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Not be be confused with counter attack.

Critical attacks (also known as critical hits or just criticals) are a gameplay mechanic in Dark Souls, Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III. Critical attacks are performed in what is considered the most vulnerable areas of enemies. There are four types of critical attacks: backstabs, ripostes, headshots and plunging attacks.

Dark Souls[]

In Dark Souls, critical attacks do bonus damage based on a weapon's critical stat. Most weapons possess a critical multiplier of 100, but Thrusting Swords and Daggers have a higher critical multiplier, and thus do more damage when executing a critical attack.

Ripostes will do more bonus damage than backstabs, but can also be considerably harder to execute, as they need a parry or a guard-break to happen.

The plunging attack is the rarest and most damaging critical attack. For this strike a higher ground is required, in which the player must jump and while falling hit the normal attack button, thus making the plunge attack dependent on the terrain.

The Hornet Ring increases the damage of critical attacks by an additional 30%. Wearing the ring also changes the animation of backstabs and ripostes when using certain weapons against human enemies. Headshots are not affected by the Hornet Ring.

Dark Souls III[]

In Dark Souls III, a critical attack can generally be performed on a target once it is put in a vulnerable state.

A riposte can be performed on a target that has had an attack parried, or has been guard broken due to stamina being completely depleted while guarding with a shield. In the case of certain large enemies and bosses, a critical can be taken once enough damage has been inflicted to a vital part of their body, or if enough damage has been inflicted in general.

A backstab can be performed on the target if they are attacked from behind. When the player is behind the target and performs a weak attack, they will begin an animation where they pull their weapon back in preparation to perform the critical. If the target is still within range of the player once the backstab animation completes, the critical attack will then take place.

Upon successfully initiating a critical, the player and target are both placed in an uninterruptible animation where both parties cannot take damage from outside sources, and the target takes the critical damage. Both parties will only be able to perform additional actions once the critical animation is complete.

Damage inflicted by the critical can be increased if the player has equipped the Hornet Ring. If the target is wearing the Dragonscale Ring, damage from a backstab critical is decreased.

Damage multipliers[]

The amount of damage dealt by a critical is dependent on its weapon class, as well as whether or not the initiator is wearing the Hornet Ring, which modifies the critical animation. For each weapon class, the critical damage can be further increased by its critical modifier.

Each portion of a critical attack multiplies the initiating weapon's Attack Rating as follows:

Weapon Class Riposte Backstab Hornet Ring Riposte Hornet Ring Backstab
Daggers 3.6 3.0 0.64 + 3.96 3.4
Straight Swords 2.5 2.0 0.66 + 2.57 2.27
Greatswords 2.45 1.95 0.67 + 2.54 2.23
Ultra Greatswords 0.85 + 1.65 0.5 + 1.5 0.68 + 0.68 + 1.82 0.8 + 1.55
Light Curved Swords 2.7 2.15 0.88 + 2.68 2.44
Heavy Curved Swords 2.5 2.0 0.66 + 2.62 2.27
Curved Greatswords 0.85 + 1.75 0.5 + 1.6 0.67 + 0.67 + 1.93 0.8 + 1.65
Thrusting Swords 2.45 2.0 0.66 + 2.5 2.27
Katanas 2.5 2.0 0.66 + 2.61 2.27
Axes 0.6 + 2.2 0.6 + 1.81 0.66 + 0.66 + 2.22 0.66 + 2.05
Greataxes 0.85 + 1.65 0.5 + 1.5 0.68 + 0.68 + 1.65 0.8 + 1.5
Hammers 0.6 + 2.08 0.6 + 1.71 0.66 + 0.66 + 2.02 0.66 + 1.88
Great Hammers 0.85 + 1.65 0.5 + 1.5 0.67 + 0.67 + 1.82 0.8 + 1.53
Spears and Pikes 2.65 2.15 0.66 + 2.74 2.44
Halberds 2.5 2.0 0.66 + 2.57 2.27
Reapers 2.5 2.0 0.66 + 2.56 2.27
Fists 0.6 + 2.4 0.6 + 1.91 0.64 + 0.64 + 2.64 0.64 + 2.16
Claws 0.66 + 2.64 0.66 + 2.1 0.72 + 0.72 + 2.91 0.72 + 2.38
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