How to Get the Ice Sword in 99 Nights in the Forest

The Ice Sword is the Snow Biome's melee weapon and one of the few items in 99 Nights in the Forest that no recipe can produce. You have to open the right chest in the right cave and get lucky. This page covers exactly which chests, which two places they spawn, what the sword actually does once you have it, and whether it beats the Morningstar.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.

Quick Answer

What It Does

The Ice Sword is a melee weapon with a slow attached, which is a combination nothing else in the melee tree offers at this damage level.

Two caveats on those numbers. The damage figure is 35 across three separate sources we checked; an older revision of the fandom wiki lists 30 (39 with Brawler), which we read as a pre-adjustment value, so treat 35 as current. Swing rate is listed as 0.5 seconds by two sources and 0.6 seconds ("same as an axe") by the fandom wiki — a difference small enough that it changes nothing in practice.

The Frost Effect is the real selling point. Enemies you hit are slowed rather than just damaged, which turns it into a kiting and crowd-control tool. The clearest practical expression of it: as the Brawler class, the Ice Sword kills a Wolf or an Arctic Fox in two hits. Against packs — Cultists, Wolves, foxes — that slow is worth more than raw damage, because it lets you disengage from a fight you were losing.

Where It Comes From

There is no recipe and no vendor. The Ice Sword comes from Silver Ice Chests, and those spawn in exactly two places, both deep in the Snow Biome:

Both locations are Snow Biome only, and the biome itself is not guaranteed to generate — the map splits into outer sectors and Snow competes with Volcanic for the slot. See Snow Biome for the cold mechanic, the freeze meter, and how to survive long enough to loot anything.

One naming note, because it trips people up: sources call the chest the Ice Chest, the Silver Ice Chest, and the Fancy Ice Chest interchangeably. It is the same chest. Our Snow Biome page also lists a separate Cold Chest as a possible spawn, so check both types when you are in there.

Expect to open several. The Ice Chest loot table is shared — the same chests also produce the Ice Axe, Frozen Shuriken, Snowball and Ice Bow — so the sword is one roll among several rather than the chest's purpose. There is no way to improve the odds; the only lever you have is visiting more chests across more runs.

Ice Sword vs Morningstar

This comparison comes up constantly in community tier discussions, and the numbers explain why it is genuinely close rather than a matter of taste.

On the listed stats, both weapons produce about 70 damage per second:

That is straightforward arithmetic on the published figures, not a claim from any single guide — and it is why "many players consider the Ice Sword better than the Morningstar depending on how you use it" is a defensible position rather than forum noise. Same output, plus a slow, and the Ice Sword is meaningfully easier to find: Silver Ice Chests versus Gold Chests, which are the rarest chest tier in the game.

Where the Morningstar still wins is burst: 70 in one swing ends a threat faster than two 35s, and its explosion bar adds area damage the Ice Sword has nothing to answer. If you fight single tough enemies, the Morningstar. If you fight packs, the Ice Sword.

Both sit in the S tier on our Best Weapons ranking, along with the Obsidiron Hammer, Infernal Sword, Poison Spear and Flamethrower.

Who Should Use It

• Brawler — the standout pairing. Damage scales to 45.5, and wolves and Arctic Foxes die in two hits.
• Berserker — 56 damage when fully boosted, the highest number the sword reaches.
• Anyone farming the Snow Biome — you are already in the caves for Cultist Gems and pelts, so the chests are a free roll rather than a detour.

If you are heading in purely for the sword, bring warm clothing. The freeze meter will stop you sprinting, and a Polar Bear you cannot run from is how runs end. The Polar Bear page covers the elevation trick that lets you clear the cave without taking damage.

FAQ

Can I craft the Ice Sword? No. Every source agrees there is no recipe. Chests only.

Can I get it outside the Snow Biome? No. Both spawn points — Polar Bear Cave and Ice Temple — are Snow Biome locations.

Which chest exactly? The Silver Ice Chest, also called the Ice Chest. Our Snow Biome page lists a Cold Chest as a possible additional spawn.

Is it better than the Morningstar? On damage per second they are tied at roughly 70. The Ice Sword adds a slow and is easier to obtain; the Morningstar has better burst and area damage.

What class makes it strongest? Berserker at 56 damage fully boosted. Brawler is the better all-round fit because of the two-hit breakpoints against wolves and foxes.

Is there a fire version? Yes — the Infernal Sword is explicitly its counterpart, trading the Frost slow for Burning damage over time. Same idea, opposite biome. See How to Get the Infernal Sword.

Sources

Checked 2026-09-30. Damage (35 base, 45.5 Brawler, 56 boosted Berserker), swing rate and the Frost Effect are given identically by the community wiki mirror and 99-nights-in-the-forest.com, and the 35 figure is independently repeated by BloxSwaps' weapon table. The fandom wiki's older revision lists 30 damage and a 0.6-second swing, noted above as a likely pre-adjustment value. Both spawn locations — Polar Bear Cave and Ice Temple — are unanimous across every source we checked, as is the absence of a crafting recipe. The "silver ice chest" naming comes from the fandom wiki; other sources shorten it to Ice Chest. The Morningstar comparison in the community (Ice Sword "could be stronger") is recorded by the wiki mirror and by a dedicated melee-weapon guide; the damage-per-second arithmetic in our table is our own calculation from the published stats, not a sourced claim.

Related Pages

• How to Get the Infernal Sword — its fire counterpart, from the Volcanic Biome
• Best Weapons — the full tier ranking and how it compares
• Snow Biome — the freeze mechanic and every chest that spawns there
• The Polar Bear — what guards the cave the chests sit in
• How to Get Wood Fast — campfire levels, which gate how far out you can push