ESO Stats & Caps — how much you actually need
The conversions and ceilings the character sheet never spells out — crit rating to crit chance, the critical-damage cap, the penetration target, and the movement-speed cap.
🎮 Works on console (no add-ons)✓ Current as of Update 50 (2026)
| Stat | Number | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Critical chance | ≈219 Critical rating = 1% crit | Everyone starts with a base 10% crit chance. 21,912 rating ≈ the full 100%. There's no hard cap below the natural 100% — this is the classic “657 crit ≠ 657%” confusion. |
| Critical damage (base) | +50% | A critical hit deals 1.5× damage before any modifiers. |
| Critical damage (cap) | +125% total | Hard cap. Shadow Mundus, Major/Minor Force, sets and Champion Points stack toward it — anything past +125% is wasted. |
| Penetration target | ≈18,200 resistance (raw) | Typical trial/dungeon boss resistance. Penetration cuts resistance 1:1; going past the target is wasted. In a group the tank/healer (Major/Minor Breach, the Crusher glyph, Alkosh) strip ~8,000–9,000, so each DPS only supplies the rest. Content- and group-dependent, not a fixed constant. |
| Movement speed (cap) | 200% on foot | On-foot bonuses stack additively up to 200% (swimming caps at 120%). Swift jewelry gives up to +7%/piece; Major Expedition +30%. Mounted speed is a separate system. |
Crit rating → crit chance, worked out
≈219 rating = 1% crit, and everyone starts at a base 10%. So on top of that base:
| Crit rating | 2,191 | 4,382 | 6,574 | 8,765 | 10,956 | 21,912 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adds to your crit chance | +10% | +20% | +30% | +40% | +50% | +100% (chart top) |
Example from our own data: The Thief Mundus at 7× gold Divines gives 1,984 rating ≈ +9% crit chance.
The penetration budget — who supplies what
The ≈18,200 boss target isn't all on you. These are the exact datamined magnitudes of the standard group-supplied debuffs (each links to every source that grants it):
| Debuff / source | Resistance stripped | Usually supplied by |
|---|---|---|
| Major Breach | 5,948 | tank (universally available — see the buff page) |
| Minor Breach | 2,974 | tank or a DPS set/skill |
| Crusher glyph | 1,247 (gold) | tank's back-bar weapon |
With all three up that's 10,169 stripped — leaving ≈8,031 for each DPS to cover from The Lover (2,744 / 4,489 with Divines), set penetration lines, weapon traits, race and CP. With only Major Breach + Crusher (7,195), your share is ≈11,005. Anything past the target is wasted — that's the whole reason to know the budget.