Critical hit chance

Critical hit chance (abbreviated as CC or ChC) is one of the most powerful and popular item modifiers in the game. As the name suggests, items and skills with this property increase a character's chance to score a critical hit. This not only increases a character's DPS, but many other effects and procs trigger off Critical Hits, making a substantial value in this stat essential for many of the more popular builds in the game.

Critical Chance and Damage basics

Brand new characters of any class deal 5% critical hit chance at 50% critical hit damage. This figure can be raised by various skills and items, and boosting these values is one of the best ways to improve a character's damage in Diablo 3. High level characters in Diablo 3 generally have at least 25% CC, and figures over 40% or higher are not uncommon with good gear.

Critical hit damage increases with gear and skills as well, and high end characters generally have 300-700% CD.

A balance should be sought between the figures; high CD without much CC is a wasted opportunity, as is very high CC with little CD (though high CC can be useful simply to keep the procs clicking, aside from dealing damage.)

Critical Hit Chance from Items

Critical hit chance can be obtained from numerous item types, and the modifier is among the most sought in he game. The following item types can roll CC on Magical, Rare, or as the random affix on Legendary/Set items:

• Amulets: 1-10% CC
• Gloves: 1-10% CC
• Rings: 1-6% CC x2
• Helms: 1-6% CC
• Bracers: 1-6% CC
• Off-hand (shields, quivers, mojos, and sources): 1-10% CC

Total: 54% from these items, if all were perfect seeds.

A number of legendary items provide CC from other item slots, or from partial item set bonuses, allowing characters to accumulate higher totals.

Critical hit Chance by Class

The classes vary widely in the amount of Critical hit Chance they can add with skills. For instance, Barbarians can easily add 5% from Ruthless and 15% from Weapons Master, while Monks don't have any CC boosting skills at all.

The amount of CC required to succeed varies with character classes and builds, but 25% is a low figure for a high level character. Most players try for 40% or more in their end game gear, and totals over 50% are not uncommon for very well-geared characters.

As of January 9, 2013, the highest CC figures (verified by Diablo3Ladders.com) were:

• Barbarians: 86.5%
• Demon Hunter: 100% (Via the Sharpshooter passive.)
  • 77.0% seems to be the highest Demon Hunter without Sharpshooter.
• Monk: 61.0%
• Witch Doctors: 58.5%
• Wizards: 69.0%

Skills

Numerous skills boost CC. A complete list is coming soon.