Critical hits in Pokemon

Critical hits boost damage and can ignore certain stat changes, making them an important part of battle planning.

How critical hits affect damage

A critical hit multiplies the final damage after the base formula, increasing the impact of a move even when defenses are high.

Stat change rules

Critical hits typically ignore the attacker's negative stat stages and the defender's positive stat stages, which reduces the impact of buffs and debuffs in that moment.

FAQ

Can every move land a critical hit?

Most damaging moves can crit, but some moves and effects are flagged to never land critical hits.

Do some moves have a higher chance of landing a critical hit?

Yes, some moves such as Night Slash or Shadow Claw have increased critical hit odds.

Do some items or abilities increase critical hit chances?

Yes, some items such as Scope Lens or abilities such as Super Lucky have increased critical hit odds.

Do critical hits stack with STAB?

Yes. STAB, type effectiveness, and critical hits all stack as separate multipliers in the final damage.