This is a tough one. I hadn't thought about it that way before you pointed it out, I had just assumed that "hit" referred to some sort of attack roll, rather than saving throws. I still do, I think that is more of the intention, but I can only guess since it's not explicitly outlined.
The text about two hits or a crit reminds me of the Ranger feat Distracting Shot. I think the trigger invokes images of landing two strikes or a critical strike, but spell attack rolls also seem game to me. Area effects with saving throws, like area fire, automatic fire, and AoE spells, I would say probably don't count.
I put the question to ChatGPT anyway, just to see what it would say, and this is what it came up with:
1. What counts as a "hit" in SF2e?
- The rules glossary in Player Core defines critical hit, critical miss, success, failure, and critical failure, but not “hit” as a rules term.
- Instead, “hit” is used colloquially for the outcome of an attack roll that meets or exceeds AC. That’s consistent across weapon Strikes and spell attacks (e.g. a ray spell).So by default:
- Attack roll succeeds vs. AC → you hit.
- Critical success vs. AC → you critically hit.That’s the baseline the feat Kill Steal seems to be written with in mind.
2. What about Auto-Fire and Area Fire?
These actions are different because they explicitly say:
- Auto-Fire: “You attempt to hit each creature…”
- Area Fire: “You attempt to hit each creature in a designated area…”…and then they resolve by Reflex saves instead of attack rolls.
Crucially:
- On a critical failure of the save, the text says: “Creatures that critically fail this save are subject to effects that occur on a critical hit with this weapon.”
→ That is explicit rules text treating a critical failure on the save as a critical hit.
- On a failure (or success with half damage), there is no matching language equating the result to “a hit.” It just deals damage.3. So, does “failure = a hit”?
Not under RAW. Here’s why:
- The game is careful about translating saves into hit-equivalents. For example, area weapons only tell you that critical failure = critical hit. They don’t say “failure = hit.”
- If Paizo wanted that mapping, the text would need to be explicit—because “hit” is otherwise shorthand for “success on an attack roll.”This means:
- Critical failure on Reflex save vs. Auto-Fire/Area Fire = critical hit.
- Failure/success (half damage) = not a hit.
- Even if it feels counterintuitive (“how did they take damage without being hit?”), that’s consistent with how spells like fireball or electric arc work—damage isn’t necessarily a “hit.”4. Comparing to spells
You’re spot on with your instinct about electric arc. Spells that force saves don’t produce “hits” at all unless they specifically say they count as hits (and none do, except where effects explicitly mirror weapon rules, like crit fail = crit hit).
So:
- Attack roll spells (ray of frost, telekinetic projectile): Yes, they can trigger Kill Steal.
- Save-based spells (electric arc, fireball, etc.): No, they don’t count as “hits.”
- Weapons with Auto-Fire/Area Fire: Only crit fails on saves count as critical hits. Normal fails/successes don’t count as hits.5. RAI vs RAW
- RAW: Only critical failure saves count as critical hits. Nothing else is a “hit.”
- RAI (likely): The feat Kill Steal was designed for “gunslinger fantasy” where you shoot the enemy your ally softened up—it wasn’t intended to trigger off area effects or incidental splash damage. That’s why they didn’t broaden “hit” to include save-based effects.✅ Final Ruling (RAW, and consistent with design):
- Kill Steal triggers only when the ally makes actual “hits” with attack rolls.
- Area weapons: a creature’s critical failure on its save counts as a critical hit (and thus could trigger Kill Steal if it happens at the end of the ally’s turn).
- Regular failures/successes on saves are not hits and don’t count.
'Hit' is a bit murky and poorly defined.
Generally what I see both from the community and from the little bit of information in the rules (such as Defenses) is that a 'hit' is when you succeed at an attack roll vs the targets AC.
So Strike attack rolls would qualify, as would spell attack rolls.
Skill check attacks such as trip or feint would not be considered 'hits' when they succeed. Neither would any effects that target saves whether it is by having the target roll a saving throw (like many spells), or by the aggressor rolling against the target's save DC (like Demoralize).
I put the question to ChatGPT anyway, just to see what it would say, and this is what it came up with:
** spoiler omitted **
I love how ChatGPT is so inconsistent in its own response regarding whether critical failure of saves counts as a 'hit' or not.