The most overpowered Critical Role characters are crucial to conveying the extent and limits of arcane magic in the world of Exandria. After The Legend of Vox Machina introduced fans to Percy’s mighty guns and Vax’s bloodthirsty daggers, viewers of the animated adaptation of Campaign One will soon find out who the most overpowered Vox Machina member truly is. For long-time viewers of Matt Mercer’s table, who are often players themselves, the most powerful Critical Role characters provide a template for campaigns that similarly seek to unleash the power of the gods.
Indeed, after hundreds of hours at the infamous table, the Critical Role cast has proven that some of their characters may have been a little overpowered. That said, this comes with the territory for any homebrew campaign bending the rules of DnD to suit the DM and players’ personal styles – and is especially true for the most prominent homebrew table in history. Here are the most OP Critical Role characters, and how they impacted the show.
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10 Caleb
Though his low health often makes him little more than a body on the battlefield, the traumatized fire wizard Caleb packs an extraordinary punch before going down. With powers that gave him the very ability to warp reality, Caleb more than made up for his physical weaknesses. Caleb nearly killed the entire Mighty Nein by himself when he was charmed by a succubus. That alone certainly makes him ridiculously overpowered, but the fact that he also had more kills than any other member of the Nein is certainly telling. It’s no surprise that one of the most overpowered Critical Role characters has a deeply dark history.
9 Beau
Though the monk isn’t the strongest class in the late stages of the game, Beau was a beast in the early game. In part, this was thanks to having one of the best homebrew subclasses in DnD with Matt Mercer’s Way of the Cobalt Soul subclass. Her Sentinel feat made her an absolute monster in battles, and her intelligence made her a threat in and out of conflicts. Even that fails to mention that her slow fall ability helped her numerous times through the campaign — and, thankfully, helped to prevent another goldfish incident. For her sheer versatility, Beau undoubtedly ranks among the most overpowered Critical Role characters.
8 Laudna
Depending on how Critical Role creative director Marisha Ray balances the character going forward, the Hollow sorcerer and warlock Laudna is generally able to prevent dying simply by making a single successful Charisma saving throw. She can also come back to life simply by rolling anything from a 16 to a 20 on a death-saving throw. It’s something that can really keep Laudna alive, which is a fun thematic element, considering that she’s already undead. One of the best characters in Critical Role’s third campaign, Laudna assuming the Form of Dread influenced by the Sun Tree also makes her one of the most overpowered Critical Role characters.
7 Jester
The fun-loving Jester isn’t just a character that exists to tell funny anecdotes or to worship her Traveler. Despite often having to — reluctantly — resort to healing her teammates, Jester actually ranked fifth among the Nein in the number of “How Do You Want To Do This?” she earned. Even just her attributes rank Jester high among the most overpowered Critical Role characters: 20 Wisdom, 18 Dexterity, and 18 Constitution. Her whopping defense meant opponents would need to roll a 19 just to hit her. With those amazing stats, combined with her ability to use her smarts to her advantage, killing Jester was nigh impossible, as the Hag discovered.
6 Arkhan
A guest character, Arkhan wasn’t designed to exist for an entire campaign. Maybe that’s why Arkhan is an easy contender for the most overpowered Critical Role characters. After all, with an AC of 24, it was nearly impossible to hit him, and, after claiming Vecna’s power, he became even stronger. As the only guest to ever deal over 100 points of damage in a single turn, he is certainly a threat. It makes sense then that Arkhan also became the one Critical Role guest character to actually be enshrined in the real Dungeons and Dragons canon. Notably, Arkhan is not only among the most OP Critical Role characters, but he was also played by actor Joe Manganiello.
5 Grog
Given that he dealt more damage than any character across any of Critical Role‘s campaigns, Vox Machina’s lovable goliath is certainly no slouch. Grog often used his Rages perfectly to slice and dice through any enemy, no matter how much bigger than him they really were. Grog cut through villain after villain on Critical Role, sealing his place among the most overpowered Critical Role characters with pure muscle. His only weakness was that he couldn’t do much against flying enemies and, after receiving Dwarven Thrower, even that wasn’t a problem for him. Truly there was never a beast the mighty Grog couldn’t smash.
4 Vax
While Vax’ildan doesn’t always seem all that powerful, it’s not surprising that the Raven Queen’s Champion is also one of the most overpowered Critical Role characters. Though he died and was rendered unconscious more times than any other member of Vox Machina — and suffered the most tragic ending — Vax wasn’t a slouch in combat. The half-elf managed to deal the most damage of any Critical Role character in a single attack with 109 points. To make matters even worse, he was the fastest character in the show, given that Vax could move up to 480 feet in a single turn.
3 Percy
A normal human with somewhat nerdy tendencies, one wouldn’t expect Percy to rank highly among the most overpowered Critical Role characters. Still, this gunslinger knew how to use his technology to his advantage and often wreaked havoc on the battlefield. His prowess in battle was lifted directly from Critical Role for Legend of Vox Machina and it shows. Each brutal display was exactly the kind of cruel and calculated murder he’d take to the table. As a brilliant man with 20 Intelligence and twice the amount of Nat 20s as he had 1s, Percy was an extreme threat. To overlook him would certainly spell the end for any villain — as the Briarwoods learned.
2 Yasha
It’s hard to kill a woman who is literally too angry to die. By the time Yasha reached her 15th level, it was impossible to keep her down. Between her Rage Beyond Death ability, Persistent Rage, and Aasimar Healing Hands, she could stay alive as long as she could rage. And, as long as she was raging, she could heal herself back to 1 Hit Point and stay on her feet. Between that and her strengths as a barbarian, Yasha genuinely terrified the team when they faced her while under Obann’s charm. Interestingly, Yasha often neglected to recall how powerful she was, which took away from her influence in a fight.
1 Keyleth
The most powerful player character in Critical Role, Keyleth ended the Vox Machina game as the leader of the Ashanti and as a druid with the power to shape the world. Her Wild Shape allowed her to serve as a tank in battles and her longevity meant she could continue protecting her people for over 1,000 years. Besides, with every spell at her disposal, she was a monster who could take on any villain with ease.
Well, as long as they weren’t a giant cliff – Keyleth struggled with giant cliffs. But, all jokes aside, there is no player character in Exandria who is more overpowered – or well-liked – than a level 20 Keyleth of the Ashari. Neither the most dangerous villains nor any of the most overpowered Critical Role characters could defeat Keyleth at full power.