You create a wall of ice on a solid surface within range. You can form it into a hemispherical dome or a sphere with a radius of up to 10 feet, or you can shape a flat surface made up of ten 10-foot-square panels. Each panel must be contiguous with another panel. In any form, the wall is 1 foot thick and lasts for the duration.
If the wall cuts through a creature's space when it appears, the creature within its area is pushed to one side of the wall and must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 10d6 cold damage, or half as much damage on a successful save.
The wall is an object that can be damaged and thus breached. It has AC 12 and 30 hit points per 10-foot section, and it is vulnerable to fire damage. Reducing a 10-foot section of wall to 0 hit points destroys it and leaves behind a sheet of frigid air in the space the wall occupied. A creature moving through the sheet of frigid air for the first time on a turn must make a Constitution saving throw. That creature takes 5d6 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the damage the wall deals when it appears increases by 2d6, and the damage from passing through the sheet of frigid air increases by 1d6, for each slot level above 6th.
* - (a small piece of quartz)
Why on earth is this only for wizards? That makes literally no sense. It’s more natural than arcane, so at the very least sorcerers should get it, probably druids too.
It's because WotC hate sorcerers.
I concur.
Seconded, they even managed to nerf both sorcerer and ranger compared to the UA class variants
I legitimately didn't even know this spell existed because its wizards only. its such a good spell. why is it wizards only. a circle of the land druid of the arctic couldn't cast this spell, but a wizard that has spent their entire life in a tower could? absolutely ludicrous.
If I cast this at it's max range, can I still make the wall portion extend the full length? Like say, I place the start of the wall at 120 ft, and want to create the wall it's full length further?
"You create a wall of ice on a solid surface within range." I would read that as a no, since the wall (the entire wall) has to be within the maximum range of the spell. However, thats how i would interpret it, so i would advice asking your DM (or if you are the DM, just pick whatever feels more logical for you :) )
LOL... everything a wizard learns is from a tower.... whats the point?
So does the wall disappear when the spell ends, or does it just stop dealing cold damage?
A spells effects generally fully dissapate at the end of their duration unless otherwise stated in the spell description. Wall of stone for example specifies that the walls remain after the full duration.
This is an awesome battlefield spell able to hit multiple targets and push them 5ft. Remember the wall need be contiguous but not necessarily a straight line. So many options.
Why does this wall have an AC of 12 when the DMG says that ice has an AC of 13?
"You can form it into a hemispherical dome or a sphere with a radius of up to 10 feet, or you can shape a flat surface made up of ten 10-foot-square panels. "
So if I were to cast this in a sphere around a flying creature, would the sphere fall, thus dragging whatever's inside down with it?
i believe it has to start on a surface. not in mid air. "You create a wall of ice on a solid surface within range"
a great teamwork spell, once the enemy moves through the wall cast thunderwave to throw the enemy back through the hole they created and take the damage again as its once per turn not round or their turn
Are you sure? This is a source of confusion at my table. It says you can “form” a curved 3-D dome/sphere for total enclosure, or “shape” “a” “flat” “surface” with contiguous panels. If the wall has eg multiple 90° angles — is this still “a flat surface”? Same question for Wall of Force. Can Wall of Force be shaped as you’ve described here, with angles? So long as all panels are the same orientation (eg all vertical ; so no cubes, but a “square” (seen from above: a box with no top or bottom; 4 sides only, no full enclosure, all vertical) is OK? Or no? 🧐
This is a very powerful spell and as an experienced DM I would caution other DMs at which point you allow this into your game.
I made an error in my Rime of the Frostmaiden Campaign in that a Frost Druid the party killed in a low-level encounter had a Staff of Frost, which the party spellcaster then seized and attuned to. Since then he has been dropping Walls of Ice on virtually every major 'Boss' encounter, 'shaping' the Wall into all manner of bizarre 'contiguous shapes' as per the RAW...
Yes the Wall must be formed on solid ground, but it can be formed into a zig-zag pattern of 10 x 10' high, 10' wide and 1' thick square panels that crushes virtually every opponent within range as long as the panels touch. 10d6 crushing damage on a failed save kills most enemies, and half that on a save takes out most 'rank and file' opponents so it is extremely powerful. Additionally, the spellcaster can also dispel the wall on command so it can be used as an 'instant kill' on many opponents and then dispelled for the party to mop up survivors.
If you play with miniatures, I would recommend that you purchase 10 x 2" square wooden tiles, paint them to look like ice, and then link them together using string so you can accurately represent where the Wall sits. As a DM I would also insist the spellcaster must be able to see the entire length of Wall for it to be cast, plus there can be nothing that obstructs its height or length that has equal to, or more hit points than the Wall (such as a stone roof or wall) or that whole 10' section of wall is destroyed...
Just some tips!!! :-)
In answer to your post, as the Rules Are Written (RAW) then YES, it can be formed into a 'square, open-roofed corral' but NO it can be formed into an 'enclosed box' since the top 10' square panel is NOT touching the floor. For an enclosed structure it must be in the form of a dome for structural integrity, not a squared, boxed room...
If you look at the dome/sphere rule it is VERY specific in that the dome or sphere has a maximum radius of 10 feet, i.e. a diameter of 20 feet. That means at the centre the DOME is a maximum of 10' high.
I would suggest that as a key rule for the DM and Players to understand is that the Wall must be formed with its main support structure touching the floor; i.e. it cannot be created in the air and then dropped on opponents, which incidentally used to happen in early editions of the game and was very annoying as a DM.
It must also be 'free-standing' once created, so it cannot be designed to topple over by itself unless force is applied to it (DM's discretion how much is needed).
The ONLY exception to this is the bizarre 10-foot radius sphere, but even in this case the bottom of the sphere has to be on a solid surface when created. Whether or not as a DM you allow it to then be subsequently moved or 'rolled' is up to you, but I would allow it just for the fun of rolling it down a mountain into enemies - and enjoying the multiple rolls for its to not smash apart as it bashes down the terrain into a screaming horde of goblins.. :-)
All good fun, but keep the balance!
Shaped ice isn't natural. It's elemental sure, but it's still... what's the word... architecture, a construct. Something like that. I agree druids should have it and maybe sorcerers, but it's a lot different than ice storm or conjure lightning. Bending the elemental power in clever ways to suit your purposes is wizard shiz.