- For the special attack that can be performed with some weapons, see Critical Art.
Critical Hits are a mechanic featured in certain games of the Castlevania series, particularly the metroidvania-style games. They are hits scored against opponents that deal more damage than a normal strike (usually up to two times as much as a normal strike). There are two types of critical hits:
- The most common type of critical hits occur randomly and are usually indicated by a message reading "Critical" that appears above the damage number. The odds of these strikes occurring depend on the attacker's Luck stat; the luckier one is, the more likely they are to land a critical strike (this doesn't seem to apply to Harmony of Dissonance, though, as the Luck stat doesn't increase the amount of critical hits to occur at higher levels).
- This mechanic is only present in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance and Lament of Innocence.
- On the other hand, in Castlevania: The Arcade, critical hits can be performed by hitting bosses at correct timing, often during their attacks. If succeeded, the damage number is much larger and the boss attack will also be interrupted, but the time window is very short for most of the time.
Game specific information[]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[]
In this game, critical hits have their frequency and damage affected by the LCK stat. The damage seems to vary as follows:
- If the total ATT is equal to or greater than the total LCK, a critical hit will do a random amount of damage between 1× to 2×ATT.
- If the total ATT is less than the total LCK, a critical hit will do a random amount of damage between the normal ATT value and ATT + LCK.
Some weapons have a higher critical hit rate, such as Fists.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence[]
Unlike Symphony of the Night and Harmony of Dissonance, the player must equip the Assassin Necklace to be able to deliver critical hits. The item can only be obtained from the Evil Stabber.
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls[]
Instead of a Luck stat, Grimoire of Souls determines the rate of critical hits with the CRIT stat. When landing a successful critical, the damage numbers turn golden.