Can the Elemental Adept feat cause the Chaos Bolt spell to chain this way?

Question

The Elemental Adept feat (PHB, p. 166) allows one to change treat results of 1 in damage dice for spells with a matching element as 2:

In addition, when you roll damage for a spell you cast that deals damage of that type, you can treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2.

The Chaos Bolt spell (XGtE, p. 151; GGtR, p. 67) has a variable damage type, which depends on the numbers rolled on the d8 damage, including doing cold damage on a 2. It also chains to another target if both d8s have the same number:

If you roll the same number on both d8s, the chaotic energy leaps from the target to a different creature of your choice within 30 feet of it

Suppose a sorcerer that has the Elemental Adept (cold) feat casts a Chaos Bolt, getting a 1 and a 2 on the d8 results. Can the sorcerer then say that the Chaos Bolt will deal cold damage, treat the d8 result of 1 as another 2 and therefore allow the Chaos Bolt to leap to a different target?

Answer 1

Yes, that combo works

By the wording of Chaos Bolt:

The number rolled on that die determines the attack's damage type as shown below.

And as you quoted from the Elemental Adept feat:

In addition, when you roll damage for a spell you cast that deals damage of that type, you can treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2.

It does not say that you treat the 1 as a 2 only for damage. Since specific overrides general, and this feat is specifically designed to overwrite damage roll values, this should work.

This all seems to be in line with the implications of a related but different question: How does an Evocation Wizard's Overchannel ability interact with Chaos Bolt?

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As an aside, combining this idea with either the UA variant class Sorcerer Elemental Spell metamagic or the UA Lore Wizard's Spell Secrets would allow you even better flexibility to treat the damage type as Cold regardless of the actual rolls, turning 1's into 2's and bypassing resistance. Combined with the Empowered Spell metamagic would further improve your odds by allowing you to re-roll any of the damage dice.