Hello magic casters of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 30th episode of our cantrip series. Today we’re going to be taking a look at d&d 5e spell ray of frost to the mr. freeze gun spell if you will.
It is usable by the wizard and the sorcerer and through extension anyone else with access to their spell lists and this beaut is found in the players handbook so everyone should have access to it. Let’s take a quick look at the mechanics here.
Table of Contents
Mechanics
- Damage: 1st:1d8, 5th:2d8, 11th:3d8, 17th:4d8
- Casting Time: 1 Action
- Range: 60ft
- Duration: Instantaneous
- Saving Throw: Ranged vs AC
- Components: Somatic and Verbal
- School: Evocation
Your damage die will be a d8 so pretty impressive. 1d8 at first level plus an additional at 5th, 11th and 17th for a grand total of 4d8. The cast time is one action, the range is 60 feet, the duration is instantaneous and the saving throw just be a ranged spell attack versus the target AC.
The components are somatic and verbal meaning you have to gesture with at least one hand and vocalize the incantation. The school is evocation and the damage type unsurprisingly is gold. Now let’s take a look at the full description for flavor purposes.
Description
In this ray of frost 5e a frigid beam of blue-white light would streak toward a creature which is within a range. Also make a ranged spell attack which is against to the target. On a hit, it would take 1d8 cold damage, and of course its speed has reduced by 10 feet until the start of your another next turn.
Know more about: beast bond spell 5e
At Higher Levels:
The dnd ray of frost spell’s damage would increases by 1d8 as like whenever you reach 5th level the damage would be 2d8, at the 11th level (3d8) and also at the 17th level (4d8).
So super cool there in terms of mechanic, i really like the idea i give you turning your hands it’s kind of a gun shape just firing it from your fingertips i think that’s amazing. That being said it does give away your location, so i’d take that with a grain of salt. The reduced movement speed is great though especially of those smaller foes that don’t have a lot of movement.
If you combine this with a couple other spells you can completely nullify movement altogether in most cases and the 60-foot range really isn’t that bad. Now let’s take a look at some alternative uses here. I kind of struggled with this just because you know it is just a damaged cantrip.
Alternative Uses
You can only target creatures with it so it’s not particularly great in that regard. That being said it doesn’t actually say you have to be able to see the creature. So you can use it to target invisible creatures or have the obscured creatures things of that nature.
Essentially making full cover almost irrelevant when you think about it. I mean i guess it is still a ranged spell attacks the AC does fall into place so i take that back. But i mean very cool regardless. You could also use it to distinguish between mimics or non mimics that kind of thing.
Attributes Of Ray Of Frost
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Classes | Sorcerer, Wizard |
| Components | V S |
| Damage | 1d8 |
| Damage Type | Cold |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Level | 0 |
| Name | Ray of Frost |
| Range | 60 feet |
| School | Evocation |
| Spell Attack | Ranged |
| Target | A creature within range |
Conclusion
That being said! If you have any ideas or if you have any cool stories involving this cantrip, i really like to hear them down in the comments below and i know everyone else checking this article would as well. That being said, i hope you all have a great day and i’m looking forward to seeing you again and happy casting as always.