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

There are many pieces of equipment scattered about in Baldur's Gate 3 that have a focus on Cold damage that Players can utilize. Some enable Players to inflict Cold damage through weapon attacks or by unlocking spells. While others offer unique modifiers on Cold attacks and damage such as increasing or resisting damage. Below is a list of known gear pieces associated with Cold damage and their importance to Cold damage.

Gear that inflicts Cold damage

	Item Type	Base Cold Damage	Enables Spell	Unlocks	Special Cold Factors
Allandra's Whelm	Tridents	1d4 (1~4)Cold		Frigid Blade weapon action, once per Short Rest	Frigid Blade applies Frostbite condition on attack hit, and deals weapon Proficiency bonus as Cold damage
Arrow of Ice	Arrows	2d4 (2~8)Cold			Creates Ice Surface
Cold Snap	Daggers	1d4 (1~4)Cold		Chilling Counter effect	When a Target misses you with an attack it must make a Constitution Saving Throw of be Chilled for 2 turns.
Frost Prince	Amulets	2d6 (2~12)Cold*	✓	Cast Level 1 Ice Knife spell, once per Long Rest	Standard effects of Ice Knife spell.
Mourning Frost	Quarterstaves	1d4 (1~4)Cold 1d8 (1~8)Cold*	✓	Heart of Ice effect Insidious Cold effect Cast Ray of Frost cantrip	When dealing Cold damage, the wielder deals an additional 1Cold damage. Dealing Cold damage with a spell possibly inflicts Chilled upon the Target. Standard effect of Ray of Frost cantrip.
Ring of Elemental Infusion	Rings	1d4 (1~4)Cold*		Elemental Infusion effect	After dealing Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) using a spell or cantrip, until the end of your next turn, you deal an additional 1d4 of that element on a successful weapon attack.
Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves	Gloves	1d4 (1~4)Cold* 2d6 (2~12)Cold*	✓	Chilling Strike effect Cast Ice Knife spell	Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 (1~4)Cold damage. Standard effects of Ice Knife spell.

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

Gear that impacts Cold damage

	Item Type	Unlocks	Special Cold Factors
Amulet of Elemental Torment	Amulets	Nature's Vengeance effect	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.
Boots of Elemental Momentum	Boots	Elemental Momentum effect	Whenever the wearer deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) with spells or cantrips, they gain Momentum for 2 turns.
Cloak of Elemental Absorption	Cloaks	Absorb Elements action, once per Short Rest	Take half damage from the next Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) attack targeting you and deal an additional 1d6 of that element type on your next attack.
Cloak of the Weave	Cloaks	Absorb Elements action, once per Short Rest	Take half damage from the next Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) attack targeting you and deal an additional 1d6 of that element type on your next attack.
Coldbrim Hat	Hats	Coldbrim Chill effect	Once per turn, any condition inflicted on a target also applies 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost.
Darkfire Shortbow	Shortbows	Resistance to Cold damage Resistance to Fire damage Cast Haste spell, once per Long Rest	3. Standard effects of Haste spell.
Hoarfrost Boots	Boots	Hoarfrost Balance effect	You cannot fall prone while traversing Ice Surfaces.
Icebite Robe	Clothing	Resistance to Cold damage Cast Armour of Agathys, once per Long Rest	2. Standard effect of a Level 3 Armour of Agathys spell
Necklace of Elemental Augmentation	Amulets	Elemental Augmentation effect	When one of your cantrips deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold), add your Spellcasting Modifier to the damage dealt.
Robe of Summer	Clothing	Resistance to Cold damage
Snowburst Ring	Rings	Snowburst effect	When the wearer deals Cold damage, they also create an Ice Surface around the Target(s).
Wavemother's Robe	Clothing	Temperature Adjustment effect Watery Rejuvenation effect Cast Create or Destroy Water, once per Short Rest	You have Resistance to Fire and Cold Damage. If the wearer is standing in a Water Surface at the start of their turn, they heal for 1d4 Hit Points. [Ice Surfaces melt into Water Surfaces] Standard effects of Create or Destroy Water spell.
Winter's Clutches	Gloves	Winter's Clutches effect	When the wearer deals Cold damage, inflict 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost upon the Target(s).

Actions

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Actions that inflicts Cold damage

	Source	Base Cold Damage	Special Cold Factors
Attack (Myrmidon): Water	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Water Myrmidon Wild Shape	1d6 (1~6)Cold
Explosive Icicle	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Water Myrmidon Wild Shape	3d8 (3~24)Cold	Can select 3 Targets Creates Ice Surfaces Once per turn
Heimal Strike	Level 10 Circle of the Moon Druid Water Myrmidon Wild Shape	1d6 (1~6)Cold1d10 (1~10)Cold	Applies 2 turns of Chilled on attack hit

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

Spells

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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

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Persistent effects that impact Cold damage

	Effect Description	Source
Animal Aspect: Crocodile	On slippery surfaces (i.e.Ice Surface) you have Advantage on Saving Throws against being knocked prone.	Level 6 Wildheart Barbarian
Bestial Heart: Bear Heart	Gives resistance to all Damage Types (i.e.Cold) except Psychic.	Level 3 Wildheart Barbarian
Elemental Adept: Cold	Your spells ignore Resistance to Cold. When you cast Cold spells you cannot role a 1.	Feat

Conditions

Chilled

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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

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Frozen

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Ray of Frost

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Wet

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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.