Pokemon Champions Guide: How to Increase Critical Hit Chance

That number matters more than it sounds. At a base rate of 1 in 24 (roughly 4.16%), crits are rare enough that you can't rely on them blindly, but with the right moves and held items, you can push that probability high enough to build entire strategies around them. This guide breaks down every method to increase your critical hit chance, the moves that guarantee crits outright, and the mechanics that make crits worth caring about in competitive play.

What do critical hits actually do in Pokemon Champions?

A critical hit deals 50% more damage than a standard attack. That's the headline number, sourced directly from the game's confirmed battle mechanics. The base probability sits at 1 in 24, or about 4.16%, so without any setup, you're not landing crits consistently enough to matter.

The more interesting part is what crits ignore. According to the game's battle mechanics documentation, a critical hit bypasses Attack or Special Attack drops on your Pokemon, as well as Defense or Special Defense boosts on the opponent. Reflect and Light Screen are also ignored by critical hits, which makes crit-focused builds particularly threatening against defensive setups.

One important exception: the Attack drop from the Burn status condition is not ignored by critical hits. If your attacker is burned, that damage reduction still applies even on a crit.

Focus Energy crit boost setup

How to increase critical hit chance

There are two main methods: equipping the right held item, and selecting moves that carry a built-in crit ratio boost. Some moves also guarantee a critical hit on every use, which is a completely different category worth understanding separately.

The Scope Lens: the easiest crit boost available

The Scope Lens is a held item that raises your Pokemon's critical hit chance. It costs 1,000 Victory Points (VP), purchasable directly from the in-game shop. VP comes from participating in Ranked Battles, so this is a straightforward grind reward rather than something locked behind gacha or premium currency.

Give the Scope Lens to any Pokemon filling an attacking role on your team. It's a passive boost that applies to every move the holder uses, making it the most flexible crit option available.

Moves with a 1-stage critical hit ratio boost

Most of the moves below are attacking moves, meaning the crit boost only applies when that specific move is used. The boost is not a persistent buff on the Pokemon.

Triple Arrows stands out here. Beyond the crit boost, it carries a 50% chance to lower the target's Defense by 1 stage and a 30% flinch chance, making it one of the most well-rounded attacking moves in this category.

Blaze Kick and Cross Poison also add status conditions on top of the crit boost, which can be useful for specific team compositions.

Status moves that boost crit chance persistently

Two moves in the game apply a crit ratio boost that lasts beyond a single attack, as long as the boosted Pokemon stays on the field.

Focus Energy gives the user a 2-stage Critical-Hit Ratio Boost. This is a status move, so it costs your turn but sets up a persistent crit buff for the rest of the time that Pokemon is in battle. The boost disappears if the Pokemon switches out.

Dragon Cheer is a support move that boosts allies' crit ratios. Dragon-type allies receive a 2-stage boost, while all other types receive a 1-stage boost. This is particularly useful in Doubles formats where you can support a high-damage attacker from the adjacent slot.

Moves that guarantee a critical hit every time

Three moves skip the probability system entirely and always land as critical hits.

Flower Trick is the most distinctive of the three. It never misses and always crits, which makes it a reliable option regardless of accuracy modifiers or evasion boosts the opponent might have set up. Storm Throw at 100 base power with a guaranteed crit translates to 150 effective power every use, which is a serious number for Fighting-type attackers.

How do crit stages translate to actual probability?

The game uses a stage-based system to determine crit rates. The base rate is 1 in 24. Each stage increase raises that probability significantly, though the exact per-stage values beyond the base aren't detailed in the current source materials. What the sources confirm is that moves provide 1-stage boosts, while Focus Energy and Dragon Cheer (for Dragon types) provide 2-stage boosts.

Combining a Scope Lens with a high-crit move, or layering Focus Energy with a 1-stage crit move, stacks these boosts additively. Building toward guaranteed or near-guaranteed crits is achievable with the right combinations.

What's the best strategy for building around critical hits?

After testing high-crit movesets across different team formats, the most consistent approach is pairing the Scope Lens with a Pokemon that has access to Focus Energy or a guaranteed crit move. Scope Lens handles the passive boost, and either Focus Energy or a guaranteed crit move like Storm Throw locks in the payoff.

For Doubles specifically, Dragon Cheer from a Dragon-type support Pokemon is worth considering. The 2-stage boost it provides to Dragon-type allies, combined with a Scope Lens on the attacker, creates a setup that applies significant pressure without spending the attacker's turn on setup.

Pokemon with access to multiple high-crit moves in their learnset benefit most from the Scope Lens since the item's boost applies to every attack. Pokemon that rely on one specific crit move are better served by simply running that move and saving the held item slot for something else.

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