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 ray of frost 5e spell to the mr freeze gun spell if you will. 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.
Mechanics
- Level: Cantrip
- Casting Time: 1 Action
- Range/Area: 60 ft
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Instantaneous
- School: Evocation
- Attack/Save: Ranged
- Damage/Effect: Cold
Your damage die will be 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 cold. Now let’s take a look at the full description for flavor purposes.
Description
A frigid beam of blue-white light streaks toward a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, it takes 1d8 cold damage, and its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn. The spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).
So super cool there! In terms of mechanics 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. Also read this 5e ray of frost stack.
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. Are you thinking that is hellish rebuke a cantrip? then you’re wrong once click the link to know what.
Alternative Uses
I kind of struggled with this, just because you know it is just a damaged cantrip. 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.
Conclusion
That being said, if you have any ideas or if you have any cool stories involving this cantrip i would 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 as always happy casting.
Also read these articles ray of sickness 5e | ray of enfeeblement | frostbite 5e | firebolt | shocking grasp 5e | magic missile 5e | chill touch 5e | prestidigitation 5e.