I've had this happen several times today. I line up a bowshot, draw, release the arrow, and get that follow-the-arrow slow motion cutscene that indicates a critical hit. Except... well, the arrow completely misses the target. Very confusing, and, more importantly, very embarrassing - I can almost hear my companion snicker in the background.

It's been a while since I've played an archer type character, but I seem to remember that 1) the crit cutscene was much rarer than it was for me today, and 2) you never missed when you got that scene. It also seems that archery in general is tougher than it was - I remember one-shotting mudcrabs at range even at low levels, and now I'm throwing a third of my quiver just to put down one crab. That said, it seems like archery in dungeons is working about as I remembered it.

Has it always been this way and I'm misremembering, or has something changed? I actually think it's kind of funny - too funny to be ticked about it - but it just seems weird.

The cam shot means the arrow should have killed your target, however its not a perfect system and your target can still move, causing the arrow to miss.

It's a natural 20 shot against a natural 20 save?

Interesting. I'll have to find a mess of mudcrabs and test it tomorrow night, but I could have sworn it happened for stationary targets also.

What im saying is, unlike other weapon kill cams, where your target is locked in the animation with you, with arrows, your target is not locked in place, so there is still the possability your target could move out of the way normally, causing the arrow kill cam to result in a miss. It is unrelated to critical hits.

A critical hit is one which does extra damage. It is indicated by a sound notification...."DOINK!" whenever you score one.

Since when do you get a save vs. crits?

i've had a few kill cams miss their targets too...

Yeah, that's happened to me a few times. I think it's hilarious.