Frozen Ramparts

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Frozen Ramparts
Level	3
School1	Ice
Source(s)	Book of Frost Book of Sloth
Casting noise	3
Spell noise	8
Power Cap	50
Range	2
Flags	Area, No ghost

Encases surrounding walls with ice for a short time. Foes that wander near the icy walls will be damaged, and this may temporarily slow cold-blooded creatures. Each victim is only ever affected by one icy wall at a time. The ice will crack and fall away if the caster moves to a new position.

Frozen Ramparts is a Level 3 Ice Magic spell that temporarily covers all walls within 2 tiles of the caster with ice. These ice-covered walls will inflict 1d(1 + 0.3 * power) cold damage damage on any monster that stands next to them (similar to the slime-covered walls of the Slime Pits). It does not check evasion, and may slow down cold-blooded creatures. The caster and their allies are immune to the spell's effects.

While the spell is active, attempting to cast the spell again will fail (but will not waste any time). Choose your battleground carefully, for you will not be able to move without ending the spell prematurely.

Ice Elementalists begin with this spell in their libraries.

Strategy

As Frozen Ramparts never misses, it's useful for fighting highly evasive enemies like killer bees. It's also a fairly strong spell in its own right, made reliable by its accuracy.

Frozen Ramparts deals significant damage over its duration to all enemies. However, it requires you to remain still and keep your enemies next to walls. It is most effective in corridors, but can perform adequately in semi-open areas so long as you can still position your foe(s) next to a wall.

Do note that intelligent enemies may attempt to avoid ice-covered walls if (and only if) their health is low enough; if you need to reactivate the spell, you may need to wait until your foes are in position in order to catch them in the area. Unlike clouds, weaker monsters will charge into the Ramparts without care.

Tips & Tricks

• Ozocubu's Armour shares its spell school, movement restrictions, and even spell level with Frozen Ramparts. The two spells possess impressive natural synergy.
• Despite their similarity to walls, trees are not affected by Frozen Ramparts, making the spell of little use in forested areas like the Swamp.
• Any change in position will break the ramparts, be it voluntary (movement, blinking) or not (Force Lance, being trampled). Take care to position yourself to maximize the spell's effectiveness, and consider using a different spell against creatures that can force you to move.

History

• Prior to 0.29, Frozen Ramparts ignored AC, but did less damage: 1d(2 + 0.2 * power).
• Prior to 0.27, certain involuntary movements, such as an elephant's trample, did not disrupt the Ramparts.
• Prior to 0.26, you could move without ending the spell.
• Frozen Ramparts was added in 0.25.