Cold Damage

Cold damage is a non-physical, elemental magic, Damage Type available in Baldur's Gate 3. Cold damage is available through select Spells and Items. Targets in Baldur's Gate 3 may have Vulnerabilities, Resistances, and Immunities to certain Damage Types that affect how much damage they receive from such sources.

Cold damage has an association with conditions and effects that interfere with ground movement, particularly Ice Surfaces, that makes it valuable to disrupt moving Targets. The conditions and effects of Cold damage often run counter to those related to Fire damage.

^{*Given the extensive support for Ice Surfaces they, and aspects interacting with them, will be treated as factors of Cold Damage for this page.}

Equipment

Gear that inflicts Cold damage

	Item Type	Base Cold Damage	Enables Spell	Special Cold Factors
Allandra's Whelm	Tridents	1d4 (1~4)Cold		Enables Frigid Blade weapon action once per Short Rest
Arrow of Ice	Arrows	2d4 (2~8)Cold		Creates Ice Surface
Cold Snap	Daggers	1d4 (1~4)Cold		Enables Chilling Counter effect
Frost Prince	Amulets	2d6 (2~12)Cold *	✓	Enables Level 1 cast Ice Knife spell once per Long Rest
Mourning Frost	Quarterstaves	1d4 (1~4)Cold 1d8 (1~8)Cold *	✓	Enables Heart of Ice effect Enables Insidious Cold effect Enables cast Ray of Frost cantrip
Ring of Elemental Infusion	Rings	1d4 (1~4)Cold *		Enables Elemental Infusion effect
Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves	Gloves	1d4 (1~4)Cold * 2d6 (2~12)Cold *	✓	Enables Chilling Strike effect Enables cast Ice Knife spell

^{* Damage is indicative of enabled spell/effects, not the base gear}

Gear that impacts Cold damage

	Item Type	Special Cold Factors
Amulet of Elemental Torment	Amulets	Enables Nature's Vengeance effect
Boots of Elemental Momentum	Boots	Enables Elemental Momentum effect
Cloak of Elemental Absorption	Cloaks	Enables Absorb Elements
Cloak of the Weave	Cloaks
Coldbrim Hat	Hats	Enables Coldbrim Chill effect
Darkfire Shortbow	Shortbows	Gives Resistance to Cold damage
Hoarfrost Boots	Boots	Gives Hoarfrost Balance effect
Icebite Robe	Clothing	Gives Resistance to Cold damage Enables Level 3 cast Armour of Agathys once per Long Rest
Necklace of Elemental Augmentation	Amulets	Gives Elemental Augmentation effect
Robe of Summer	Clothing	Gives Resistance to Cold damage
Snowburst Ring	Rings	Enables Snowburst effect
Wavemother's Robe	Clothing	Gives Temperature Adjustment effect
Winter's Clutches	Gloves	Enables Winter's Clutches effect

Actions

Actions that inflicts Cold damage

	Source	Base Cold Damage	Special Cold Factors
Attack (Myrmidon): Water	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Wild Shape
Explosive Icicle	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Wild Shape
Frigid Blade	Gear: Allandra's Whelm	Proficiency Bonus as Cold damage 1d4 (1~4)Cold *	Applies Frostbite when the attack hits Once per Short Rest
Heimal Strike	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Wild Shape

^{* Damage is indicative of enabled spell/effects, not the base gear}

Spells

Spells that cause/impact Cold damage

	Spell Level	Base Cold Damage	Upcast Cold Damage	Concentration	AOE	Saving Throw	Special Cold Factors
Armour of Agathys	1	5Cold	5Cold				Damage inflicted upon being melee attacked
Chromatic Orb: Cold	1	2d8 (2~16)Cold	1d8 (1~8)Cold		✓		Creates Ice Surface
Cone of Cold	5	8d8 (8~64)Cold	1d8 (1~8)Cold		✓	Constitution: Halve	Creates Ice Surface
Fire Shield: Chill	4	2d8 (2~16)Cold	N/A				Damage inflicted upon being melee attacked 10 Turn Duration
Glyph of Warding: Cold	3	5d8 (5~40)Cold	1d8 (1~8)Cold		✓	Dexterity: Halve	Inflicts damage upon contact with Hostile Target
Hunger of Hadar	3	2d6 (2~12)Cold	N/A	✓	✓		Damage inflicted to Targets starting their turn in AOE 10 turn duration
Ice Knife	1	2d6 (2~12)Cold	1d6 (1~6)Cold		✓	Dexterity: Negate	Creates Ice Surface
Ice Storm	4	4d6 (4~24)Cold	N/A		✓	Dexterity: Halve	Creates Ice Surface
Otiluke's Freezing Sphere	6	10d6 (10~60)Cold	N/A		✓	Constitution: Negate
Protection from Energy: Cold	3	N/A	N/A	✓			Gives Resistance to Cold damage
Ray of Frost	0	1d8 (1~8)Cold	1d8 (1~8)Cold				Inflicts Ray of Frost (Condition) Upcast damage unlocks at Spellcaster Level 5, and again at Spellcaster Level 10
Sleet Storm	3	N/A	N/A	✓	✓	Constitution: Concentration	Creates Ice Surface Interrupts Concentration 10 turn duration
Wall of Ice	6	10d6 (10~60)Cold	N/A	✓	✓	Dexterity: Halve	Initial damage to enemies in spell path Upon wall destruction leaves cloud of frigid air with same damage values 10 turn duration

Effects

Persistent effects that impact Cold damage

	Source	Effect Description
Animal Aspect: Crocodile	Level 6 Wildheart Barbarian	On slippery surfaces (i.e.Ice Surface) you have Advantage on Saving Throws against being knocked prone.
Bestial Heart: Bear Heart	Level 3 Wildheart Barbarian	Gives resistance to all Damage Types (i.e.Cold) except Psychic.
Chilling Counter	Gear: Cold Snap	When a Target misses you with an attack it must make a Constitution Saving Throw of be Chilled for 2 turns.
Chilling Strike	Gear: Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves	Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 (1~4)Cold damage.
Coldbrim Chill	Gear: Coldbrim Hat	Once per turn, any condition inflicted on a target also applies 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost.
Elemental Adept: Cold	Feat	Your spells ignore Resistance to Cold. When you cast Cold spells you cannot role a 1.
Elemental Augmentation	Gear: Necklace of Elemental Augmentation	When one of your cantrips deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold), add your Spellcasting Modifier to the damage dealt.
Elemental Infusion	Gear: Ring of Elemental Infusion	When you deal Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) using a spell or cantrip, that element infuses your weapon. Until the end of your next turn, you deal an additional 1d4 of that element on your successful weapon attack.
Elemental Momentum	Gear: Boots of Elemental Momentum	Whenever the wearer deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) with spells or cantrips, they gain Momentum for 2 turns.
Heart of Ice	Gear: Mourning Frost	When dealing Cold damage, the wielder deals an additional 1Cold damage.
Hoarfrost Balance	Gear: Hoarfrost Boots	You cannot fall prone while traversing Ice Surfaces.
Insidious Cold	Gear: Mourning Frost	Dealing Cold damage with a spell possibly inflicts Chilled upon the Target.
Nature's Vengeance	Gear: Amulet of Elemental Torment	When the wearer stands in certain surfaces (i.e. Ice Surface) and casts a spell that deals damage, the target also suffers the surface's effects.
Snowburst	Gear: Snowburst Ring	When the wearer deals Cold damage, they also create an Ice Surface around the Target(s).
Temperature Adjustment	Gear: Wavemother's Robe	You have Resistance to Fire and Cold Damage.
Winter's Clutches	Gear: Winter's Clutches	When the wearer deals Cold damage, inflict 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost upon the Target(s).

Conditions

Chilled

[Placeholder]

Encrusted with Frost

This condition causes Targets to role with Disadvantage on Dexterity Saving Throws, and when there are more than 7 turns remaining of 'Encrusted with Frost' the Target has to make Constitution Saving Throws to avoid taking Cold damage and becoming Frozen. This condition is useful to make targets more vulnerable to becoming Prone on Ice Surfaces.

Frostbite

[Placeholder]

Frozen

[Placeholder] Frozen information to be added to the Wiki.

Wet

[Placeholder]

Surfaces

Ice Surface

Ice Surface is the signature Surface of Cold damage being directly created by many Cold spells with area effects. Ice Surfaces can also be created by Blood and Water Surfaces when they, or a target standing in them, are hit by a Cold damage or another Ice Surface is created that connects to them.

Ice Surfaces cause Targets to make Dexterity Saving Throws to avoid becoming Prone. Prone targets are more open to attack and attacks made within melee range role with Advantage.

Steam Cloud

Steam Cloud is a valuable Surface to inflict the Wet Status on Targets making it highly useful when dealing Cold damage. Steam Clouds can be created by igniting Water Surfaces with Fire damage. Water Surfaces naturally form from Ice Surfaces that melt after 2 Rounds or after being hit by Fire damage.