Frostfall isn't on the Shaman's list.
A lesser elemental rod would be an excellent investment for burning hands and burning gaze, which are.
The Deep Shaman archetype adds to the power of Beckoning Chill as it adds the fatigued condition as well.
It is Polar Midnight making the combination devastating. Using the hex is a standard action so this combination will take 2 rounds and only target a single creature. The target of the hex also gets a saving throw to avoid the effect of the hex. There are a lot better combinations then Beckoning Chill to use with Polar Midnight. Entangle is a first level shaman spell and affects all creatures within a 40-ft. radius. That would take the same amount of time and can affect all creatures within the area of the Polar Midnight.
Spending two rounds to add an entangle effect to a single target of a spell is not that devastating.
[/b]@Mysterious Stranger[/b] You are right, doubly so as Polar Midnight is a level 9 spell.
However, Beckoning Chill does not allow a save.
Earlier I said-
A lesser elemental rod would be an excellent investment for burning hands and burning gaze, which are.
The Deep Shaman archetype adds to the power of Beckoning Chill as it adds the fatigued condition as well.
If you consider what has to be done to set up the combo, in terms of feats, traits, dips into other classes et al, this is easily the quickest and most practical way of using beckoning chill even if I do say so myself.
Take the Archetype and the Waves Spirit, buy one 3K gp magic item and away you go. If you can fork out the cash at level 2 a Burning [Freezing?] Hands can turn many difficult fights into a cakewalk.
@Mysterious Stranger You are right, doubly so as Polar Midnight is a level 9 spell.
However, Beckoning Chill does not allow a save.
Earlier I said-
A lesser elemental rod would be an excellent investment for burning hands and burning gaze, which are.
The Deep Shaman archetype adds to the power of Beckoning Chill as it adds the fatigued condition as well.
If you consider what has to be done to set up the combo, in terms of feats, traits, dips into other classes et al, this is easily the quickest and most practical way of using beckoning chill even if I do say so myself.
Take the Archetype and the Waves Spirit, buy one 3K gp magic item and away you go. If you can fork out the cash at level 2 a Burning [Freezing?] Hands can turn many difficult fights into a cakewalk. You can do that 3 times a day by memorising the spell 3 times. That is a lot of power for a level 2 character.
I doubt there a second level Shaman is going to be able to afford a lesser elemental rod. That is 3x the recommended wealth for a second level character. Even at 3rd level it takes your entire WBL leaving you no other equipment including armor or weapons. This is not going to be feasible until probably 7th level or higher.
Frostbite looks like a good spell to use this with. It only deals non-lethal damage, but it is cold damage so should work. It is only a first level spell but offers no save and gives the target the fatigued condition. Buy a wand of frostbite and spam it out like crazy. This allows you to add the fatigued condition even if the target is not in water. Hex your target and keep poking them with a stick for a minute.
Frost bite does 1d6 +1 per level damage with no maximum. This combination will allow those 1st level spells to be useful even at high levels.
True it is unlikely a 2nd level Shaman can afford an Elemental Rod, though not all campaigns have the same economics. But 7th level? Surely you can get one at level 4 with 6kgp if it is important to the character.
The Frostbite idea is quite sound of course.
Winter Grasp works well with the hex but to I still think Frost Bite has the best effect. A wand of Frost Bite is only 750 gold. Since the spell has no save and the only level dependent variable is the damage the wand will remain useful even at 20th level.
I am not sure the entangled condition would result in the inability to move. This seems to be more of the fact the cold slows them down rather than they are held by ice. If there are no bonds, then they cannot be anchored.
Thinking on this further the entangled condition from the hex will only prevent movement if the source of cold already does so. The target of the hex is the creature not the source of cold damage. Therefor the source of cold is not directly affected by the spell. The hex also caused the entangled condition from taking damage from cold, not contact with ice. A creature flying through a Winter Grasp will gain the entangled condition if they are under the effect of the hex even without touching the ground. That makes it clear that the ice on the ground is not actually directly entangling the target. If that is the case the rule about anchoring bonds do not apply.
You don’t need to touch the ice to be damaged by the cold. That makes the ice an indirect source of the damage. The fact that the creature flying over the ice is entangled means the entangle is not the result of the ice forming around the character. The same thing applies to a character walking on the ice.
The description of the hex states “The shaman causes one creature within 30 feet to become more susceptible to the sapping power of cold for 1 minute”. That makes it clear that the power of the hex is focused on the target of the hex, not on the source of the cold. The hex is creating a kind of vulnerability to cold in the target, not changing how the source of the cold acts.
Rime spell on the other does alter how the source of the cold affects the target. So, a Rime Winter Grasp would prevent the target from moving. But while Beckoning Chill causes a similar effect, it is not the same thing.
The changes are made to the target of the hex, not to the cold itself. The fact that another creature in the area does not gain the entangled condition supports my point. Why does the ice from Winter Grasp form around the target of the hex, but not around the creatures next to him. If the hex affected the source of the cold damage, it should have the same effect on all the creatures in the area. The hex makes the target more vulnerable to cold; it does not change the nature or effect of the cold itself.