!!!!! Begone with you!!!

That being said, take my upvote because I find it really stupid that "It's not a crit until it is" type thing they have going.

AyRe CoNteMpT1 votes

do they trigger warlords bloodlust mastery?

D2Vincent2 votes

oh yeah, they don't. lemme edit that in a second

Bears Dont Care1 votes

It's very clear those abilities are not crits...

kile1475 votes

Then why does Omen passive work on them?

DeathBurst1 votes

It's very clear those abilities are crits:

  • It's written on the tooltip
  • Randuin reduces the damage, and Riot confirmed it was working as intended previously
Bears Dont Care1 votes

{quoted}

It's very clear those abilities are crits:

  • It's written on the tooltip

The tooltip states it is DOUBLE DAMAGE. Double damage =/= crit

  • Randuin reduces the damage, and Riot confirmed it was working as intended previously

Randuin reduces the damage because the double damage aspect is considered ENHANCED damage. It isn't a crit. It doesn't work with the passive, and it isn't affect by IE. Damn people...

Kazaashi1 votes

I think it is more of a graphical identifier that you did extra damage on the spell. Looking at the LoL wiki, there are a lot of abilites that this happens for:

Anivia Frostbite: The 2x damage modifier applied by being chilled by Flash Frost is given out as critical strike. Gangplank Powder Keg: The damage is always given out as critical strike. Gnar 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). Miss Fortune Miss Fortune's Double Up.png Double Up: The second damage is given out as critical strike when the first target is killed. Soraka Starcall: The damage is given out as critical strike when enemy stands in the center. Vayne Condemn: The double-damage proc'd by being knocked into a wall is given out as critical strike.

So I think it is more of a visual marker for the players that the special condition was met and extra damage proc'ed, that a straight Crit Strike.

DeathBurst1 votes

I guess Poppy's Heroic Charge should be in that list and the wiki is just not up to date?

But anyway, the point of the OP is that there are some inconsistencies. For some skills, it is purely a visual identifier, for some it's partially considered a Critic, for some there is not even an identifier, so that would need some improvement.

AL0001 votes

rng or multiple damage should be remove from the game...

DeathBurst1 votes

I agree with OP there are inconsistencies about augmented damages vs Critical Strikes.

Some skills deal augmented damage under certain conditions and are not tagged as Critical Strikes (Ziggs ult, Garen isolated E).

Also, some skills "deal bonus damage" (Nasus Siphoning Strike) while others "cause the attack to crit (but with a modified value anyway)" (Shaco's first attack during stealth).

Once again, I agree with OP, we need an explicit and clear definition of Critical Strike vs Enhanced Damage vs Bonus Damage.

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