Mechanic

Critical Damage Bonus

Critical Damage Bonus determines how much extra damage a Critical Hit deals. The default player and minion value is +100%, so an otherwise identical Critical Hit deals twice the damage of a non-critical Hit.

0.5.4d

Current data

Catalog version 0.5.4d

No direct 0.5 patch change is linked to this page. The displayed values are current for catalog version 0.5.4d.

What Critical Damage Bonus does

Current rules

Start with the default +100% Critical Damage Bonus, add any applicable flat +% to Critical Damage Bonus, then apply applicable increased and reduced modifiers, followed by more and less multipliers. Add the resulting bonus to the normal 100% Hit. For example, +20% to Critical Damage Bonus followed by 50% increased Critical Damage Bonus produces a +180% bonus, so the Critical Hit deals 280% of the corresponding non-critical Hit before defender mitigation.

+100% bonus means 200% total damage: The normal Hit supplies 100% of its damage and the default Critical Damage Bonus adds another 100%. The tooltip therefore describes the extra portion, not the complete Critical Hit multiplier.
Flat bonus is added before increases: First add modifiers written as +#% to Critical Damage Bonus to the base +100%. Then apply increased and reduced Critical Damage Bonus to that subtotal. More and less modifiers apply as separate multipliers after those stages.
Critical Hit Chance is separate: Critical Hit Chance determines whether a Hit is critical. Critical Damage Bonus determines the extra damage after that check succeeds. Raising one does not directly raise the other.
Read the modifier scope: An unrestricted Critical Damage Bonus can apply to both Attacks and Spells. Wording such as for Attack Damage, for Spells, with Spears, or against enemies on Full Life applies only when that exact condition is satisfied.
Weapon flat bonus is local: A +% to Critical Damage Bonus modifier on a weapon is local to Critical Hits made with that weapon. It adds to the weapon Hit's base bonus before global increased or reduced Critical Damage Bonus.
No bonus does not prevent a Critical Hit: An effect that removes Critical Damage Bonus or makes Critical Hits deal no extra damage removes the extra damage portion. The Hit can still be a Critical Hit for effects that explicitly trigger on a Critical Hit unless another rule also prevents Critical Hits.
Player minions use the player baseline: Player minions have a base +100% Critical Damage Bonus, matching players. This was established by the official 0.1.0e Hotfix 2 after an earlier unintended reduction.
Monster Critical Hits have less bonus damage: Monster Critical Hits deal 40% less bonus damage. This changes the extra critical portion rather than converting the Hit into a non-critical Hit.

How Critical Damage Bonus is applied

7 cases

Worked calculation

Base +100%, plus +20% to Critical Damage Bonus, gives +120%. Applying 50% increased Critical Damage Bonus gives +180%. The Critical Hit therefore deals 100% normal damage plus 180% extra damage, or 280% total.

Related: Critical Hit

Global offensive modifiers

An unrestricted increased Critical Damage Bonus applies whenever your Hit critically hits. Restricted Attack, Spell, weapon, damage-type, enemy-state, and skill conditions must be checked separately.

Related: Attack, Spell, Modifier tables

Flat weapon bonus

Weapons and socketed effects can add flat Critical Damage Bonus for Hits with that weapon. Soul Core of Ticaba grants +5% to Critical Damage Bonus when socketed in a Martial Weapon.

Currency: Soul Core of TicabaRelated: Death's HarpDeath's HarpUnique | Dualstring Bow

Physical Damage19-35Critical Hit Chance5%Attacks per Second1.15RequiresLevel 28, 52 Dex+50% Surpassing chance to fire an additional Arrow+(20-25)% to Critical Damage BonusGain (20-30) Life per enemy killedGain (12-18) Mana per enemy killed+(250-330)% Surpassing chance to fire an additional ArrowThe mournful music of the strings,The creaking arch, the arrow sings.A choking cry, a rattled breath,The Reaper's Song, the Harp of Death., NebulochNebulochUnique | Execratus Hammer

Physical Damage(79-88) to (129-139)Critical Hit Chance5%Attacks per Second1.45Weapon Range1.3RequiresLevel 55, 97 StrAdds (39-48) to (69-79) Physical Damage+(20-30)% to Critical Damage BonusAdds (25-36) to (44-55) Chaos damageAttacks consume an Endurance Charge to Critically HitTake 100 Chaos damage per second per Endurance ChargeThey hoped that, trapped in its prison,the creature would age and perish.But time would not touch the fiend., Sculpted SufferingSculpted SufferingUnique | Warpick

Physical Damage(39-44) to (49-55)Critical Hit Chance7%Attacks per Second(1.6-1.67)Weapon Range1.3RequiresLevel 22, 41 Str+(5-10)% to Critical Damage BonusAdds (21-26) to (25-31) Physical Damage(10-15)% increased Attack SpeedBreaks Armour equal to 40% of damage from Hits with this weaponFully Armour Broken enemies you kill with Hits ShatterThe Abyssals were created, not born,and every moment in the light was agony.

Conditional passive scaling

Current passives can grant a general increase, apply only against a particular enemy state, or combine offense with protection from enemy Critical Hits.

Target-specific skill bonus

Sniper's Mark increases the Critical Damage Bonus of the next Critical Hit against the marked enemy. This is conditional target-side scaling rather than a permanent global character stat.

Related: Sniper's Mark

No extra critical damage

Ungil's Harmony makes your Critical Hits deal no extra damage in exchange for a large Critical Hit Chance increase. Rune of Consistency can remove your Critical Damage Bonus while granting Critical Hit Chance.

Currency: Rune of ConsistencyRelated: Ungil's Harmony

Defensive reduction

Modifiers such as Hits against you have reduced Critical Damage Bonus reduce the extra damage portion of incoming Critical Hits. They do not reduce ordinary non-critical Hits.

Currency: Soul Core of TicabaRelated: Thane Mail, Runeforged Thane Mail, The Brass Dome

Rare monster modifiers

1 linked

Crit Resistant

Hits against you have 80% reduced Critical Damage Bonus.

Limits and exceptions

5 rules

Critical Damage Bonus has no effect on a Hit that does not critically hit.
A modifier restricted to Attacks, Spells, one weapon type, one damage type, or one enemy condition does not become global merely because the character can critically hit.
Flat +% to Critical Damage Bonus, increased or reduced Critical Damage Bonus, and more or less Critical Damage Bonus belong to different calculation stages.
Defensive Critical Damage Bonus reduction affects only incoming Critical Hits and only their extra critical portion.
Damage over time does not become a Critical Hit merely because the Hit that created it was critical. Any ailment interaction needs its own explicit Critical Hit wording.

Related mechanics

MechanicCritical Hit

Critical Hits deal +100% extra damage (i.e. twice as much damage) by default. Critical Damage Bonuses can further modify this value.

MechanicPain Attunement

Pain Attunement changes Critical Damage Bonus according to Life state. It grants 30% more Critical Damage Bonus on Low Life, imposes 30% less on Full Life, and does neither between those states.

MechanicThorns

Thorns is Hit damage dealt as a separate hit. By default, a character with Thorns retaliates when an enemy hits them with a Melee Attack.