Cold is one of the types of Elemental Damage. Cold Resistance reduces incoming Cold damage by X%.
Cold is one of the types of Elemental Damage. It is unique in that it not only damages targets, but it also often slows enemies. The effect is visible by a blue hue, and is commonly known as Chill. Frozen effect is a more powerful consequence, often added to Cold skills. Usually Cold is associated with colors blue or white.
For example, Cold Resistance: 5.0%.
| Name | Requires | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weak Elixir of Cold Resistance | Level 15 | Increases Cold Resist by 15% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. |
| Elixir of Cold Resistance | Level 45 | Increases Cold Resist by 20% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. |
| Strong Elixir of Cold Resistance | Level 60 | Increases Cold Resist by 25% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. |
| Potent Elixir of Cold Resistance | Level 75 | Increases Cold Resist by 32% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. |
| Heady Elixir of Cold Resistance | Level 90 | Increases Cold Resist by 40% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. |
You may only have one Elixir active at a time.
| Name | Description | Tags | Power Name | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Imbuement | Cooldown: 13 seconds skill_rankup_desc: Chill Amount {25 | Tags: Imbuement, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Imbueable | Rogue ColdImbue |
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| Mixed Cold Imbuement | Cold Imbued Skills deal x20% damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. Double this bonus against Frozen enemies. | Tags: Imbuement, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Imbueable | Rogue ColdImbue |
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| Blended Cold Imbuement | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 20% chance to instantly Freeze enemies for 3 seconds. | Tags: Imbuement, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Imbueable | Rogue ColdImbue |
|
| Enhanced Cold Imbuement | Lucky Hit: Cold Imbued Skills have up to a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. | Tags: Imbuement, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Imbueable | Rogue ColdImbue |
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| Ice Blades | Cooldown: 16 seconds skill_rankup_desc: Damage {23 | Tags: Conjuration, Frost, Vulnerable, Damage, Cold, Cooldown | Sorcerer IceBlades |
|
| Blizzard | Mana Cost: 40 skill_rankup_desc: Damage {#} | Tags: Mastery, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Mana, Crowd Control | Sorcerer Blizzard |
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| Frozen Orb | Mana Cost: 40 skill_rankup_desc: Shards Damage {31.7 | Tags: Core, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control, Mana | Sorcerer FrozenOrb |
|
| Deep Freeze | Cooldown: 60 seconds | Tags: Ultimate, Frost, Immune, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Damage Reduction | Sorcerer DeepFreeze |
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| Prime Deep Freeze | When Deep Freeze ends, gain 10% of your Base Life as a Barrier for 6 seconds for each enemy you Froze while it was active. | Tags: Ultimate, Frost, Immune, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Damage Reduction | Sorcerer DeepFreeze |
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| Supreme Deep Freeze | When Deep Freeze ends, your Non-Ultimate Cooldowns are reduced by 50%. | Tags: Ultimate, Frost, Immune, Chill, Damage, Cold, Cooldown, Crowd Control, Damage Reduction | Sorcerer DeepFreeze |
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| Icy Touch | You deal x{4 skill_rankup_desc: Damage Increase x{4 | Tags: Vulnerable, Cold, Damage | Sorcerer Talent Cold T2 N3 |
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| Frigid Breeze | Lucky Hit: Cold damage against Vulnerable enemies has up to a 20% chance to generate {5 skill_rankup_desc: Mana Restored {5 | Tags: Vulnerable, Cold, Lucky Hit, Mana | Sorcerer Talent 05 |
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| Ice Shards | Attack Speed Multiplier: 1.25 skill_rankup_desc: Damage {25 | Tags: Core, Frost, Frozen, Damage, Cold, Mana | Sorcerer IceShards |
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| Frost Bolt | Attack Speed Multiplier: 1.25 skill_rankup_desc: Damage {35 | Tags: Basic, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control | Sorcerer FrostBolt |
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| Mage's Blizzard | When cast above 50 Mana, Blizzard's duration is increased by 4 seconds. | Tags: Mastery, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Mana, Crowd Control | Sorcerer Blizzard |
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| Flickering Frost Bolt | Frost Bolt makes Frozen enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. | Tags: Basic, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control | Sorcerer FrostBolt |
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| Destructive Frozen Orb | Frozen Orb's explosion restores 5 Mana when hitting a Frozen enemy. | Tags: Core, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control, Mana | Sorcerer FrozenOrb |
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| Summoned Ice Blades | 20% of Enhanced Ice Blades's Cooldown reduction is applied to your other Skills. | Tags: Conjuration, Frost, Vulnerable, Damage, Cold, Cooldown | Sorcerer IceBlades |
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| Destructive Ice Shards | Hitting an enemy with 5 Ice Shards in a single cast makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds. | Tags: Core, Frost, Frozen, Damage, Cold, Mana | Sorcerer IceShards |
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| Greater Ice Shards | While you have a Barrier active, casts of Ice Shards treat enemies as if they were Frozen. | Tags: Core, Frost, Frozen, Damage, Cold, Mana | Sorcerer IceShards |
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| Invoked Ice Blades | Your Ice Blades gain +10% increased Attack Speed per active Ice Blades. | Tags: Conjuration, Frost, Vulnerable, Damage, Cold, Cooldown | Sorcerer IceBlades |
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| Greater Frozen Orb | Frozen Orb's explosion has a 25% chance to make all enemies hit Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Frozen Orb always makes Frozen enemies Vulnerable. | Tags: Core, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control, Mana | Sorcerer FrozenOrb |
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| Glinting Frost Bolt | Frost Bolt generates 4 Mana when hitting Chilled or Frozen enemies. | Tags: Basic, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control | Sorcerer FrostBolt |
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| Wizard's Blizzard | While you have an active Blizzard, your Core Skills cost 10% less Mana. | Tags: Mastery, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Mana, Crowd Control | Sorcerer Blizzard |
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| Enhanced Frost Bolt | Frost Bolt has a 15% chance to explode on Chilled enemies, hitting surrounding enemies. Chance increased to 100% against Frozen enemies. | Tags: Basic, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control | Sorcerer FrostBolt |
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| Enhanced Frozen Orb | When cast above 50 Mana, Frozen Orb's explosion damage is increased by x30%. | Tags: Core, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Crowd Control, Mana | Sorcerer FrozenOrb |
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| Enhanced Ice Shards | Ice Shards have a 40% chance to ricochet to another enemy. Ice Shards always ricochet off of Frozen enemies. | Tags: Core, Frost, Frozen, Damage, Cold, Mana | Sorcerer IceShards |
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| Enhanced Ice Blades | Ice Blades's Cooldown is reduced by 0.5 seconds each time it hits a Vulnerable enemy. | Tags: Conjuration, Frost, Vulnerable, Damage, Cold, Cooldown | Sorcerer IceBlades |
|
| Enhanced Blizzard | Blizzard deals x25% increased damage to Frozen enemies. | Tags: Mastery, Frost, Chill, Damage, Cold, Mana, Crowd Control | Sorcerer Blizzard |
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| Name | Description | Requires |
|---|---|---|
| Crude Sapphire |
|
Level 15 |
| Chipped Sapphire |
|
Level 20 |
| Sapphire |
|
Level 40 |
| Flawless Sapphire |
|
Level 50 |
| Royal Sapphire |
|
Level 60 |
| Name | Description | Requires |
|---|---|---|
| Crude Diamond |
| Level 15 |
| Chipped Diamond |
| Level 20 |
| Diamond |
| Level 40 |
| Flawless Diamond |
| Level 50 |
| Royal Diamond |
| Level 60 |
| Name | Requires | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Soothing Spices | Level 75 | Use: Increases all resistances by 10% and armor by 150 for every nearby player. Lasts 20 minutes. This is a type II incense. Only one Incense of a type may be active at a time. |
| Storm of The Wilds | Level 55 | Use: Increases Lightning, Cold and Poison Resistances by 12% for every nearby player. Lasts 20 minutes. This is a type I incense. Only one Incense of a type may be active at a time. |
Cold damage is taken rather seriously by players because of its versatility. Cold is not known for its damage range or amount but more for its effects of slowing, freezing and shattering opponents.
The amount of the cold damage can be decreased by building up Cold Resistance (either from items or from a Thawing Potion).
Cold damage is especially useful for crowd control in both single-player and multiplayer experiences. If a monster takes Cold damage, it might become totally frozen and stay still for some time. Super Unique Monsters, on the other hand, cannot be frozen. They can only be slowed, reducing their movement and attack speed. If you take Cold damage from a monster or from PvP, you will just slow down.
If a monster dies as a result of taking Cold damage, it will sometimes shatter into pieces, leaving no corpse. This is especially useful when fighting against groups that can resurrect slain comrades like the Fallen and their Shaman. The shattered bodies simply fall apart into ice shards, which quickly melt into the ground and leave no corpses, which could be revived by the Shaman.
Cold damage is used by the Sorceress, Paladin, Druid, Amazon and Assassin classes. Out of these, the Sorceress has the greatest repertoire of Cold Spells in a single skill tree than all the other classes combined. This makes her an ideal candidate for a crowd controlling member in parties.
In Diablo III, Cold damage is used by all classes except Crusaders, often chilling or freezing its target. Critical Hits from Cold skills freeze the slain target solid, making it shatter afterwards. Note that any Cold damage hit has a chance (lower than the Proc Coefficient, though) to Chill enemy on hit.
Andariel’s Visage, Azurewrath, Utar’s Roar, Stone of Jordan, Frostburn, Wrath of the Bone King, Winter Flurry, Etrayu, Gesture of Orpheus, Lidless Wall, Swamp Land Waders and Holy Point Shot are the items with unconventional bonus to Cold skills damage. Talisman of Aranoch amulet will render the character completely immune to Cold damage (the attacks will actually heal the Nephalem).
Cold has many effects, but the most annoying one is their slowing effect. This is especially true in the case of Cold Enchanted monsters. They have been known to slow the pace of the game forcing players to lose precious time in their games.
Cold is used by the Lord of Pain, Duriel, in the form of the Holy Freeze aura that slows down the player character to a grinding halt, often killing the player before Tal Rasha’s Chamber is even loaded.
The Lord of Terror himself, Diablo, uses Cold damage in his slowing Cold Touch attack. He raises his right hand in the air like the initiation of the deadly Red Lightning Hose, but his palm glows an eerie blue before he strikes down on the player with all his force. Most players avoid this due to the initiation action making players run before being struck by a possible red death.
The Lord of Destruction, Baal, also uses Cold in a more noteworthy style in his Hoarfrost attack. A crushing triangular wave of cold is launched towards the player, causing heavy damage, slowing and a severe knockback. A very deadly attack that can be seldom avoided at range.
Izual has a great affinity with Cold, causing the chill of Hell to sap the life from his victims.
Undead (including Reapers) often attack with Cold, likely symbolizing the chill of the grave fueling their attacks. Same applies to Undead-based abilities (like Haunt).
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