Critical hit

"Critical, biatch!" — Roland upon killing an enemy with a critical hit.

Critical hits are shots that deal +100% more damage to an enemy after hitting that enemy on a particular spot. In addition to the amount of damage done, the word "critical" appears in red text whevener a critical hit occurs. Damage caused by critical hit can be increased by using a weapon with +X% critical damage modifier, such as seen on sniper rifles. Lillith and Mordecai also come with class skills that increase critical hit damage, while Mordecai has class mods that increase sniper critical hit damage. Melee attacks can also cause critical hits. Mordecai's critical hits yield the highest damage of any class in the game, due to his many critical hit skills and modifiers. With his Lethal Strikes melee skill and a bladed weapon, he can easily deal over fourteen thousand damage in a critical hit zone.

With many enemies, taking a critical hit can stun them. By using a weapon that fires fast enough (SMG, Machine Gun, etc.) players can effectively "Crit-lock" enemies, making them unable to attack until the players stops hitting them in their critical area. This strategy is more easily used on enemies who don't have a massive recoil when their critical area is shot, however on these enemies, slower weapons (Sniper rifles, Rifles, etc.) can crit-lock by simply waiting until the enemy's recoil is finished, and shooting them again.

Critical hit areas on enemies

 * Turret: Fuel tank at the rear.
 * Guardian: Head and upper torso.
 * Humans (Crimson Lance and bandit): Head.
 * Larva Crab Worms or Craw Worms: Eye found in the head.
 * Rakk: Unclear if they have a critical hit area. Rakks are generally fragile and cannot take much damage.
 * Rakk Hive: Mouth and eyes. Each eye will be destroyed after it has sustained enough damage, and further shots on a destroyed eye will not yield critical hits.
 * Scythid: Unclear if they have a critical hit area. Scythids are generally fragile and cannot take much damage.
 * Skag: Mouth. Must be open to score critical hits, except on Skagzilla, who's mouth is so large that bullets can hit between the openings of the three jaws.
 * Spiderant: The abdomen. (The stinger-like part of the body behind the shell-like head) This critical hit spot can be easily accessed by shooting the head enough to daze the Spiderant which will cause it to turn in circles.
 * The Destroyer: Eyes, mouth, spine-launching tentacles. Each tentacle will be destroyed after it has sustained enough damage but this will prevent that tentacle from launching spines.
 * Zombies: The head.
 * Wereskags: The mouth/head. Since the were skag is a combination of the skag and a human, the mouth covers the head.
 * Undead Dr. Ned: The head.
 * Drifters: The glowing spots on the bottom of their body. These will explode when shot and cause the drifter to stumble.
 * Devastators or General Knoxx: The armor-pilot's head. You can crit-lock General Knoxx but if you're alone, you'll have to stop and take out the enemies that spawn at certain intervals during the battle.
 * Crawmerax the Invincible: Giant purple glowing spots on his claws, his back, and his eye. The only way to defeat Crawmerax is to use critical hits.