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.}

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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.

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Gear that inflicts Cold damage

	Name	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			Arrows are consumed upon use 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.
	Flail of Ages	Flails	1d4 (1~4)Cold*	✓	Cast Elemental Age spell, once per Long Rest Elements of an Epoch effect Tenacity effect	+1 Bonus to weapon attack roles, and an additional 1d4 damage depending on the elemental age selected (i.e. Cold). Depending on the kind of damage chosen from Elemental Age, your attack also inflicts a related condition (i.e. Chilled). When you miss a main hand attack, you deal 1 bludgeoning damage anyways.
	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.
[Image Pending]	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 unlocked 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.
	Elixir of Cold Resistance	Potions Elixirs	Resistance to Cold damage	Can be thrown to act as an AOE Does not stack with other Elixirs Lasts until Long Rest Potions are consumed upon use
	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	Wearer has 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

[Placeholder] Brief summary of actions

Actions that inflict/impact Cold damage

		Base Cold Damage	AOE	Saving Throw	Special Cold Factors	Source
	Blade of Rime	2d6 (2~12)Cold	✓	Dexterity	Creates Ice Surface Identical to Ice Knife	Level 3 Monk, Way of the Four Elements
	Chill of the Mountain	1d10 (1~10)Cold2d10 (2~20)Cold*			Monk version of Ray of Frost Damage upcast at Monk Level 9	Level 3 Monk, Way of the Four Elements
	Frost Breath	2d6 (2~12)Cold	✓	Constitution: Halve	Once per Long Rest	Dragonborn race, Silver or White Subrace
	Rage: Bear Heart	N/A			Gives resistance to all Damage Types (i.e.Cold) except Psychic. 10 turn duration	Level 3 Barbarian, Wildheart
	Shaping of the Ice	N/A			Creates a climbable ice cube 10 turn duration	Level 3 Monk, Way of the Four Elements

^{* Damage is indicative of unlocked spell/effects, not the base action}

Gear Actions

		Base Cold Damage	Special Cold Factors	Source
	Absorb Elements	1d6 (1~6)Cold*	Take half damage from the next elemental attack you receive, then deal an additional 1d6 of that element on your next attack. Once per Short Rest	Cloak of Elemental Absorption Cloak of the Weave
	Frigid Blade	Deal weapon Proficiency bonus as Cold damage	Applies Frostbite condition on attack hit	Allandra's Whelm
	Frost of Dark Winter	N/A	Cast Cone of Cold, once per Short Rest Cast Ice Storm, once per Short Rest Gain Conduit of Kereska's Ice effect, until Long Rest Once per Short Rest	Markoheshkir, Kereska's Favour

Summoned Elemental Actions that inflict/impact Cold damage

Table pending refinement/revision
Ice Mephit	Freezing Claws 2d6 (2~12)Cold	Chromatic Orb: Cold 2d8 (2~16)Cold	Ice Breath 2d6 (2~12)Cold AOE Dexterity Save, Halve Once per turn	Death Burst: Cold 4d6 (4~24)Cold Dexterity Save, Halve	Death Burst: Cold (Effect) 2d6 (2~12)Cold AOE Saving throw, halve Autonomous on death	2 Ice Mephits are summoned
Water Elemental	Slam 1d6 (1~6)Cold Chill 2 turns Water Surface	Winter's Breath 4d6 (4~24)Cold Burning targets take 2d6 (2~12)Cold and become Brittle for 3 turns Ice surface	Multiattack 2d4 (2~8)Cold2d4 (2~8)ColdChilled targets take double damage Once per turn			Can only conjure one entity from Conjure Elemental at a time
Water Myrmidon	Trident of the Depths 1d6 (1~6)Cold	Hiemal Strike 1d6 (1~6)Cold1d10 (1~10)Cold2 turns Chilled	Explosive Icicle 3d8 (3~24)Cold 3 targets, aoe Once per turn			Can only conjure one entity from Conjure Elemental at a time

Spells

[Placeholder] Brief summary of spells

Spells that inflict/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
	Conjure Elemental: Water Elemental	5	Consult Summoned Elemental Actions table	N/A				[Information pending]
	Conjure Elemental: Water Myrmidon	6						[Information pending]
	Conjure Minor Elemental: Ice Mephits	4						[Information pending]
	Elemental Weapon: Cold	3	1d4 (1~4)Cold*	N/A	✓			Damage added to weapon attack roles +1 bonus to weapon attack roles
	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 Identical to Monk Ki spell, Blade of Rime
	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: Halve	Creates Ice Surface
	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) Damage upcast added at Spellcaster Level 5 and again at 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 Ice Cloud Breaking concentration destroys wall 10 turn duration

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

Effects

Progressing through Baldur's Gate 3 players will develop their skills; leveling and finding many unique pieces of equipment that can drastically improve and change their playstyle.

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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 Barbarian Wildheart
Draconic Ancestry	You have Resistance to a particular damage type depending on your Dragonborn subrace (i.e. Silver & White Dragons are Cold).	Dragonborn Race
Elemental Adept: Cold	Your spells ignore Resistance to Cold. When you cast Cold spells you cannot role a 1.	Feat
Elemental Affinity: Damage	When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry (i.e. Silver & White Dragons are Cold), you add your Charisma modifier to the damage.	Level 6 Sorcerer, Draconic Bloodline
Elemental Affinity: Resistance	When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry (i.e. Silver & White Dragons are Cold), you can spend one Sorcerery Point to gain Resistance to that damage type.	Level 6 Sorcerer, Draconic Bloodline
Fiendish Resilience	Choose a damage type (i.e. Cold) to become resistant to, you can change this each Short Rest.	Level 10 Warlock Fiend
Wasteland Wanderer: Cold	Resistance to Cold damage.	Ranger Natural Explorer

Persistent gear effects that impact Cold damage

	Effect Description	Source
Chilling Counter	When a Target misses you with an attack it must make a Constitution Saving Throw of be Chilled for 2 turns.	Cold Snap
Chilling Strike	Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 (1~4)Cold damage.	Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves
Coldbrim Chill	Once per turn, any condition inflicted on a target also applies 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost.	Coldbrim Hat
Conduit of Kereska's Ice	Cast Cone of Cold and Ice Storm, once per Short Rest Cold spells deal additional Cold damage equal to your Proficiency Bonus. Resistance to Cold damage. When you deal spell damage, you inflict 1 turn of Encrusted with Frost on the Target.	Markoheshkir, Kereska's Favour Must be reapplied after Long Rest
Elemental Augmentation	When one of your cantrips deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold), add your Spellcasting Modifier to the damage dealt.	Necklace of Elemental Augmentation
Elemental Infusion	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.	Ring of Elemental Infusion
Elemental Momentum	Whenever the wearer deals Elemental damage (i.e. Cold) with spells or cantrips, they gain Momentum for 2 turns.	Boots of Elemental Momentum
Elements of an Epoch	Depending on the kind of damage chosen from Elemental Age, your attack also inflicts a related condition (i.e. Chilled).	Flail of Ages
Heart of Ice	When dealing Cold damage, the wielder deals an additional 1Cold damage.	Mourning Frost
Hoarfrost Balance	You cannot fall prone while traversing Ice Surfaces.	Hoarfrost Boots
Insidious Cold	Dealing Cold damage with a spell possibly inflicts Chilled upon the Target.	Mourning Frost
Nature's Vengeance	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.	Amulet of Elemental Torment
Snowburst	When the wearer deals Cold damage, they also create an Ice Surface around the Target(s).	Snowburst Ring
Temperature Adjustment	Wearer has Resistance to Fire and Cold Damage.	Wavemother's Robe
Winter's Clutches	When the wearer deals Cold damage, inflict 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost upon the Target(s).	Winter's Clutches

Conditions

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Chilled

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Description, relevance to Cold, sources

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.

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Frostbite

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Frozen

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Ray of Frost

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Wet

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Surfaces

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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.

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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.

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