Ice Bolt
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Quick Facts:
- Ice Bolt will deal a minimum of 2 damage.
- Ice Bolt has a chance of freezing a target creature or weapon for 3 turns.
- Ice Bolt can deal a maximum of 16 damage.
Use This Card Together With:
Decks Using This Card:
Ice Bolt is one of the signature cards in water-heavy decks; the more 
quanta you have, the more damage the spell can do. Although often overlooked when compared to its relative, Fire Bolt, there are a few unique assets Ice Bolt has that truly sets it apart.
Ice Bolt will deal a minimum of 2 damage no matter what. However, an extra 2 points of damage can be dealt for each 10 quanta you possess. This is calculated before subtracting the spell cost. For example:
- 3-9 quanta -> 2 damage
- 10-19 -> 4 damage
- 20-29 -> 6 damage, and so on.
Using several Ice Bolts in one turn can result in an instant victory. Some decks (“sudden killers”) rely on stalling, waiting for a mass production of quanta, and killing the opponent in a single turn. It’s important to note that this type of damage requires some thoughtful calculation in order to ensure the final blow can be dealt within a given try, else the opponent can use the opportunity to heal themselves or finish you off the next turn. Because there is a quanta cap of 75 of any single type of quanta, Ice Bolt and Ice Lance can only do a maximum of 90 and 96 damage respectively in one turn, and some additional damage is needed to win. (For more help with calculations, jump to the end of this article.)
Aside from having the ability to deal huge amounts of damage, Ice Bolt can have a secondary effect: the chance to freeze a given target. Targeted creatures have the possibility of being iced, while opponent's targeted directly via the lifebar are at risk of having their weapon frozen. If the weapon is frozen, Shockwave can be used on the opponent's health, thereby destroying the weapon.
It is important to note that if an immaterial weapon (e.g., Morning Star/Morning Glory or weapons protected by Enchant Artifact/Protect Artifact) is already in the weapon slot, said weapon has no chance of being frozen from an Ice Bolt hitting the opponent directly.
The freeze effect always lasts for three turns, whether you are using Ice Bolt or its upgrade, Ice Lance.
Mathematically, the chance of the freeze effect occurring is 30% + 5% per point of damage dealt. For example, if Ice Bolt is cast when the user has 11 quanta, the chance of freezing is 50% [30 + (5x4)]. It only takes 60+ quanta for a guaranteed freeze to occur.
As with all direct-damage spells, Ice Bolt will be reflected by Emerald/Jade Shield and Reflective/Mirror Shield when targeting the opponent's lifebar. Things can get tricky if the opponent equips one of these, as the immaterial shield will prevent you from directly hitting the opponent's HP (lest you want the spell to boomerang back). Since the shields cannot be targeted by permanent control (e.g., Steal, Deflagration), you can use a reflective shield of your own to work around the opposition's defense; if you are equipped with a reflective shield and target yourself (your own lifebar), the damage will bounce off of you and hit the opponent instead.
The "ice bolt effect" can be randomly summoned by Chaos Seed or Pandemonium. If either form of CC produces an Ice Bolt, the amount of damage dealt to the creature is based off the amount of quanta the user possesses at the time.
Even though Ice Bolt is overshadowed in the damage department by Fire Bolt, the ability to delay/destroy weapons (in conjunction with Shockwave) is nothing to scoff at. If you see your opponent stalling with a water-based deck, make sure to keep an eye on their quanta and take them out before they have a chance to deliver a deadly one-turn blow.
Note: If you're having trouble figuring out bolt damage or want to crunch the numbers quickly (especially in a PvP match), there is an online calculator made by Elements Forum user jumpoffduck for all pump spells, including Ice Bolt: Bolt/Fahrenheit Calculator. There is also a spreadsheet made by user kevkev60614 that can be found here, and saved to your desktop as an excel file. For a look at a small range of Ice Bolt damage as it is stacked, you can check out the table below.
Damage table for multiple Ice Bolts, from 2-75 quanta
| Quanta | Ice Bolt | |||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
| 2-3 | 2 | |||||
| 4-5 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| 6-7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||
| 8-9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 10-11 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | |
| 12-13 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| 14-15 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 |
| 16-17 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| 18-19 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 22 |
| 20-21 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 |
| 22-23 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 28 |
| 24-25 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 30 |
| 26-27 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 28 | 32 |
| 28-29 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 | 34 |
| 30-31 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 26 | 32 | 38 |
| 32-33 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 28 | 34 | 40 |
| 34-35 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 42 |
| 36-37 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 38 | 44 |
| 38-39 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 | 46 |
| 40-41 | 10 | 18 | 26 | 34 | 42 | 50 |
| 42-43 | 10 | 20 | 28 | 36 | 44 | 52 |
| 44-45 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 38 | 46 | 54 |
| 46-47 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 48 | 56 |
| 48-49 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 58 |
| 50-51 | 12 | 22 | 32 | 42 | 52 | 62 |
| 52-53 | 12 | 24 | 34 | 44 | 54 | 64 |
| 54-55 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 46 | 56 | 66 |
| 56-57 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 48 | 58 | 68 |
| 58-59 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 70 |
| 60-61 | 14 | 26 | 38 | 50 | 62 | 74 |
| 62-63 | 14 | 28 | 40 | 52 | 64 | 76 |
| 64-65 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 54 | 66 | 78 |
| 66-67 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 56 | 68 | 80 |
| 68-69 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 56 | 70 | 82 |
| 70-71 | 16 | 30 | 44 | 58 | 72 | 86 |
| 72-73 | 16 | 32 | 46 | 60 | 74 | 88 |
| 74-75 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 62 | 76 | 90 |
