Yes, actually, a critical strike will actually sometimes knock a monster in the air and back. Now that I think about it, CS really appears to be a key to at least the early game (and that's something you get from the charge bar - 100% chance of CS when active, at least for the Berserker - I have a harder time getting the bar charged for the Outlander, so I haven't actully verified that 100% CS is what you get for an Outlander's charge).
I also think I found a key weapon affix for an Outlander (who is like an Amazon with ranged weapon skills) - I first saw it on One-Eyed Willie's Other Eye - if you put this in a weapon, it gives 75 physical damage over 5 seconds (like Open Wounds), and with the balance of monster HPs, that's actually a pretty awesome thing - shoot and run away (especially with a multiple target skill). Then I found (but did not buy - I may be kicking myself for that) an augmented pistol with 155 physical damage over 5 seconds - it seems like this damage stacks with multiple hits to boot!
One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post is the smart humor and references in the game. For instance, the setting of the One-Eyed Willie quest when you first get there reminds me of the beach scene from the Gunslinger/Drawing of the Three by Stephen King - there are these crabs coming at you with a very "klackety-klack" sound. That is a very cool reference (if I am interpreting it right).
One other things is sets - I have collected 3 pieces of a 4 piece set so far, and 2 pieces of another set or 2, so the developers' promise of making sets more viable to collect in-game appears to be valid. There are also (as far as I can tell) sets specific to the boss you kill, which is a cool element... but I'm not blown away by the partial set bonuses I'm seeing listed (though I don't know if there's a list of full set bonuses that's not listed on the single pieces - I'll have to get a full set collected to speak to that).
BTW - the variety of monsters is impressive, including the style and attack - there are these really creepy little jumping spiders that gave me goosebumps, and there's an area where you get feral wolves that move fast like you would expect a wolf to move. I also like the skeletons that, after you kill them, keep coming at you as just a torso moving by the hands.
My Outlander is in much better shape equipment wise than my Berserker, so I'll keeping going further into the game.
