Critical: Good and Bad - Need Balancing or Change?
Oh the glorious Critical Strikes! With them big numbers! Plus, it has that juicy sound you either love or hate to hear! Just a single one could definitely swing the battle to your side or your opponent. So all of us could pray, "Papa Jihoz please bless me them bountiful crits~"
Based on a lot of resources, critical chance is based on the stat, "Morale". It seems so direct to the point and easy to understand. Yet, this is also misleading. Even Aqua Axies with the lowest Morale stat, "procs" critical strikes more often than other Axie class. It is no wonder that a lot of players rage in Axie Infinity discord - wishing to nerf Aqua Axies even more. Or to completely remove critical strikes all together. From this alone we can infer that your "luck" stat as a human is more important than your Axies' stats lol. So pray to what you believe in for them bountiful crits. Or pray for RNGesus the OG god of gacha luck~
Morale of Aqua Axie is the lowest
Side note: The term "procs" is a gaming term that refers to random occurrences or the percentage chance of an event to happen. In Axie Infinity, critical chance proc is computed by the following formula:
So "morale" stat is "supposed" to be the biggest factor in inflicting critical strikes. Unfortunately, luck is more important.
Aside from that, "RNGesus" is a fictional character from the combined words RNG(random number generator) and Jesus. Often prayed for luck in video games especially in gacha games to "pull" or get a rare character.
The Good
Of course, those of us who win matches due to critical strikes cherish this event more than others. Sometimes we can win situations that are already impossible to win due to critical strikes, so we rejoice.
Sometimes, having your opponent deal a critical strike to you is also a nice event in a certain situation. Specifically, when Axies have Bulkwark or Scaly Spoon. These skills reflect 40% damage towards the attacker. Furthermore, 2 cards can be stacked for a whopping 80% reflect.
The Bad
Some may be lucky enough to be spared from the menace(Aqua Axies) in lower ranks. But others are decimated unluckily. Not only does Aqua Axies attack first most of the time due to their high speed, they also deal tons of damage. This makes them a veritable one-shot killer in the Arena. No matter how high the shields your Axie puts up, a single critical strike could render all your plans and tactics down the drain. The worst part? Aqua Axies have the lowest critical chance. So this means one thing, YOUR LUCK SUCKS.
These are some clips wherein I get the short end of the stick.
I tend to lose 2-3 of my matches per day due to random crits from Aqua Axies. Furthermore, my crits are sometimes at the wrong timing. Critical strike when I am using a 20 damage card or when the opponent has a sliver of HP left. Whenever these events happen to me, I get frustrated by the obvious imbalance in the game. So I often send feedback in one of the channels in Axie Infinity Main Discord so that one day, they might change or fix this game mechanic.
There are also instances when I deal critical strikes at a very bad timing. An example of this is this situation:
- An Opponent uses Sticky Goo Card which inflicts stun when his shield is broken. He also uses another card such as Chomp card and Mystic Rush to combo. Most terminator Axies will do this combo which shields for 115.
- I plan to use Catfish(80 damage with heal) then comboed with Incisor(100 damage+slow) card, and lastly a zero(0) energy card to remove stun.
In the above situation, my Axie was supposed to deal some damage and heal but not breaking my opponent’s shield. Following up this will deal damage+slow debuff but being stunned in the process. Then a zero energy card will remove the stun. This was supposed to be the plan. But if I were to suddenly deal a critical strike with Catfish, then my plan is ruined. It would mean that my Incisor card will “miss”. This means that I deal no effective damage on my opponent and I get slowed as a result. Then my enemy will have the upper hand in the turn order and instantly defeat my Axie.
Super Lucky Opponent
Some players deal 0 critical strikes in a single match. But others consecutively deal crit strikes at each turn. They are referred to as "Sons of Jihoz" jokingly due to these shocking events that are very rare to occur.
You might say, "But the first one is a Ronin card so that is 100% critical attack.". Yes I admit that but this event where 3 attacks are all critical strikes is both fascinating and frustrating at the same time so let me rant. Sadly I was not able to record the battle where my opponent crits with a Ronin and two Nut Throw cards. I was too frustrated at that time yo.
Changes I Wish For
These frustrating events happen not only to me but a lot of players of Axie Infinity. The main point of rage as well for them are Aqua Axies. It would have been understandable if it was a Beast Axie that proc critical strikes due to their inherently high Morale. But no, sometimes it is the Beast Axies that never proc the critical strike.
So here are the changes that I hope they make for critical strikes:
- Reduce the Critical Damage - This would make it possible for outplay to be made by the receiver of critical strikes. It makes the game more balanced and skill based rather than luck based.
- Change the formula of critical chance - I am not an expert in creating a formula so this is just a wish of mine. I hope they lower the critical chance for high damage cards.
- Remove Critical strikes all together - This might make battles more skill based but it will also make matches too predictable based on class advantages alone.
Aside from these ideas, there are a lot of possible ways to balance critical strikes. I am sure that the developers are doing their best to make the game more enjoyable. But I wish they act a lot faster when it comes to balancing since a lot of players are very frustrated already. If you were to look at the discord server of Axie Infinity, you will see an occasional rant of another player saying that critical strikes are broken. This event happens regularly yet the devs has not talked about it yet. But I do hope that this has reached them already.
Ending Notes
This article is actually a long rant on my part. I wanted to be more balanced with my views concerning critical attacks but I also feel biased while writing this down. Who wouldn’t when your opponents always deal critical strikes just at the most important time while your own crit strikes occur when it is not necessary.
To be honest, I have felt really down recently since my daily SLP farmed has reduced due to critical strikes. The good news is that I try to manage my expectations a bit more(150 SLP/day is already good but 200 SLP/day is more preferred). Also, I have been trying out Gods Unchained which drove away some frustrations I had with Axie. Don’t worry, I won’t be giving up on Axie Infinity. I still believe that the game will have its improvements in the future.
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