Critical hits
| “ | Dere ain't enough crits in the world ta kill me!
Click to listen
— The Scout
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Critical hits, also known as "crits" or "full crits", are attacks that do extra damage and have distinctive sound effects when fired and upon hitting a target. Players on the receiving end of the attack will have the words 'Critical Hit!!!' (or 'Mini-Crit!' respectively) appear over their head in green letters, accompanied by a loud ding.
Critical hits can be easily distinguished from normal hits. Most melee weapons have a unique swinging animation. Explosive projectiles, such as rockets or stickybombs, have a team-colored glow and sparkle effect. Bullets have team-colored trails. These visual affects are accompanied by a crackling electric sound upon firing.
Self-inflicted critical hits will not deal critical damage to the user, but will still play the sound effect.
Critical hits deal three times the base damage of the weapon and ignore both the distance modification and the random damage modification of normal shots, though explosive weapon crits still suffer from splash damage fall-off. As a result, weapons that are normally merely nusiances at long range (such as Miniguns) can become dangerous when critting. The extra damage is of the "critical" type instead of matching the weapon's original type, meaning it cannot be resisted by the Vaccinator or Upgrade Station buffs - though Upgrade Stations do sell an independent "crit resistance" buff, which reduces the extra damage.
When a player is killed by a critical hit, the class will let out a loud scream that differs from ordinary non-melee deaths, unless the class was killed by a critical explosive (in which case they let out a larger "ouch" noise than explosive kills usually cause). The kill feed icon for a critical hit can be easily recognized, as the weapon will be surrounded by a red glow.
Crits and mini-crits do not stack in any form - that is, meeting multiple conditions to earn a crit or a mini-crit will not deal any more than regular critical damage. For example, the Frontier Justice's revenge crits do not deal any additional damage when the Engineer is ÜberCharged by the Medic using the Kritzkrieg, while attacking an enemy under the influence of both Jarate and the Fan O'War will only result in a single mini-crit. This means that team co-ordination is required if multiple players have ways to increase their crit output, or extra damage will be wasted. If both a mini-crit and full critical hit occurs with the same attack, the critical hit overrides the mini-crit.
If the 'Display damage done as text over your target' advanced option or hud_combattext 1 console command has been enabled, the 'Critical Hit!!!' text will not be displayed. The damage dealt will be drawn in a larger font instead.
Contents
Critical hit chance
The base crit chance for standard weapons is 2%. This is modified by a bonus percentage based on how much damage the player has done in the last 20 seconds, which scales from 0% at 0 damage to 10% at 800 damage.[1] For example, if the player has dealt 200 damage in the past 20 seconds, the additional bonus percentage is 2.5% and so the overall crit chance is 4.5%. As a result, the highest natural crit chance attainable is 12%.
Melee weapons are designed to crit far more often than ranged ones in order to encourage their usage at close range. Their base crit chance starts at 15% - higher than attainable for ranged weapons with the recent damage bonus maxed out - and their recent damage bonus scales from 0% to 50%,[2] meaning a player that has done 800 damage or more in the last 20 seconds has a melee crit rate of a whopping 65%.
Among those weapons that trigger randomly, critical hit probability is determined differently based on the type of weapon. Single-shot weapons, which, for example, include the Shotgun, Revolver, and Rocket Launcher, determine the chance to crit with every shot. Thus, every shot of the Shotgun will have a 2% chance to launch a flurry of critical pellets, assuming no previous damage done. Rapid-fire weapons, however, which include the Minigun, Syringe Gun, Flamethrower, and Pistol check for critical hits once a second. With weapons like these, a positive crit determination results in all shots for the next two seconds being critical. This only applies to the active weapon; getting two seconds of crits on one's Pistol will not cause their Shotgun to fire crits during this time.
Special cases
There is a wide variety of situations that affect whether a weapon can deal critical hits or not.
Weapons that can gain both random crits and situational crits
The following weapons not only have the ability to get random crits as usual, but also can gain guaranteed crits in another way.
- The Sun-on-a-Stick deals critical hits when striking a burning enemy.
- The Wrap Assassin's ornament will crit if it hits from a significant distance, equivalent to a moonshot with the Sandman.
- The Flare Gun will score a critical hit if it hits a player who is already on fire.
- The Killing Gloves of Boxing will grant 5 seconds of crit boost to all of the Heavy's weapons upon killing a target.
- The Holiday Punch will always critical hit from behind. Critical hits with this weapon, whether random or from behind, will force the target to laugh instead of dealing damage.
- The Bushwacka will critical hit at any time it would normally mini-crit.
Weapons that cannot gain random crits but can gain situational crits
The following weapons have a 0% chance of random crits in all situations, but can still deal critical hits in specific situations or if the user is crit-boosted.
- The Flying Guillotine will critical hit against enemies who have been stunned and will mini-crit at long distances. The bleeding on a stunned target will also deal critical hits.
- The Market Gardener deals critical damage while the Soldier wielding it is rocket jumping.
- The Backburner is guaranteed to crit from behind.
- The Phlogistinator gradually fills a "Mmmph" meter as fire damage is done, allowing a Pyro to begin a guaranteed 10-second crit period when full. This boost only affects the Phlogistinator.
- The Manmelter accrues a critical hit each time it is used to extinguish a teammate.
- The Axtinguisher and the Postal Pummeler will score a critical hit if the victim is on fire. It may still randomly perform a crit animation, but will not inflict crit damage unless the enemy is burning.
- The Neon Annihilator crits against wet enemies. This includes those who are in or have recently emerged from a source of water, and those coated in Jarate or Mad Milk.
- The Frontier Justice accrues 2 Revenge Crits for every kill and 1 for every assist made by the user's Sentry Gun once the Sentry is destroyed.
- The Gunslinger will perform a critical punch on a third successful consecutive punch, causing a different kill icon.
- The Sniper Rifle, Machina, Ambassador, Huntsman, Bazaar Bargain, Hitman's Heatmaker, and AWPer Hand automatically score critical hits on successful headshots. Rifles can only perform headshot crits while scoped and the Ambassador only when at full accuracy.
- The Cleaner's Carbine will grant 3 seconds of crit boost upon killing an enemy.
- The Diamondback will store one critical hit for every enemy building destroyed with a Sapper placed on it by the user.
- The Spy's melee weapons always and only crit on backstabs, boosting the damage of a backstab from 2x the victim's current health to 6x. Knives can still be forced to crit, but this will only result in triple the melee damage, not backstab damage.
Weapons that cannot gain random crits and cannot gain situational crits
The following weapons have a 0% chance of random crits in all situations and do not have a means of scoring crits on their own, though they can still deliver crits if another effect is in play.
- The Eyelander, Claidheamh Mòr, Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker, Persian Persuader, Nessie's Nine Iron, and Ullapool Caber do not roll for random critical hits, and can only crit through external means such as a shield charge.
- The Soda Popper, Sticky Jumper, Rocket Jumper, Southern Hospitality, Enforcer, and Sydney Sleeper do not roll for random crits.
Weapons that cannot crit in any way
The following weapons cannot deal critical hits in any way. They can however mini-crit if the situation is right.
- All taunt attacks.
- The Cow Mangler 5000 cannot crit under any circumstances, though it can be mini-crit boosted by the Buff Banner. However, projectiles reflected by an enemy Pyro will deal full crit damage.
- Sentry Guns will never inflict critical hits. However, they will mini-crit enemies if the owner is under a mini-crit boost or the target has a mini-crit-accepting status.
- The bleeding and afterburn mechanics do not crit, but will mini-crit if the attacking player is mini-crit boosted or if the target is under a mini-crit debuff.
Weapons that are exempt
The following items do not operate as conventional weapons and so are exempt from the concept of critical hits. Note that they will still glow when crit-boosted, there will simply be no effect.
- Lunchbox items: Bonk! Atomic Punch, Crit-a-Cola, Sandvich, Dalokohs Bar, Buffalo Steak Sandvich, Fishcake, Robo-Sandvich
- Jars: Mad Milk, Jarate
- Jars may appear to crits when thrown, glowing and trailing team-colored particles, but this has only a cosmetic effect.
- Backpacks: Buff Banner, Battalion's Backup, Concheror, Cozy Camper
- Boots: Gunboats, Mantreads, Ali Baba's Wee Booties, Bootlegger,
- Shields: Chargin' Targe, Splendid Screen, Razorback, Darwin's Danger Shield
- Medi guns: Medi Gun, Kritzkrieg, Quick-Fix, Vaccinator
- Cloaking devices: Invis Watch, Cloak and Dagger, Dead Ringer, Enthusiast's Timepiece, Quäckenbirdt
- Sappers: Sapper, Red-Tape Recorder
- The Wrangler, PDA devices, and the Disguise Kit
Crit boost
Crit boost is a state in which a player is guaranteed to deal critical hits with any weapon. A crit boost is demonstrated by the player's weapon glowing in their team color, with sparks of electricity surging and crackling from it. This affects most weapons that do not normally deal random critical hits, such as the Knife, Sniper Rifle, Gunslinger, and Eyelander, causing them to deal critical attacks for the duration of the boost. The Cow Mangler 5000, on the other hand, will not receive critical hits from a crit boost.
A crit boost can be attained under the following circumstances:
- During Humiliation, the winning team is granted a crit boost.
- The Übercharge from the Kritzkrieg grants the Medic's heal target an 8 second crit boost.
- Capturing the intelligence in a game of Capture the Flag gives the entire capturing team a 10 second crit boost. This value can be altered or disabled by the server host console via a command.
- In the event version of Harvest, Mann Manor, Eyeaduct, and Ghost Fort during Halloween, killed players randomly drop candy-filled Halloween pumpkins. When picked up, the player is awarded around 3–4 seconds of crit boost.
- Upon killing an enemy with the Killing Gloves of Boxing, the Heavy will be crit boosted for 5 seconds. The crit boost applies not only to the Killing Gloves of Boxing, but to all the Heavy's currently equipped weapons.
- The Phlogistinator allows a Pyro to crit boost itself for about 10 seconds upon activating "Mmmph", but the crit boost only affects the Phlogistinator.
- Killing an enemy with the Cleaner's Carbine will grant the Sniper 3 seconds of crit boost. This applies to all of the Sniper's currently equipped weapons.
- Using a Critical Hit Boost Power Up Canteen in Mann vs. Machine.
First Blood
In Arena Mode, a 'First Blood' buff is granted to a player who achieves the first kill of a round. It consists of a five-second crit boost.
- If players switch weapons during the buff, the electricity around their weapon will disappear, but critical hits will still be delivered.
- Triggering feign death with the Dead Ringer gives the attacker the 'First Blood' buff.
- The 'First Blood' buff counts as an ÜberCharge towards the Heavy achievement Supreme Soviet.
Gallery
Crit Bullets.
Crit Rockets.
Crit Flames.
Crit Grenades.
Crit Stickybombs.
Mini-crits
Mini-crits add an extra 35% damage to a weapon's damage. Like normal critical hits, they ignore damage falloff, but unlike critical hits, they are still given ramp-up at close range and random spread. Full crits override mini-crits. Like full crits, mini-crits will have a glowing red outline in their kill icons and will be displayed with a larger font when combat text is enabled. If either the player is under a Mini-crit buff state, such as the Buff Banner or Buffalo Steak Sandvich (or the victim is under a Mini-crit debuff state, such as Jarate or being marked for death), all taunt attacks will also Mini-crit.
There are currently eight ways for a player to deal mini-crits to all other players:
- Attacking as a Scout while under the effects of Crit-a-Cola.
- Attacking as a Scout while under the hype effect of the Soda Popper.
- Hitting an enemy from long range with the Flying Guillotine.
- Attacking while under the effects of a friendly Soldier's Buff Banner.
- Shooting enemies with the Cow Mangler 5000's charged shot.
- As a Pyro, hitting an enemy with a reflected projectile (other than stickybombs).
- Melee hits midway through your Chargin' Targe or Splendid Screen charge.
- Attacking as a Heavy while under the effects of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich.
There are also currently six effects that force a particular player to take mini-crits from all incoming damage:
- Being marked by the Fan O'War.
- Being a Scout who is under the effects of Crit-a-Cola.
- Being a Heavy who is under the effects of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich.
- Being a Heavy who has the Gloves of Running Urgently active, or has had them active in the last three seconds.
- Being an Engineer who is hauling a building with the Rescue Ranger equipped, or has done so in the last three seconds.
- Being covered in Jarate.
Finally, there are three ways of achieving mini-crits that require both the attacker and the target to be in a particular situation:
- Hitting an airborne enemy with the Direct Hit who was propelled airborne by an explosion.
- Shooting an airborne enemy with the Reserve Shooter during the 3-second mini-crit period it has after switching to it.
- Hitting a burning enemy with the Detonator.
Former ways to achieve a mini-crit:
- The Sun-on-a-Stick originally dealt mini-crits on burning enemies. It currently deals full crits.
- The Flare Gun originally dealt mini-crits on burning enemies at close range. It currently deals full crits regardless of range.
- Formerly Mini-Crits could be delivered by shooting enemies to the head with the Ambassador. It currently deals full crits.
- The Pyro's Compression Blast was formerly able to turn enemy Stickybombs into mini-crits by reflecting them. It now gives no mini-crit boost on reflecting Stickybombs.
- The Direct Hit formerly dealt mini-crits to any airborne target. The weapon now inflicts mini-crit damage to airborne targets who have been launched into the air by an explosion.
Mini-crit boost
A mini-crit boost is the state of having all damage being dealt modified into mini-crit damage. Currently, this is achievable while under the effects of Crit-a-Cola, an active Buff Banner, the Buffalo Steak Sandvich, or the deployed hype meter of the Soda Popper. While being mini-crit boosted, the player's active weapon glows a faint yellow on RED, or a faint blue-green on BLU, and has the same color effect of particles swirling around their feet.
All damage sources, including afterburn and Sentry Guns, only deal mini-crit damage when the player dealing the damage is being boosted. If the player leaves the boost after firing a projectile while the projectile is in mid-flight, it will lose its status as a mini-crit. Conversely, after the Pyro sets fire to several players, returning to a mini-crit boost will immediately transform any afterburn damage to mini-crit status. Sentry Guns will only mini-crit while the Engineer is being mini-crit boosted.
Related achievements
Scout
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Soldier
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Pyro
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Demoman
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Heavy
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Engineer
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Medic
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Foundry achievements
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Mann vs. Machievements
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Update history
- Fixed critical bullet tracers not being visible to players other than the firer.
- Added a small delay (200 ms) before a zoomed Sniper shot can get a critical hit.
- Fixed critical modifier for explosive weapons (rockets, pipe bombs) increasing critical chance more than intended.
February 24, 2009 Patch (Scout Update)
- Added crit boosted on/off sound effects.
- Fixed Mini-Crits resulting in reduced damage for weapons at close ranges.
- Added Option to Toggle Critical hits.
September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)
- [Undocumented] The Frontier Justice now works correctly with critical boosts.
- Fixed the Holy Mackerel hit triggering the first blood event in Arena mode.
- Fixed the Heavy's Fists not playing the critical hit animation.
- The Sun-on-a-Stick was changed to always mini-crit against burning targets if the attack is not already critical.
- Fixed the revenge crit label not being localized correctly.
April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)
- Replaced the no-crit attribute with -25% damage on the following:
- Replaced the -25% damage attribute with no-crit attribute on the following:
- Eyelander
- Gunslinger
- Southern Hospitality
- Horseless Headless Horseman's Headtaker
- Ullapool Caber
- Claidheamh Mòr
- Fixed a case where Crit Boost effects were being removed from players being healed.
- Fixed a problem with Arena mode first blood Crit Boost not removing itself at the correct time.
- Fixed a server crash caused by Holiday Punch critical attacks on physics objects.
- [Undocumented] Stickybombs and grenades now have a team-colored aura when fired and a rapidly flashing critical particle effect.
- Fixed a regression with mini-crit damage calculation.
- Fixed a regression where Mini-Crits were being affected by long-range damage fall-off.
Bugs
- The vast majority of effects and achievements cannot tell the difference between a critical hit and a mini-crit, and as a result treat all mini-crits as regular crits. This makes it possible to gain crit-based achievements using only mini-crits.
- The "Mini Crit!" text is still displayed when combat text is enabled if a teammate assists you with a mini-crit, instead of showing the damage they dealt.
- Crit indicators are still displayed even if the "victim" is Übercharged and receives no damage.
