"How do you want to do this?", often abbreviated as HDYWTDT, is an iconic line and staple of Critical Role. It is frequently uttered by Matthew Mercer, the Dungeon Master, when a player strikes the killing blow in a difficult or momentous encounter. The player then has the opportunity to describe an epic (or comical) victory for Matt to narrate. Both Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan borrowed the line during their time as Dungeon Master for Critical Role in the Exandria Unlimited miniseries. Brennan used the phrase again in the three-part special Downfall and later in Campaign Four.
During the episode "Into the Wilde" (WWx02) of Wildemount Wildlings, Sam Riegel as the DM says an alternate version of the phrase, "How would you like to end its life?"[1]
CritRoleStats kept lists of "How do you want to do this?" moments from across the Vox Machina, Wildemount, and Marquet campaigns, as well as the Exandria Unlimited mini series. With CritRoleStats now being retired as of the end of 2023, their archivist successors, The Omen Archive, will continue to track data (including HDYWTDT) for Campaign Three: Bells Hells from "Rush for the Bloody Bridge" (3x82) and onward.
HDYWTDT Leaderboard[]
Main campaigns[]
Campaign One: Vox Machina[]
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Grog | 18 |
| 2nd | Percy | 13 |
| 3rd | Scanlan | 10 |
| 4th | Vex'ahlia | 9 |
| 5th | Vax'ildan | 8 |
| 6th | Keyleth | 6 |
| 7th | Pike | 5 |
| 8th | Tiberius | 2 |
| 8th | Trinket | 2 |
| 8th | Zahra | 2 |
| 11th | Kerrek | 1 |
| 11th | Tova | 1 |
Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein[]
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Fjord | 20 |
| 1st | Veth | 20 |
| 3rd | Yasha | 18 |
| 4th | Jester | 17 |
| 5th | Caleb | 16 |
| 6th | Beau | 15 |
| 7th | Caduceus | 8 |
| 8th | Mollymauk | 7 |
| 9th | Shakäste | 1 |
| 9th | Twiggy | 1 |
| 9th | Jourrael | 1 |
Campaign Three: Bells Hells[]
Including Downfall, Vox Machina, and the Mighty Nein
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Orym | 19 |
| 2nd | Ashton | 14 |
| 3rd | Fearne | 13 |
| 4th | Chetney | 12 |
| 4th | Laudna | 12 |
| 6th | Imogen | 8 |
| 7th | Grog | 4 |
| 8th | FCG | 3 |
| 8th | Dorian | 3 |
| 10th | Braius | 2 |
| 10th | Bor'Dor | 2 |
| 12th | Deni$e | 1 |
| 12th | F.R.I.D.A. | 1 |
| 12th | Prism | 1 |
| 12th | Asha | 1 |
| 12th | S.I.L.A.H.A. | 1 |
| 12th | Vax'ildan | 1 |
| 12th | Vex'ahlia | 1 |
| 12th | Yasha | 1 |
| 12th | Caleb | 1 |
| 12th | Little Mister | 1 |
| 12th | Carpaccio Caviar | 1 |
| 12th | Teven Klask | 1 |
Campaign Four[]
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Thimble | 2 |
| 2nd | Julien | 1 |
| 2nd | Teor | 1 |
| 2nd | Kattigan | 1 |
Current as of "Blood for Blood" (4x10)
Miniseries[]
Exandria Unlimited[]
Including ExU Prime, ExU: Kymal, ExU: Calamity, and ExU: Divergence
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Dariax | 6 |
| 2nd | Opal | 4 |
| 3rd | Orym | 3 |
| 4th | Cerrit | 2 |
| 4th | Fy'ra Rai | 2 |
| 4th | Garen | 2 |
| 7th | Dorian | 1 |
| 7th | Fearne | 1 |
| 7th | Nydas/Sha'korzhan | 1 |
| 7th | Zerxus | 1 |
| 7th | Rei'nia | 1 |
| 7th | Fiedra | 1 |
| 7th | Crokas | 1 |
| 7th | Erro | 1 |
Age of Umbra[]
A Daggerheart miniseries set in the Halcyon Domain.
| Position | Name | HDYWTDT |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Snyx | 5 |
| 2nd | Adelia | 2 |
| 2nd | Misty | 2 |
| 4rd | Idyl | 1 |
| 4rd | August | 1 |
| 4rd | Brixton | 1 |
| 4rd | Skreev | 1 |
Trivia[]
- Vox Machina received two HDYWTDT as a group: once against Anna Ripley (Pike Trickfoot was not present)[2], and once against Vecna.[3]
- The Mighty Nein received a HDYWTDT as a group against a roper. However, the last who dealt damage was Fjord.[4]
- They also received a HDYWTDT as a group against Uk'otoa, with Yasha Nydoorin dealing the final blow. But it was during "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74), not during the Campaign.[5]
- Soorna is the first non-player character to receive an HDYWTDT.[6]
- Soorna finished off another enemy in "A Turtle By Any Other Name" (2x60), but Matt didn't pronounce the phrase.[7]
- Matthew Mercer gave himself a second "How do I want to do this?" when Jourrael, an NPC, dealt the final blow against Obann the Punished beneath the Chantry of the Dawn.[8]
- Technically, Opal finished off another assassin in the first episode of Exandria Unlimited Prime, but Aabria Iyengar didn't pronounce the famous line.[9]
- In Season 5 of Overwatch 2, the character Cole Cassidy (voiced by Matthew Mercer), has an unlockable voice line of "How do you want to do this?".
- In Persona 5 Royal, the character Yusuke Kitagawa, a.k.a. Fox (voiced by Mercer), has "How do you want to do this?" as one of his battle quotes when it's his turn to move.
- Three Bells Hells members, Fearne Calloway, Imogen Temult, and Laudna got a group HDYWTDT on a centaur in the Feywild.[10]
- Carpaccio Caviar, Laudna's Hound of Ill Omen, got his HDYWTDT with a Barlgura.[11]
- Fresh Cut Grass received the first player character self-sacrificial HDYWTDT against Otohan Thull on Ruidus.[12]
- Matt gave himself a third "How do I want to do this?" when Teven Klask, also an NPC, dealt the final blow against Dominox in the ruins of Aeor.[13]
- Ashton Greymoore and Chetney Pock O'Pea got a HDYWTDT together against an Unseelie Court guard in the Feywild.[14]
- Vex'ahlia was assisted by Cerkonos to help finishing up Vorak during the final battle to destroy the Malleus Key at the Tishtan excavation site.[15]
- Imogen Temult got the final HDYWTDT on Predathos using the Ring of Remembrance to cast Meteor Swarm on the God-Eater, making it both the highest damage for a single attack and highest damage in single turn ever.[16]
- During the events of "Tag Team at the Teeth – The Misty Ascent" (Sx97), Laudna got a "HDYWTDT" on the last drop bear[17] and Yasha Nydoorin got the "HDYWTDT" on the Primordial shadow entity on the island of Evaterena in the Shattered Teeth.[18]
- During "Tag Team at the Teeth – Beyond the Shroud" (Sx98), Fearne Calloway got the "HDYWTDT" on the ghost captain in the cave beneath the Kurunpa-Mina mountain[19] and Imogen Temult got the "HDYWTDT" on the fractured titan.[20]
- In the Screen Junkies Honest Trailer for Critical Role's The Legend of Vox Machina, Matthew Mercer challenged the narrator (Jon Bailey as the Epic Voice Guy) to say the phrase "How do you want to do this?" The winner would get the chance to narrate the "Starring" section. Mercer won after Bailey choked on one of his takes.
References[]
- ↑ See "Into the Wilde" (WWx02) at 2:03:07.
- ↑ See "Cloak and Dagger" (1x68) from 4:21:53 through 4:24:20.
- ↑ See "Vecna, the Ascended" (1x114) at 5:26:17.
- ↑ See "The Endless Burrows" (2x50) at 1:26:15.
- ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 4:53:10.
- ↑ See "Perspective" (2x59) at 3:42:45.
- ↑ See "A Turtle By Any Other Name" (2x60) at 1:30:10.
- ↑ See "Punishment and Politics" (2x87) at 1:18:10.
- ↑ See "The Nameless Ones" (E1x01) at 3:38:10.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 4:10:47.
- ↑ See "Crisis of Faith" (3x61) at 2:27:25.
- ↑ See "True Heroism" (3x91) at 4:26:20.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:30:40.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) at 3:18:11.
- ↑ See "Fight for the Bloody Bridge" (3x114) at 4:23:49.
- ↑ See "The Red End" (3x120) at 4:07:06.
- ↑ See "Tag Team at the Teeth – The Misty Ascent" (Sx97) at 2:34:58.
- ↑ See "Tag Team at the Teeth – The Misty Ascent" (Sx97) at 4:08:43.
- ↑ See "Tag Team at the Teeth – Beyond the Shroud" (Sx98) at 3:00:37.
- ↑ See "Tag Team at the Teeth – Beyond the Shroud" (Sx98) at 4:10:13.
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