Ice Storm

4th level Evocation
Casting Time
1 Action
Range
300 Feet
Duration
instantaneous
Components
V
S
M
Materials Required
A pinch of dust and a few drops of water
Class
Druid
Sorcerer
Wizard

Spell Description

A hail of rock-hard ice pounds to the ground in a 20-foot-radius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point within range. Each creature in the cylinder must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage and 4d6 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Hailstones turn the storm’s area of effect into difficult terrain until the end of your next turn.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the bludgeoning damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
Damage Dice 2d8 + 4d6 3d8 + 4d6 4d8 + 4d6 5d8 + 4d6 6d8 + 4d6 7d8 + 4d6
Min Damage 6 7 8 9 10 11
Average Damage 23 27.5 32 36.5 41 45.5
Max Damage 40 48 56 64 72 80
Lvl Dice Min Avg Max
1st
2nd
3rd
4th 2d8 + 4d6 6 23 40
5th 3d8 + 4d6 7 27.5 48
6th 4d8 + 4d6 8 32 56
7th 5d8 + 4d6 9 36.5 64
8th 6d8 + 4d6 10 41 72
9th 7d8 + 4d6 11 45.5 80

Is Ice Storm Good?

Overall Rating: Red. This means that ice storm isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all.

Overall Notes: You already have fireball, and ice storm does less damage, and the terrain control doesn’t make the reduced damage worth it.

Class Specific Ratings for Ice Storm

Oath of the Ancients paladin: Great spell for a paladin’s lacking arsenal of AoE and ranged attacks.

Druid: Druid’s don't have a lot of options for damaging AoE spells, this is one of the best for them.