What you were expecting to happen, and what actually happened:
I am playing with Sentinel that has Razor Armor trait. So for my skull damage I expected at least 47 for attack+17 for razor armor+skull bonus+something for “Critical Attack”. I expected the double damage - maybe double skull value? - similar to “Mana Surge” in the same situation with mana gem. What I get in reality? 66 damage. I.e. Hit+Razor+2.
Ok, in the previous thread I was explained that maximum skull bonus is +2 in any circumstance (And I disagree with such decision, so filed “Suggestion” thread). So that’s what I got for 8 skulls. But what this “Critical Hit” means then? Totally nothing? Isn’t it utterly wrong?
How often does this happen? When did it begin happening?
Always, it seems. But I noticed it at the last week.
Note that that post is slightly out-of-date or incomplete, as it states, “+1 per extra Skull”. People have been confused by that in the past when trying to calculate Skull damage – just important to remember that it caps at +2. Not sure where that was stated.
I think the main problem with this flavour is that it is anticlimactic. A 4 skull match gives a bonus turn, which is huge. A 5 skull match gives, what, only a +1 damage buff above the 4 skull match, so why giving it that much flare above the 4 skull match? It is this discrepancy between cosmetic and power effect which causes players to suspect that something is wrong.
I go with the suggestion of giving the 4 skull match the “critical hit” treatment too - the extra turn, when you are also doing skull damage (arguably the most efficient damage source), is the big thing. The 5th skull’s +1 is nothing.
In most games, “Critical Hit” IS some tangible bonus above and beyond standard damage, so players expect this to be the case wherever the term gets used.
So for this game to use the term cosmetically is … well, we’re “not mad, just disappointed.”
Any improvement to what a Critical Hit is would be a change to game balance. Double Skull Damage is probably too big to ask for, but maybe it can bypass evasion passives (Agile/Dextrous)?
As a noob, I too found the flavour text of “critical hit” misleading. I am used to critical hit meaning that you attack at 150% damage, which seems to be the standard in the games I have played.
The damage of matching 5+ skulls is underwhelming, which doesn’t match the fanfare of the flavour text.
I’d suggest either removing the flavour text, or upping the damage so that a critical hit is actually significant and worthy of the flavour text.
