Suggestion: Simplify Crit System – Remove Crit Damage as a Scaling Stat

Wicked Feedback
1

I’ve been thinking about the long-term balance direction of the game, especially as builds and itemization expand. Right now we have Crit Chance + Crit Damage, which creates a multiplicative scaling (like known from other Games).

Crit Chance × Crit Damage systems are fun in pure ARPG power fantasies. The more Crit Chance you have, the more valuable Crit Damage becomes — and vice versa.

We then usually get :

  • Exponential scaling
  • “One-shot nuke” builds
  • Top-Tier “easymode” meta
  • Harder balancing for devs

I’d like to propose considering the removal of scalable Crit Damage entirely.
Not removing crits — just simplifying them.

Benefits:

  1. Easier & healthier balancing

When Crit Chance and Crit Damage multiply each other, small number changes can have massive effects. Removing Crit Damage as a scaling stat, reduces exponential stacking, makes tuning enemy health & damage easier and keeps builds closer together in power.

  1. Fewer One-Shot Nuke Builds

Crit stacking almost always becomes the mathematically “best scaling” path.

By removing/adjusting the possibility for double scaling, the burst extremes get reduced and sustained damage builds stay competitive. Which (maybe) lead to combat pacing becomes more consistent.

This would fit Wicked’s more grounded, weighty combat direction.

Possible Methods

  1. Fixed Global Crit Multiplier
  • All critical hits deal +x% damage (No further item bonus for Crit Damage)
  • You can still scale: Crit Chance, Base and Elemental damage, Status effects
  • This keeps crits meaningful but prevents massive scaling.
  1. Fixed Multiplier per Weapon Category
  • Crit multiplier stays fixed per weapon type (like now)
  • No further Crit Damage Bonus (so only remove enhancement bonus, to reduce the max crit scale)
  • This keeps weapon identity intact and allows balancing through weapon tuning.
  1. “Conditional” Crit Scaling
  • could go in combination to 1./2.
  • crit strength increases through enemy conditions, not through item stats
  • Examples
    • +x% Crit-dmg against staggered enemies
    • … against enemies on low life
    • … briefly after perfect dodge / parry (would love that, big motivation to get better at parry :smiley: )
    • Crit power tied to some weapon mastery level (which seems to be part of the job system?)

This shifts crit scaling from: “Stack numbers on gear”
to: “Play well and create windows of opportunity”

Which (for me) would feel great with current gameplay.

2 Likes
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My latest build is a crit build, and boy is it strong. All my armor uses crit chance, and with exalting, 60% empowerment gems, and a base 20% crit weapon, I’m at 100% crit. I think this is a bigger problem than crit damage scaling because even without it, lv 12 weapons are slapping. I was hoping there was more play around crit, like things that happen on crit, so it wasn’t just a way to stack damage. But yeah, it completely trivializes combat. Stacking armor pen to cap, crit to cap, physical damage % (or your infusion of choice) is VERY strong, so strong that I wonder if we should be allowed to reach 100% crit. Stacked with a crit damage weapon, I am always doing double damage. I hardly have to use any of the weapon moveset since things die in 1-2 hits. Bows finally feel powerful at least. Stacking armor pen and damage % increases feels fine and balanced, but once you add crit to it, it gets overpowered.

2 Likes
3

Thomas has to see this! @thomasmahler

1 Like
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Here is the build: Flexible Crit Build