Ice Knife

A
Damage

Ice Knife is a Damage spell. Damage spells focus on dealing harm to enemies.

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 spell that hurls a shard of ice, striking one foe and bursting to chill
nearby creatures

Ice Knife is a Multi Target spell. Multi Target spells have an area of effect or can explicitly target multiple allies or enemies.

See all Multi Target spells →
.

2024 Rules
Level & School
1st-level conjuration
Casting Time
Action
Range
60 feet
Components
S, M (a drop of water or a piece of ice)
Duration
Instantaneous
Classes
Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Source
Player's Handbook (2024)

You create a shard of ice and fling it at one creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 Piercing damage. Hit or miss, the shard then explodes. The target and each creature within 5 feet of it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 Cold damage.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The Cold damage increases by 1d6 for each spell slot level above 1.

2014 Rules
Level & School
1st-level conjuration
Casting Time
Action
Range
60 feet
Components
S, M (a drop of water or piece of ice)
Duration
Instantaneous
Classes
Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Source
Xanathar's Guide to Everything

You create a shard of ice and fling it at one creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 piercing damage. Hit or miss, the shard then explodes. The target and each creature within 5 feet of it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 cold damage.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the cold damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.

Ice Knife 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

Effectively the same spell. The 2024 version is reworded but functions identically.

Ice Knife popularity

How popular is Ice Knife? It is a commonly found spell in the game, but is chosen less than other options when available. This spell may be situational for many spellbooks.

Read about how this popularity data is calculated.

Spells similar to Ice Knife