CRIT Rate & CRIT DMG

One stat sets the chance, the other the payoff

CRIT Rate is the chance that damage capable of scoring a critical hit does so. CRIT DMG is the extra damage that critical result adds. A higher CRIT DMG value makes a successful CRIT stronger; it does not make one more likely.

For an ordinary CRIT-capable hit, the critical multiplier is 1 + CRIT DMG. Write percentages as decimals: 150% CRIT DMG gives a multiplier of 2.5. If the same hit would deal 800 without a CRIT, it deals 2,000 when it crits, with everything else unchanged. It does not deal 150% of the original damage; that 150% is added to the original 100%.

First identify the damage you are evaluating. A Character having CRIT stats does not establish that every damage source in their kit uses those stats. Read the relevant ability in their Character Kit, especially when it names a special damage family or supplies its own CRIT values.

Average damage combines both outcomes

At 60% CRIT Rate, our 800-damage hit has a 60% chance to deal 2,000 and a 40% chance to deal 800. Its expected damage is 0.6 × 2,000 + 0.4 × 800 = 1,520. That average is a comparison tool, not a third possible result or a promise that exactly six of your next ten hits will crit.

The same calculation can be written as average CRIT multiplier = 1 + r × d, where r is the effective CRIT chance from 0 to 1 and d is the applicable CRIT DMG as a decimal. It assumes the non-critical damage and all other conditions stay the same. A CRIT-triggered extra effect would need separate treatment.

These are arithmetic examples, not equal-cost builds or recommended stat targets.

One attack can contain different outcomes

A multi-hit attack can contain both critical and non-critical damage. Counting critical numbers alone can be misleading because the hits need not contribute equal damage.

Imagine two CRIT-capable hits worth 300 and 700 before CRIT, with 100% CRIT DMG. If only the small hit crits, the total is 600 + 700 = 1,300. If only the large hit crits, it is 300 + 1,400 = 1,700. Both outcomes contain one CRIT; their damage is different.

For expected damage, evaluate each eligible hit with its own applicable values, then add the results. Do not assign these invented hit sizes to a real kit, or assume one displayed total proves every hit used the same buffs.

Specific abilities can set their own CRIT rules

A guaranteed critical result answers the chance question for that damage. A fixed CRIT DMG rule also changes which damage value to use. Neither wording should be replaced by the Character’s out-of-combat stat sheet.

The Additional DMG described in Robin’s Ultimate has a fixed 100% CRIT Rate and fixed 150% CRIT DMG before any explicit kit exception. Those numbers belong to that damage source. Check Robin’s Kit and Eidolons for changes to it; do not substitute her displayed personal CRIT values.

A probability cannot exceed 100%

Once the effective chance for a hit reaches 100%, more CRIT Rate cannot make that hit more certain. Count relevant in-battle buffs and conditional bonuses before deciding whether a build is overcapped.

Excess CRIT Rate can still matter when an effect explicitly converts it into something else. Sunday’s sixth Eidolon, for example, converts excess CRIT Rate into CRIT DMG when its Talent-buff conditions are met. That is a specific conversion, not an extra CRIT roll or a general rule for all Characters.

The 1:2 ratio has assumptions

Common advice to balance CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG at roughly 1:2 assumes you can trade one point of Rate for two points of DMG, that both affect the same damage, and that Rate has not reached its effective ceiling. Under that simplified budget, balancing the two improves their product. It is not a command to force every stat screen into a ratio.

Fixed-CRIT abilities, team buffs, conditional bonuses and the actual Relics you own change the comparison. Trading away SPD, the relevant scaling stat or an important set effect can also change damage outside the CRIT multiplier. Use the Relic Stats guide to keep those trade-offs visible.

Compare the attack you actually use

Identify the damage source, apply its in-battle CRIT rules, then compare expected results under matching conditions. Use repeated observations when checking a variable result; one unusually large hit is poor evidence for a whole build.

CRIT is only one part of damage. DMG Bonus and vulnerability explain two other amplification families; DEF and RES explain why the same attack can perform differently against different targets.