Ice Elementalist

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Ice Elementalists begin with the Freeze spell. The spells in their starting library are quite versatile.

Preferred Species

Merfolk, Gargoyle, Draconian, Djinni, Demigod, and Barachi are the recommended species if you pick an Ice Elementalist Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 robe
• Potion of magic

Available Spells

• Freeze
• Frozen Ramparts
• Ozocubu's Armour
• Summon Ice Beast

Ice Elementalists start with the Freeze spell memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 2
• Spellcasting: 2
• Ice Magic: 4

Choosing Ice Elementalist adds 7 to your starting Intelligence and 5 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

Ice Elementalists are a fairly consistent choice, with offensive spells that simply can't miss. Ice spells don't slouch for damage, and they will freeze cold-blooded monsters like reptiles in the process. However, several kinds of enemies resist cold - early examples include the undead and ice beasts. Their starting spells also have poor range, though Ice Magic's power easily makes up for it.

Spell Details

Freeze is a powerful level 1 attack spell. It deals average damage, but ignores both AC and EV to always hit. Fast and evasive monsters, such as jackals and adders, are some of the scariest monsters in the upper Dungeon -- monsters which Freeze works well against. You can use whatever throwables or Slings you find in order to compensate for its 1-tile range.

Frozen Ramparts is a very strong spell, especially in hallways. It deals strong and guaranteed AOE damage, as long as you can survive a few hits without moving. The spell requires walls to function, but those are in abundance throughout the Dungeon (and even Lair). Ozocubu's Armour may give you just the defense you need in such a situation. They both are level 3 and pure Ice Magic, meaning its trivial to cast them both at the same time. Generally, Frozen Ramparts is the better option of the two if you're out of spell levels - it simply and reliably kills things.

Summon Ice Beast summons... an ice beast. Summons are useful since they are cost efficient and because they can take damage for you. You can have up to 1 summoned ice beast at a time. Ice beasts also deal a small amount of physical damage.

History

• Prior to 0.30, Ice Elementalists started with Hailstorm rather than Summon Ice Beast.
• In 0.29, most backgrounds were buffed; all Mage backgrounds gained a potion of magic.
• Prior to 0.27, Ice Elementalists started with the Book of Frost, and had Summon Ice Beast.
• Prior to 0.25, Ice Elementalists started with Throw Frost and Throw Icicle instead of Frozen Ramparts and Hailstorm. They also had 1 skill in Conjurations, but only 3 skill in Ice Magic.
• Prior to 0.14, Ice Elementalists only started with 1 level of Spellcasting.