Dig up critical rate discussion again.

[Punkaiser]

As I checked results from some extensive tests from this site:
http://www.rpgdl.com/forums/index.php/topic,312.0.html

This time I'd take Shabon, Emily, Juan, Yuiri as key subjects to talk about. Everyone is at ~ lv60 and equipped with Chief Hat, but no title appointed, you can observe at this summary table for a clearer look.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... XEtQW81RWc

Analyze:

1.Shabon has base crit rate=10.5% according to old Suikoden 2 formula (tech+luck)/32 and the rate in real test is ~11% so it's pretty safe to say this formula is still correct in S3.

2.Emily, Juan's base crit rate are 8% and 9%, but after Emily has A rank HeavyDmg while Juan reaches S rank, their crit rate we can observe in real practice are 18% & 25% respectively
=> Hardly see any connection between a base of 8% with A rank(+17% crit, 20% triple crit according to the skills guide)
or between 9% base with S rank (+25% crit, +50% triple)

3.Yuiri has a base crit rate of 9%, when she reaches A+ Heavydmg(+20%crit,+30% triple) & B+ Sharpshoot(+11% crit), along with the permanent Killer rune attached, her critical rate recorded from real test is 45%(31% double damage, 14% triple)
=>still can't see any connection between these key numbers

So my theories are:
We should read the skill guide in other way. If it says : A rank =+17% crit, +20% triple crit.
That would mean with this A rank skill the character is given a crit rate of 17%, the game compares between this given crit rate and character base crit rate, whichever is higher would count as the final rate. Then 20% of that final rate would be converted into triple crit rate.

Exemple:
-Shabon's base rate = 10.5%, higher than the given rate = 5% so her final crit rate=10.5% (~11% but there's a slight difference due to error ratio of real test outcome) but no triple crit is available for her with an E rank skill.

-Emily's base rate=9% is lower than the given rate =17% so her final crit rate=17% while she's also given 0.2 * 17%= 3.4% to crit for triple damage => fit the real test of total 18% crit composed of 14.5% double and 3.5% triple
-Apply same logic to Juan, he'd get 25% crit(12.5% double, 12.5% triple) which fits perfectly the test outcome

-For Yuiri, take the sum of bonus from her skills, HeavyDmg(20%)+Sharpshoot(11%) =31% then put addtion from killer rune in, she reaches 46.5% which is composed of 14%( because of 46.5% * 0.3) triple crit & 32.5% double crit which also fit the test infos.

Feel free to drop your inputs or tell me if there's anything i make it unclear or wrong!

[KFCrispy]

hey that's some great number crunching! looks right. i'm actually surprised they let critical hit rates get that high-- it always seemed more reasonable to say it boosts the base rate....

so this actually might make a difference in equipment choice for those without a natural Heavy Damage skill. I always said Chief's Hat is basically the best because of the slight crit boost, but for someone like Shabon and Thomas with high natural crit rates, the Heavy Damage skill at E won't affect their crit rate. Yes it still boosts the Freeze skill, but it's possible there are better helmet choices when considering total DEF or other bonuses like SPD and skill boosts.

[Punkaiser]

What's also noteworthy is, for characters who has Sharpshooter but not Heavy Damage, the crit rate 5% from the hat will combine with their crit rate of Sharp Shooter which makes the final result higher than natural crit rate.

Ex: Jaques with S rank in Sharpshooter(18% crit), if he equips a Chief's Hat, his given crit rate eventually becomes 18+5=23%, that's quite good deal. So the Chief's Hat could also be used for any characters with Sharp Shooter skill as Yumi, Roland...