Guaranteed Critical?

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I'm not quite sure how luck works, but I was curious how it stacks, and most importantly, if it was possible to guarantee a critical strike.

I haven't play tested luck stacking, so I'm not sure how it works exactly.

But here's what I see so far for maxing luck:

Luck Stacking:
+6 2 Tymora's Loops
+1 Tymora’s Melody (Stackable w/ more bards/lingering song?)
+2 Young Ned's Knucky
+1 Luck Spell

So that looks like +10 Luck there.

Scimitars have a critical range of 18-20
The Feat Improved Critical brings this down to 17-20
Eyes of the Executioner brings this down to 13-20

Attacks rolls should be at 11-20.

That means a 80% chance to critical?

So does that also mean with even a ridiculously negative attack bonus (i.e. reduce str to 3 and max power attack), you hit 80% of the time?

I'm not quite sure how the critical math works, but this seems to promise some ridiculous melee damage.

 

I see a few problems:
- normally you can't get 2 Tymora's loops untill very late into HOF
- you can only equip 1 Lucky Knucky
- IIRC the luck spell does not stack

I am no rulez guru but I believe that in order to hit you have to overvome the AC of the target or roll a natural 20, the crit. threat range should have nothing to do with that. Otherwise scimitars would be über-weapons because you'd auto-hit on a natural 18-20 and i don't think that's the case.

 

Sorry, I'm new to the forums, what does IIRC mean?

From my understanding, the normal mode Lucky Knucky adds 1 to saving rolls, and not luck. I'm considering the HoF version which I understand adds 2 to luck.

So technically, the Tymora's bands COULD stack, it's just nearly impossible to get them?

So the luck spell doesn't stack with the bard song?

So maximum luck is 9?

 

If I Remember Correctly.

 

Ok, I got a bit confused here. According to the JUPP (Jukkas Ultimate Power Party) the Luck spell stacks indeed, it's the Luck potion that doesn't.
For normal mode that means you can get:
-Tymora's Loop: +3
-Luck spell: +1
Tymora's melody: +1

for a total of +5 to luck

In HOF you could add Ned's Lucky Knucky for another +2 and maybe- I have never tried it- a second Tymora's Loop for a total of +10.

However, you already need some luck to even get 1 Tymora's Loop and I doubt the luck modifier will help you here. In all my games I got it exactly once and very late.

 

I was just more interested if this was possible, not necessarily practical. I was just curious with just getting lucky, or indeed just cheating in these items, if a guaranteed critical was possible.

Also, just because I'm really confused on how luck really works. I can't find anything really clearly in game to test this either.

Actually, would anyone know of an enemy that just lets you sit there and beat on it without killing you?

It's possible to import in a character, cheat in the luck on it, and do a statistically experiment to see how luck affects attack rolls and damage.

 

Kegs, perhaps?

 

Use the Dale Keeper to give a massive number of hit points to one of your party members and then use him as a test dummy. With this method you can control every aspect of the test.

Luck does indeed increase the critical range of your attacks. But I doubt that you can find enough luck modifiers to guarantee a critical hit every time, even if you were to cheat items in. I think that the example you presented in the opening post was about as good as it gets.

I played a half orc Battle Guard of Tempus through HoF mode equipped with 1 Tymora's Loop and Ned's Knucky. When under the influence of the Luck spell and E.E., plus the Improved Critical feat and the natural 19-20 critical range of the Coward's Flight axe he had a critical range of 8-20. With strength and damage modifiers he was dealing over 100 points of damage on 60% of his strikes.

 

I'll try out a test when I get the chance. There was one thing I was curious about the probabilities. For the sake of simplicity and generality:

Considering a 6 sided damage die, the probability table looks like:

<Roll> - <Probability>
1 - 1/6
2 - 1/6
3 - 1/6
4 - 1/6
5 - 1/6
6 - 1/6

Now assume +2 luck. So does the probability table look like:
1 - 0%
2 - 0%
3 - 1/4
4 - 1/4
5 - 1/4
6 - 1/4

Or:
1 - 0%
2 - 0%
3 - 1/6 (Natural roll 1+2)
4 - 1/6 (Natural roll 2+2)
5 - 1/6 (Natural roll 3+2)
6 - 1/2 (Natural roll 4,5,6+2)

That's a pretty big difference in terms. Just curious if anyone's done any play tests on this.

 

It should be version 2. I didn't do any actual testing but I usually sang the lucky bard song while eating the berries that heals 1d4 and they gave 4s about half of the time.

 

Another way to test it is to give one character Damage reduction 8, then have a strength 10 character wield a battle axe (1d8 dmanage with 20x3 critical range). The character will be completelly unable to do enough damage to hurt the other character without a critical hit. Just remember to turn on so that you can see the "to hit rolls" etc.