Ice Knife

Level 1 Conjuration spell available to Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards. A dart for 1d10 Piercing plus a 2d6 Cold explosion that goes off even on a miss, leaving an Ice surface behind. A reliable arcane opener.

Spell description: Throw a shard of ice that deals 1d10 Piercing damage. It explodes and deals 2d6 Cold damage to anyone nearby. It leaves an Ice surface. On a miss, the shard of ice still explodes.

Spell properties

• Damage: 1d10 Piercing plus 2d6 Cold
• Damage type: Piercing, Cold
• Range: 18m (60ft)
• Area: 2m (7ft) radius
• Save: DEX save
• Attack type: Ranged
• Conditions applied: Creates an Ice surface for 2 turns.
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Ice Knife at a higher level deals an additional 1d6 Cold damage for each spell slot level above the 1st.

How to obtain Ice Knife

• Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard at Class level 1
• Arcane Trickster (Rogue) and Eldritch Knight (Fighter) at Class level 3
• College of Lore (Bard) at Class level 6 via Magical Secrets
• Bard at Class level 10 via Magical Secrets
• Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Druid, Sorcerer, or Wizard
• Source items: Frost Prince, Snow-Dusted Monastery Gloves

When to cast Ice Knife

Two damage types, a single-target dart plus a small area explosion, and it explodes even on a miss, so it never fully whiffs. For a Level 1 slot that is a lot of coverage: chip one target and splash the cluster around it.

The Ice surface is the bonus. It makes enemies slip and fall Prone, and it feeds the wet-and-cold combos, so following it with more Cold or a shove is easy value. A tidy, reliable opener for any arcane caster.