Ice

The creatures of Ice are defined, holistically, by their pragmatism in combat. They dislike taking on enemies in what most would call a 'fair fight,' and thus often take steps to ensure the opponent is weakened before a battle has even begun. If enemies can be slowed down and burdened before a battle even begins, they are much more prone to falling easily when a conflict finally occurs.

The foremost representation of this pragmatism is Ice's capacity to frost their enemies in order to erode at their physical forms. This ability can tear away at the power of their foes, and even induce vulnerability in creatures that would normally be able to defend themselves, vulnerable to attack. Smaller creatures can often be turned to dust outright by this method, rendering battle altogether unnecessary instead of simply easier to do.

As an alternative to freezing enemies directly, Ice creatures and magic can also simply freeze over enemy resources instead, damaging their supply lines and making it that much harder for an enemy force to mount a proper offensive front; the fewer enemies that make it to the battlefield, the more precise their limitations on that force's capacities can become. The fewer enemies there are to deal with, the more those few can be stifled.

Therein lies the true strength of Ice; those affiliated with it can limit and weaken their foes in virtually whatever way is needed, whether that be by the reduction of their power or eliminating their ability to move altogether with more potent blizzards, freezing enemies outright. For those creatures that cannot be stopped from moving altogether, Ice also has creatures specializing in the direct defense of their Grid networks or other creatures, and likewise pragmatism should not be misconstrued for weakness - there are several Ice creatures, such as those of the Giant race, who are very physically strong, and can directly tear through the ranks of enemies weakened or otherwise if they are not stopped.

However, Ice is not without weaknesses. Stronger members aside, its weaker creatures will often depend upon eroding opponents to deal with them, as Ice has no standard ways of increasing the physical power of its forces, or any sudden means of boosting it. This of course means that their ability to freeze over enemy supply lines must be used carefully or it can be wasted; if they cannot match the forces that do end up arriving to battle, reducing their momentum can often be made fairly pointless.

Similarly, no matter how much their blizzards can be concentrated in the short term, Ice can only slow or negate most things temporarily; the armies of Ice must counterbalance the stifling of their opponents with the steady building of their own forces for optimum effectiveness, because if an enemy army can survive their punishing blizzards, they will often emerge ready to retaliate.

Likewise, Ice is much less effective on enemies who battle without regard for complex tactics or whose response to most things is simply to just keep coming. If an enemy force approaches Ice linearly and refuses to be stopped despite the amount of corrosive frost thrown at it, they will be hard-pressed to defend themselves, as the element's weaker members will nearly always lose a war of attrition based on strength, and their stronger units can simply be outnumbered. Therefore, the best way to defeat Ice is to just keep coming - their goal of winning before a conflict can begin can be fundamentally negated if a force of sufficient determination simply refuses to be stopped.

However, despite these drawbacks, the power of Ice can erode nearly anything if they set about doing so early enough into a battle. The element highly values logical thinking and careful planning, and those who seek to win their battles tactically will surely feel comfortable wielding the forces of Ice. In the hands of a cunning leader, the forces of this element can unite to form an inexorable force whose slow but constant erosive strength will demoralize all enemies in its path.