Critical Hit

Critical hits, also known as crits for short, are otherwise normal weapon strikes that randomly deal increased damage on enemies. The likelihood that an attack will be a critical hit is based on the weapon's critical hit chance, and the additional damage dealt by a critical hit is determined by the weapon's critical damage multiplier. Each attack, or each pellet in the case of most shotguns and weapons with Multishot, rolls its own chance to critically hit.

When a weapon deals a critical hit, the damage is displayed as a yellow, orange or red number on the HUD instead of the usual white coloring. However, critical hits on shields are still blue, and attacks benefitting from the stealth damage bonus are always yellow even when they don't crit.

Critical Chance[]

Each weapon has a base chance to critically hit, which can be increased through mods and various buffs.

Relative Increases[]

Most increases to crit chance are relative to the base chance. Multiple of these stack additively with each other:

${\displaystyle \text{Total Crit Chance} = \text{Base Crit Chance} \times (1 + \text{Relative Bonus})}$

Where the Relative Bonus is the sum of all applicable bonuses.

${\displaystyle \text{Relative Bonus} = \text{Bonus}_{1} + \text{Bonus}_{2} + \text{Bonus}_{3} + \cdots}$

As an example, a  Braton with  Point Strike and  Argon Scope has a crit chance of:

12% × (1 +  150% +  135%) = 46.2%

Absolute Increases[]

A few effects grant absolute amounts of crit chance which are applied after relative bonuses.

•  Puncture's status effect "Weakened"
•  Arcane Avenger
•  Cat's Eye
•  Ballistic Bullseye
•  Shadow Haze
•  Covenant
•  Wrathful Advance

${\displaystyle \text{Total Crit Chance} = \text{Base Crit Chance} \times (1 + \text{Relative Bonus}) + \text{Absolute Bonus}}$

Where the Absolute Bonus is the sum of all applicable bonuses.

${\displaystyle \text{Absolute Bonus} = \text{Bonus}_{1} + \text{Bonus}_{2} + \text{Bonus}_{3} + \cdots}$

As an example, a Braton with  Point Strike (relative) and  Arcane Avenger (absolute) has a crit chance of:

12% × (1 +  150%) +  45% = 75%

Blood Rush[]

 Blood Rush and the Gladiator Set Bonus are unique in that they scale off of Melee Combo, stacking additively with other critical chance mods:

${\displaystyle \begin{aligned} \text{Total Crit Chance} &= \text{Base Crit Chance} \\ &\qquad \times (1 + \text{Relative Bonus} + \text{Blood Rush Multi} \times (\text{Combo Multi} - 1)) \\ &\qquad + \text{Absolute Bonus} \end{aligned} }$

As an example, a  Gram with maxed  True Steel and  Blood Rush, with a x7 combo multiplier :

15% × [1 +  120% +  40% × (7 - 1)] = 69%

Critical hit chance can surpass 100%, for further information read Crit Tiers.

Sources of Critical Chance Bonus[]

• Rifle
• Shotgun
• Pistol
• Melee
• Archguns
• Archmelee
• Companions
• Abilities
• Warframe Augments
• Weapon Augments
• Gladiator Mods
• Warframe Arcanes
• Virtuos Arcanes

 Point Strike

 Critical Delay

 Argon Scope

 Galvanized Scope

 Proton Jet

Critical Damage (Critical Multiplier)[]

When a critical hit occurs, that hit's damage is increased and the damage value's color is changed to yellow. The stat describing by how much a crit is strengthened is displayed in the arsenal as a multiplier.

${\displaystyle \text{Modded Crit Multi} = \text{Base Crit Multi} \times (1 + \text{Bonus}_{1} + \text{Bonus}_{2} + \text{Bonus}_{3} + \cdots)}$

The base critical multiplier of a weapon is quantized.^[1][2] This applies before mods, but after certain effects that are additive to the base value. The quantized base critical multiplier can be calculated as:

${\displaystyle \text{Quantized Base CM} = \text{Round(}\frac{\text{Base CM}}{32/4095}\text{)} \times \frac{32}{4095}}$

As an example, a  Braton with  Vital Sense excluding quantization for simplicity, has a crit multiplier of:

1.6 × (1 +  120%) = 3.52x

Another similar example, now including quantization, and now with the incarnon perk Critical Parallel yields a crit multiplier of:

${\displaystyle \text{Round}(\frac{\text{1.6} + \text{0.4}}{32/4095}) \times \frac{32}{4095} \times (\text{1} + \text{1.2}) = 4.401074481\text{x} }$

Sources of Critical Damage Bonus[]

• Rifle
• Shotgun
• Pistol
• Melee
• Archgun
• Archmelee
• Companions
• Abilities
• Warframe Augments
• Vigilante Mods
• Tek Mods
• Virtuos Arcanes
• Focus

 Vital Sense

 Hammer Shot

 Bladed Rounds

 Mutalist Quanta's alternative fire; shooting bullets through the Infested orb will boost the weapon's critical multiplier

Crit Tiers[]

When a weapon achieves a crit chance higher than 100%, every attack will crit but it also gains a chance to deal an even stronger crit. As the critical hit chance increases, the tier of critical damage does so as well.

Although the coloration remains red after a certain point, crit tiers continue to increase. Every tier above 3 will produce an additional exclamation mark (!) up to three times.

As an example, a  Lenz with  Point Strike has a crit chance of:

50% × (1 +  150%) = 125%

This means it will have a 25% chance to trigger an orange crit, while all other hits (75%) will yield a yellow crit.

The critical damage multiplier for these can be calculated as follows:

${\displaystyle \text{Crit Tier Multi} = 1 + \text{Crit Tier} \times (\text{Modded Crit Multi} - 1)}$

As an example, a  Lenz with  Point Strike and  Vital Sense will have an orange crit multiplier of:

1 + 2 × (2.0 × (1 +  120%) − 1) = 7.8x

In addition, each mod of the Vigilante Mod Set has a 5% chance to increase a Primary Weapon's critical hit's tier by 1. This effect stacks with other Vigilante Mods installed, up to a 30% chance with all six Vigilante Mods equipped.

Critical Headshots[]

Certain body parts on enemies, most notably heads, will receive additional damage when struck. This location-based damage increase is usually a 3.0x multiplier, but if the strike is a critical hit, then it receives an additional damage bonus of 2.0x on top of the location multiplier and the crit multiplier:

${\displaystyle \text{Headshot Crit Tier Multi} = \text{Headshot Multi} \times (1 + \text{Crit Tier} \times (2 \times \text{Modded Crit Multi} - 1))}$

As an example, a  Lanka with  Vital Sense, and a head shot multiplier of 3.0 will have an orange crit multiplier of:

3.0 × (1 + 2 × (2 × 2.0 × (1 +  120%) − 1)) = 49.8x

The Headshot Multiplier is 3.0x in almost all cases. The bonus damage from headshot crits is specific to heads and not generalized to all special body parts. The MOA, for example, has a "fanny pack" which normally receives 3.0x damage, but does not receive any additional multipliers from a critical hit. The Jordas Golem, however, has a 1.0x multiplier on his engines, but still receives increase damage if critically hit. Corpus humanoids do not receive headcrits, instead only taking the normal 3.0x headshot damage even after their helmets are removed.

Average Damage[]

When comparing builds it can be helpful to calculate how much damage the weapon will deal on average, which is affected by how often critical hits occur and at what critical multiplier. The following equation accounts for critical hits that are not headshots:

${\displaystyle \text{Average Damage Multiplier} = 1 + \text{Total Crit Chance} \times (\text{Total Crit Multi} - 1)}$

${\displaystyle \text{Average Damage on Hit} = \text{Modded Damage} \times \text{Average Damage Multiplier}}$

As an example, a  Paris has an average damage multiplier of:

1 + 30% × (2.0 - 1) = 1.3x

 Paris with  Point Strike and  Vital Sense has an average damage multiplier of:

1 + (30% × (1 +  150%)) × (2.0 × (1 +  120%) - 1) = 3.55x

So for a Paris without any critical mods, the damage is multiplied by 1.3 on average; yellow crits of 2x for 30% of the shots.
With the 2 basic critical mods, the damage is multiplied by 3.55 on average; yellow crits of 4.4x for 75% of the shots.

Notes[]

• Most Warframe abilities cannot inflict critical hits. Exceptions include Exalted Weapons,  Voruna's  Ulfrun's Descent, and Gyre's Passive which grants critical chance per electric proc to all of her abilities.
  • Prior to Update 33.6 (2023-07-27), some abilities had 100% critical chance with a multiplier of 1x. This only served to provide visual feedback.
• As of Hotfix 35.0.9 (2024-01-17), enemies cannot inflict critical hits.

See also[]

•  Hunter Munitions, a chance to apply  Slash on critical hit for primary weapons.

Patch History[]

CollapseDamage Mechanics Edit
Offense		Attack Speed • Buff & Debuff • Critical Hit • Damage (Faction Damage Bonus, Positive Type Modifier, Quantization) • Damage Falloff • Damage Reflection • Enemy Body Parts • Fire Rate • Multishot • Punch Through • Status Effect
Defense		Armor • Damage Attenuation • Damage Reduction • Health (Healing) • Invulnerability • Negative Damage Type Modifier • Overguard • Shield
Damage Types
Physical (IPS)		Impact •  Puncture •  Slash
Elemental	Primary (HCET)	Heat •  Cold •  Electricity •  Toxin
	Secondary	Blast •  Corrosive •  Gas •  Magnetic •  Radiation •  Viral
Special		Tau •  True •  Void
Hidden/Internal		Cinematic • Energy Drain • Shield Drain
Status Effects
Physical		Knockback •  Weakened •  Bleed
Elemental	Primary	Ignite •  Freeze •  Tesla Chain •  Poison
	Secondary	Inaccuracy •  Corrosion •  Gas Cloud •  Disrupt •  Confusion •  Virus
Special		Bullet Attractor
Effect Only		Big Stagger •  Disarmed •  Impair (PvP only) •  Knockdown •  Lifted •  Microwave •  Parried •  Ragdoll •  Silence •  Sleep •  Slow •  Stagger •  Stun
Shield, Armor, and Health Classes
Tenno		Tenno Shield • Tenno Armor • Tenno Flesh
Grineer		Grineer • Kuva Grineer
Corpus		Corpus • Corpus Amalgam
Infested		Infested • Infested Deimos
Corrupted		Orokin
Sentient		Sentient
Narmer		Narmer
Zariman		Zariman
The Murmur		The Murmur
Miscellaneous		Hit Points • Object • Overguard
Calculating Bonuses

CollapseGame System Mechanics Edit
Currencies		Credits •  Orokin Ducats •  Endo •  Platinum •  Aya •  Regal Aya •  Standing
General	Basics	Arsenal • Codex • Daily Tribute • Empyrean • Foundry • Market • Mastery Rank • Nightwave • Orbiter • Player Profile • Reset • Star Chart
	Lore	Alignment • Fragments • Leverian • Quest
	Factions	Corpus • Grineer • Infested • Orokin • Sentient • Syndicates • Tenno
	Social	Chat • Clan • Clan Dojo • Leaderboards • Trading
	Squad	Host Migration • Inactivity Penalty • Matchmaking
	Player Housing	Clan Dojo • Dormizone • Drifter's Camp • Orbiter
Gameplay	Basics	Affinity • Buff & Debuff • Death • Hacking • Invisible • Maneuvers • One-Handed Action • Open World • Pickups • Radar • Stealth • Tile Sets • Void Relic • Waypoint
	Damage Mechanics	Critical Hit • Damage • Damage Redirection • Damage Reduction • Damage Reflection • Damage Type Modifier • Damage Vulnerability • Health • Status Effect
	Enemies	Bosses • Death Mark • Enemy Behavior • Eximus (Overguard) • Lich System
	Mission	Arbitrations • Archon Hunt • Break Narmer • Empyrean • Invasion • Sortie • Tactical Alert • The Circuit • The Steel Path • Void Fissure
	Activities	Captura • Conservation • Fishing • K-Drive Race • Ludoplex • Mining
	PvP	Duel • Conclave (Lunaro) • Frame Fighter
	Other	Gravity • Threat Level
Equipment	Modding and Arcanes	Arcane Enhancements • Archon Shard • Fusion • Mods (Flawed, Riven) • Polarization • Transmutation • Valence Fusion
	Warframe	Attributes (Armor, Energy, Health, Shield, Sprint Speed) • Abilities (Augment, Casting Speed, Helminth System, Passives, Duration, Efficiency, Range, Strength)
	Weapons	Accuracy • Alternate Fire • Ammo • Area of Effect • Attack Speed • Bounce • Critical Hit • Damage Falloff • Exalted Weapon • Fire Rate • Hitscan • Holster • Incarnon • Melee • Multishot • Noise • Projectile • Projectile Speed • Punch Through • Recoil • Reload • Ricochet • Trigger Type • Zoom
	Operator	Amp • Focus (Madurai, Vazarin, Naramon, Unairu, Zenurik) • Lens
	Drifter and Duviri	Decrees • Drifter Combat • Drifter Intrinsics • Kaithe
	Other	Archwing • Companion • K-Drive • Necramech • Parazon • Railjack
Technical	General	AI Director • Drop Tables • HUD • Key Bindings • Material Structures • PBR • Rarity • RNG • Settings • String Interpolation • Text Icons • Upgrade
	Software, Networking, and Services	Cross Platform Play • Cross Platform Save • Dedicated Servers • EE.cfg • EE.log • File Directory • Fonts • Network Architecture • Public Export • Public Test Cluster • Stress Test • Warframe Arsenal Twitch Extension • World State
	Audio	Mandachord • Music • Shawzin • Somachord • Sound
	Mathematical	Calculating Bonuses (Additive Stacking, Multiplicative Stacking) • Condition Overload (Mechanic) • Enemy Level Scaling • Maximization • User Research

CollapseCritical Hit Mods Edit
Rifle	Chance	Point Strike •  Critical Delay •  Argon Scope ( Galvanized)
	Damage	Vital Sense •  Hammer Shot •  Bladed Rounds
Shotgun	Chance	Blunderbuss •  Critical Deceleration •  Laser Sight
	Damage	Ravage ( Primed) •  Shrapnel Shot
Pistol	Chance	Pistol Gambit ( Primed) •  Creeping Bullseye •  Hydraulic Crosshairs ( Galvanized)
	Damage	Target Cracker ( Primed) •  Hollow Point •  Sharpened Bullets
Melee	Chance	Blood Rush •  Maiming Strike •  True Steel ( Sacrificial)
	Damage	Gladiator Might •  Organ Shatter ( Amalgam)
Arch-gun	Chance	Critical Focus •  Parallax Scope
	Damage	Critical Focus •  Hollowed Bullets
Arch-melee	Chance	Critical Meltdown •  Tempered Blade
	Damage	Bleeding Edge
Weapon Augment		Deadly Maneuvers •  Deadly Sequence •  Exposing Harpoon •  Hata-Satya •  Amalgam Ripkas True Steel