In Baldur’s Gate 3 there are many different damage types that you may want to build your character around, either for purely roleplay purposes, to make use of extra effects associated with that damage type, or just for a bit of fun.

In this guide we will take a look at how you can build around Cold damage – specifically the equipment that will provide you with extra effects when dealing Cold damage to enemies. If you want to make an Ice build in BG3, look no further.

The best classes for an Ice damage build in BG3 are Druid, Warlock, Sorcerer and Wizard. You can check out builds for these classes and more in our BG3 Build Guides.

Table of Contents:

Cold Damage Explained in BG3

On the surface, Cold Damage seems similar to any other type of damage in BG3, and at a surface level this is true. The amount of damage that Cold damage does to a target may be increased or reduced, depending on the Resistances or Vulnerabilities of that target. One common theme with several Cold spells is that they also create Ice surfaces, which can knock enemies Prone. Depending on when this happens, it may slow them down on their next turn, or force them to end their current turn early.

However there are more potential effects associated with Cold Damage, but these typically require specific abilities or equipment to make proper use of. For the purposes of this guide, there are two that we need to understand:

  • Chilled – Chilled enemies are Vulnerable to Cold Damage, but Resistant to Fire damage. This means they will take 100% more damage from Cold, and 50% less from Fire. It’s important to consider this when planning your party build – combining Ice and Fire spells doesn’t tend to work very well, because their effects partially cancel each other out rather than synergising.
  • Encrusted with Frost – This is rarer than Chilled, but potentially more powerful. When a creature is Encrusted with Frost, initially they just have Disadvantage on Dexterity Saving Throws. However, reapplying this debuff before it runs out will increase its duration on an enemy. If you are able to get this up to 7 turns remaining duration, then the target must pass a Constitution Saving Throw. If they fail, they will take 1-4 extra Cold Damage and become Frozen, completely incapacitating them until they are thawed by another effect (such as Fire).
  • Wet – When an enemy is wet it also gains Vulnerability to cold. That means you can place wet surfaces on the ground to apply cold vulnerability to enemies. And then use a simple cold cantrip to freeze it.

The equipment mentioned in this guide mostly focuses on applying these debuffs, and will therefore make an Ice mage playstyle much more interesting and powerful, especially on a Sorcerer or Wizard.

Without further delay, we will now get into the Cold Damage equipment, what it does and where you can find it.

Baldur's Gate 3 Ice Build Guide

Cold Snap

Cold Snap is a rare Dagger in BG3. In order to get its full effects, you must wield it in your off-hand, which basically means that you must be dual-wielding melee weapons to make proper use of the Dagger. Dual-wielding works great on the melee-focused Rogue Build.

When used properly in your Off-hand, Cold Snap will cause any enemy who misses you with their attack to become Chilled for 2 turns, unless they succeed a Constitution Saving Throw. This is ideal for making enemies vulnerable to your Cold spells. You don’t necessarily need to equip this on the character who is casting Cold magic – another way is to equip it on a more melee-focused character with high Armour Class and have them attract the attention of several enemies. Hopefully several of them will miss their attacks, giving them the Chilled condition and causing your caster’s Cold spells to be much more effective on your next turn. This works great on a Monk, which has a high chance of evading attacks.

As an extra bonus, Cold Snap also increases the wielder’s Armour Class by 1, which makes it slightly easier to activate the above effect (Armour Class does not mitigate damage in BG3, but makes it harder to hit your character).

To find Cold Snap, visit Ferg Drogher in Rivington. You should find that they are selling this Dagger.

Mourning Frost

Mourning Frost is a very rare Quarterstaff. This has a couple of extra effects that are useful for Cold Damage builds.

Firstly, all of your Cold Damage is increased by 1 when wielding this staff. That might not sound like much, but extra damage is always useful. However, the second effect is the more important one.

When you deal Cold Damage to an enemy, they will gain the Chilled condition unless they succeed a Saving Throw. Having both this and the Cold Snap dagger active in your party will considerably improve the amount of damage you’re able to do with Cold magic, as you’ll be chilling enemies very frequently.

As an added bonus, you also get the Ray of Frost Cantrip when wielding this staff, so if you already had that equipped then you can swap it out for a different Cantrip and still retain Ray of Frost on your ability bar.

Obtaining Mourning Frost is a little complicated – you need to combine three items found on the Drow mages who are searching for the Adamantine Forge in the Underdark:

  • Icy Helve – Found on Dhourn, west of the Selunite Outpost (the fortified area you find yourself in when entering the Underdark via Shattered Sanctum)
  • Icy Metal – Looted from the Pale Corpse in the Myconid Colony. This is in the blocked-off area behind a fungal barrier. To open the way, you must first complete the Defeat the Duergar Intruders quest.
  • Icy Crystal – Carried by Filro the Forgotten, who can be found near the Sussur Tree.

Coldbrim Hat

The Coldbrim Hat is an uncommon hat that allows you to apply the Encrusted with Frost condition mentioned earlier in the guide.

Once per turn, you can apply 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost to an enemy by applying any other condition to them. This will synergise with Mourning Frost, allowing you to apply both Chilled and Mourning Frost at the same time.

Since this can only apply the condition to one enemy per turn, it is a little bit limited. However it definitely still has good utility for a Cold Damage build in BG3, and it’s worth obtaining and keeping it on your caster.

There are two ways you can obtain the Coldbrim Hat. The first opportunity is to loot it from a locked chest inside the hidden room of Balthazar’s Quarters in Moonrise Towers. The hidden room is found behind a bookcase. If you miss it here, then you can get it later in the game by looting it from a table in Sorcerous Sundries. Look out for a Lava Elemental stood next to the table.

Winter’s Clutches

Winter’s Clutches are uncommon gloves that also let you apply Encrusted with Frost to enemies. The good news is that these are much more consistent with their ability to apply the condition.

With these equipped, you will apply 2 turns of Encrusted with Frost every time you inflict Cold Damage. When combined with the Coldbrim Hat and Mourning Frost, the first enemy you damage with Cold each turn will become Chilled and also gain 4 turns of Encrusted with Frost immediately (remember that you need 7 turns of Encrusted with Frost to freeze an enemy). So if everything goes according to plan, your attacks all hit and the enemy doesn’t succeed Saving Throws, you can freeze a creature once every 2 turns.

There are three different ways to obtain Winter’s Clutches – you can do any of the following:

  • Finish the Avenge Glut’s Circle quest (side with Glut and you will get Winter’s Clutches as a quest reward)
  • Purchase from Lady Esther on the Rosymorn Monastery Trail
  • Find on a counter in Sorcerous Sundries near a Lava Elemental and a Water Elemental.

Snowburst Ring

The Snowburst Ring is an uncommon Ring. The ring can be found under a plank (X: -76, Y: 158) in the Last Light Inn at the start of Act 2. When you deal Cold damage, you also create a 4.5m circle of ice around the target. This ring is fairly simple but can be fun to play around with, especially if targets are close to each other this effect can have a good impact and enemies might slip out.

Markoheshkir Quarterstaff

The Markoheshkir Quarterstaff is a legendary item that you can obtain in the Sorcerer Sundries tower in Act 3. Once inside, you have to go up through the blue portal to Ramazith’s Tower where you can find the staff. The staff allows you to cast the spell Kereska’s Favour. When you cast the spell you can select different variants, in our case we want to pick Frost of Dark Winter. This will allow us to cast the following cold damage spells:

Both these spells are very powerful, especially on a Sorcerer build or a Wizard build. We also used the Markoheshkir Staff on our Shadow Monk Build, which now allows us to cast powerful spells even on a non-caster character.

Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves

The Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves is a rare item that causes the wearer’s unarmed attacks to deal extra cold damage. This is basically a perfect item for a Monk Build which specializes in unarmed attacks. Additionally, you also gain the Ice Knife spell when you wear the Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves. Ice Knife can be cast once per long rest.

The item is sold in Act 3 by Entharl Dantheleon in Dantheleon’s Dancing Axe.

Wavemother’s Sickle

The Wavemother’s Sickle is a rare item that has a +2 Enchantment in Baldur’s Gate 3. The sickle deals Cold Damage and it gains Advantage against enemies that are Wet (Watery Guidance). The item can be obtained by looting it from Allandra Grey in the Lower City in the Water Queen’s House.

Darkthroat Glaive

The Drakethroat Glaive is a rare item that has a +2 Enchantment on it. Vicious Dragon Breath: Enemies have Disadvantage Icon.png Disadvantage on Saving Throws against your Dragonborn breath weapon.

Additionally, you can place any weapon on the ground and then throw the Drakethroat Glaive towards it to enchant the weapon. Now you can select an elemental type to deal additional damage and get a +1 bonus to Attack Rolls.

Necklace of Elemental Augmentation

The Necklace of Elemental Augmentation is an uncommon amulet that adds the Spellcasting Modifier to the damage depending on what elemental Cantrip you are using.

  • Elemental Augmentation: When one of your Cantrips deals Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder damage, add your Spellcasting Modifier to the damage dealt.

The necklace can be found in Act 2 in the Inquisitor Chamber, turn to the right and check the display cabinet. Additionally, you can also find the necklace inside a Traveller’s Chest on a shipwrecked ship Northwest of South Span Checkpoint.

Flail of Ages

The Flail of Ages is a rare item that has a +1 Enchantment. It also has:

  • Tenacity: When you miss an attack, you deal 1-6 Bludgeoning damage anyway.
  • Elements of an Epoch: Depending on what kind of damage this weapon does, it also inflicts Acid, Chilled, or Burning.
  • Elemental Age: Allows the user to cast Elemental Age.

This Flail can cast the Elemental Age spell with Glacial Age. Now the weapon will inflict the Chilled condition when you hit an enemy with it. It also deals an additional 1-4 Cold damage and has an extra +1 Enchantment.

You can buy the Flail of Ages from Fytz the Firecracker trader in Act 3 in Baldur’s Gate 3.

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