The Summit

Diablo II Information and Guides

Fire Golem FAQ
Version 1.1
by Darker Realm

Part 1: Information



"It is believed that all life was forged when fire, earth, iron and flesh were combined. A Necromancer learned in this art can summon a Golem constructed entirely from living flame. The Necromancer summons the Golem through accelerating particles of the air at an ever increasing pace. These particles then ignite and the Golem crackles into existence, seemingly out of thin air."

-Arreat Summit

This will be a compilation of all knowledge on the skill, Fire Golem, which will include useful facts about the skill, as well as application. No opinion shall be slated here, merely, it is a resource for those who already have the skill Fire Golem developed and those who wish to invest points on Fire Golem.

Sources: diabloii.net Question on Fire Golem, diabloii.net Golem FAQ, and

Necromancer Pet Calculator. Here are the links to them:

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=508631

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=325107

http://tph.tuwien.ac.at/~gottwald/ne...alculator.html

Abstract:

Thirty spokes meet at a nave,
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel,
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth,
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not.

- Dao De Jing [Peter A. Merel]



Even empty space has its use - it provides a cushion between two points and a grid for movement, and can be shaped to one's advantage. But the Necromancer has complete control over space and time, and the means to use them. Damage over time, optimal tanking are all numbers that fly through the endless information stream.

What is use? What is the difference between useful and not? These are pressing questions in our daily lives. In the end, however, when we place truth and information side by side, we are in an eternal quest for maximum performance, and we realize enjoyment of the game is most important.

Thus as we explore the abilities of Fire Golem, we shall see that it offers much more beyond a seemingly innoculous performance compared to high-dps skills such as Paladin or Sorceress skills; in essence, Fire Golem is the ultimate tank.

Governing Statement:

Development of the Fire Golem skill is a tasking but extremely rewarding assignment, training the user how to judge a situation properly, how to use the proper skill for the proper situation, by maximizing speed, damage, and by multitasking, problem-solving. If one can overcome barriers to difficulty, one can overcome anything.

Summoning a good Golem is extremely difficult, given the barriers to success (low base damage, Fire Immunes). Why bother to try when all else have failed? Because one can.

Can you fight the most difficult depths of Hell without using Clay Golem? Only the strongest Necromancers have the ability to harness the true powers of the Fire Elemental, and the reader's discretion will prove so.

And finally, developing a certain skill, and putting one point on it, will never make one successful. Same goes for everything else in life.

Comparison with other Tanks:

Fire Golem has the most hit points out of all Golems. Perhaps not as strong initially compared to the Valkyrie or Grizzly Bear. But as a Sorceror's spell, once Lower Resist or Conviction is used, the damage should be greater than other tanks.

Moreover, there are distinct advantages Fire Golem has. It should be Fire Immune, of course, with enough points on Summon Resist. Golems can benefit additionally from Summon Resist, whereas the other tanks cannot. This means that Golems in general have an edge in resilience. On the offensive, Fire Golem is the quickest tank, and has a modest attack speed once Fanaticism is applied.

Why do you want a quick tank? Because the Golem, not the mercenary, will arrive first to absorb damage from ranged attackers. Golem Mastery should be maxed to yield a huge advantage in Nightmare and Hell difficulties.

One will be completely invulnerable to poison mages, as the Golem will be first in line to absorb the damage. No need for Andariel's Visage. No need to keep Golem healed; you can always recast it. As long as the Golem functions as a tank, one can divert attention away from defending (as defensive-minded players do) and focus on an attacking game.

Most distinctively, Fire Golem has a Holy Fire Aura, attracting monsters to it rather than the Necromancer or the mercenary. This will prove to be one of the most useful Golems, when used as a tank.

However, bear in mind that only the Necromancer can natively use Amplify Damage and Lower Resist. Being said, that increases the damage.

With these advantages, once Paladin Auras such as Fanaticism and Concentration are applied to the Golem and its damage reaches an effective amount, it will be superior to other tanks.

Builds:

For most Necromancer builds, 1 point on Fire Golem is recommended. It is generally agreed upon by experienced players that 1 point provides many useful applications.

Additional points are advised on special builds, usually 20 on Fire Golem but can be adjusted.

You can use Fire Golem for:

Fire Golem is prefered to having 40 other summons on the screen.

Note on Fire:

Fire has one reason to exist: to burn and perhaps destroy. Fire, in the game, can be the most dangerous element. For Cold exists to add a chilling slowdown of monsters, weaker than Fire, and can be rendered Cannot Be Frozen, Lightning can do more potentially but is risky and can do harm do a user when he or she really needs high damage, and Poison does not do much damage resisting can be cut in duration by % duration reduce items.

Fire Golem, on the calculator, does flat damage, meaning that if it says 1k, it will do 1k - 1k. If you say it does 1400, it will do exactly 1400 - 1400, plus or minus an insignificant amount of damage. So it would make no difference if the skill did 100-3000 damage (average 1.5k), 100-4000 damage (average 2k).

Comparing the skill to Fire Bolt, and Fire Ball, the damage is quite modest and on par with damage over time. The damage is greater than Fire Bolt or Ball at lower levels, and still practical at high levels. This is because Fire Golem seeks out monsters automatically and does not need to be fired in quick powerful bursts, then casting nothing. Fire Golem can be combined with Fire Mastery on a Trang Oul build, but that will not be covered here.

Achieving Skill Levels:

Our motive for using it is given: the Golem increases in damage and fire absorption (trivial) at increased skill levels. There is a noticeable disparity between skills that have an Slvl 45, Slvl 30, Slvl 15, and a Slvl level 1 requirement. Thus, there is no reason to develop upon the skill other than to do more damage. Using a Level 20 Base Fire Golem,

Fire Golem can be boosted to a realistic Slvl 45+ without +Skill Grand Charms:

+3 Golemancer’s Wand with Fire Golem or Carin Shard
+3 Golemancer’s Head with Fire Golem or Boneflame / Darkforce
+3 Golemancer’s Circlet or +2 Shako / Necromancer Circlet
+3 Golemancer’s Amulet or +2 Maras / Necromancer Amulet
+2 Stone of Jordan
+2 Enigma
+1 Magefist
+1 Arachnid Mesh

+4 Torch and Annihilus
+2 Skill Shrine
+1 Battle Orders

Statistics:

Originally posted by RTB:

Additional Fire Resist = 100 - Fire Absorb
Without Summon Resist, you can get a Fire Golem to Absorb, but as you can see it's not easy at all. With Summon Resist, it's impossible.

Fire Absorb:
0.75 * ((110*lvl) / (lvl+6)) + 25

Added Fire Damage:
base: 10 - 27
Slvl 2 - 8: +9 min, +10 max per Slvl
Slvl 9 - 16: +10 min, +11 max per Slvl
Slvl 17 - 22: +11 min, +12 max per Slvl
Slvl 23 - 28: +12 min, +13 max per Slvl
Slvl 29+ : +13 min, +14 max per Slvl

Holy Fire Slvl = 7 + Slvl, capped at 30.

Mana cost: 50 +10Slvl

Hp% adjustment:
20*Slvl_GolemMastery + 5*baseSlvl_BloodGolem

As one would expect, there is an increase in damage at higher and higher levels of Fire Golem. Not enough to merit compared to Blessed Hammer, but not enough to disregard when combined with external damage increasing effects, as I will demonstrate later.

Damage:

The problem with Fire Golem is that the actual damage is listed lower than that on the Skill Tree. Thus if it lists 3000 damage, the actual damage is about 2000. If it lists 2000, the actual damage is closer to 1400.

Attack Frame Rate: 16 frames per second base, 12 frames per second after fanaticism from Faith

I will use Level 32 as a normal Fire Golem, Level 45 as a Fire Golem with max prebuff, Level 55 as a Fire Golem with max prebuff and +skill Gcs. Level 32 is practical, and Level 45 is realistic.

Using the Pet Calculator,
DPS = Damage per second
All figures rounded down

Level 32 Fire Golem: 604-664 Fire (664 average) 555.4 DPS
Level 45 Fire Golem: 773-846 Fire (809 average) 701.6 DPS
Level 55 Fire Golem: 903-986 Fire (944 average) 814.1 DPS

Adding Physical and Pulse Damage:

Level 32: 664 + (18-47) + (43-45), 740 total damage
Level 45: 809 + (18-47) + (43-45), 885 total damage
Level 55: 944 + (18-47) + (43-45), 1020 total damage

Using Faith:

Level 32: 660.4 DPS
Level 45: 822.9 DPS
Level 55: 947.9 DPS

Adding Physical and Pulse Damage:

Level 32: 664 + (43-114) + (43-45), 786 total damage
Level 45: 809 + (43-114) + (43-45), 931 total damage
Level 55: 944 + (43-114) + (43-45), 1066 total damage

After Level 23 Enchant from Demon Limb: 87-111 Fire damage (100 average)

Level 32: 886
Level 45: 1031
Level 55: 1166

After Amplify Damage (roughly since some monsters have physical resist)

Level 32: 965
Level 45: 1110
Level 55: 1245

Using Slvl 32 Lower Resist + Slvl 12 Conviction (from Infinity) instead:

Level 32: 786 x 2 = 1572
Level 45: 931 x 2 = 1862
Level 55: 1066 x 2 = 2132

With Enchant: (This time Enchant does double 200 Damage because of -Fire Res %)

Level 32: 786 x 2 = 1772
Level 45: 931 x 2 = 2062
Level 55: 1066 x 2 = 2332

As you can see, at level 45, the numbers 2062 using Lower Resist + Conviction from Infinity, 1110 using Amp + Fanaticism from Faith, are decent. At level 32 without using any prebuff at all, there is not too much difference, not too much damage that is lost and continues to be viable.

Thus, it is demonstrated that a base level 20 Fire Golem is viable. And it is much more impressive when using Lower Resist + Conviction. Still, this is merely a single hit of Fire Golem. We have no accurate way of measuring the true damage over time of Fire Golem, and since at 16 Frames, it can complete 1.66x of an attack and at 12 Frames 2x of an attack, the actual damage over time should be much higher. So if we multiply them by a conservative 1.3x, not 2x, we get:

Level 32: 1772 x 1.3 = 2303
Level 45: 2062 x 1.3 = 2680
Level 55: 2332 x 1.3 = 3031

If Amplify, Enchant, and Fanaticism is used, we use 2x since the attack frame is 12 FPS

Level 32: 965 x 2 = 1930
Level 45: 1110 x 2 = 2220
Level 55: 1245 x 2 = 2490

Not exactly, however. The weakness of using the Amplify combination is that it is ineffective against Fire Immunes.

Note: +% Fire damage and Fire Mastery gear also increase Fire Golem damage.

Attack Rating:

Attack Rating is a problematic sphere of Fire Golem. Given that the Golem cannot achieve a 100% chance to hit (95% cap) on its own, it is best to investigate the true ability of the Golem. Attack Rating is found on Golem Mastery and not on Fire Golem.

The good news is, it seems that the Attack Rating is much higher than the listed amount on the Skill Screen. The Golem Attack Rating also increases as your character levels.

Please note that these are Base Slvls

Slvl 1 Golem Mastery = 13 GM at 32 FG, 26 GM at 45 FG,
Slvl 10 Golem Mastery = 22 GM at 32 FG, 35 GM at 45 FG
Slvl 20 Golem Mastery = 32 GM at 32 FG, 45 GM at 45 FG

Attack Rating of Golem Mastery (at Clvl 95), of a Level 32 Fire Golem

Slvl 1 = 4431
Slvl 10 = 4656
Slvl 20 = 4906

Attack Rating of Level 45 Fire Golem

Slvl 1 = 4756
Slvl 10 = 4981
Slvl 20 = 5231

After Level 15 Fanaticism at Level 32:

Slvl 1 = 9305
Slvl 10 = 9777
Slvl 20 = 10302

After Level 15 Fanaticism at Level 45:

Slvl 1 = 9987
Slvl 10 = 10460
Slvl 20 = 10985

This does not include the addition of Inner Sight, which Rogues mercenaries equipped with Faith often cast, and does not include Conviction, which works equally as well as Fanaticism if not better. It does not include Enchant, which can often be cast on Fire Golem.

This means that normally, a Golem would have about an 80% chance to hit for most monsters and 50% on bosses and most players. After an Aura or Enchant, it should have close to 100% chance to hit, and perhaps 75% chance to hit for most bosses and players. With both Aura and Enchant, it should have about 80% chance to hit for most bosses and players. Still, this is before Inner Sight is cast.

The true Chance to Hit for the Golem should be closer to 100% than 95%, with the reason Fire Golem has a 5% chance of Critical Strike, doubling all of its damage. So we can be safe to say that Fire Golem is what it advertises itself to be as.

Part 2

Applications:

Low Level

The most common use of Fire Golem is leveling during low-levels. It is very common to see players use Fire Golem in Normal and Nightmare difficulties, as its damage is very effective, even without using +skills to boost the Golem. Excellent choice for untwinked builds. No rushing here, FFS.

We mostly remember how difficult Normal Baal, Nightmare Diablo, and Nightmare Baal was. But we all remembered, those of us who had invested points in Fire Golem, how a significant of an addition to the army at lower-to-mid character levels It was. Great choice first characters or those who do not have decent gear yet.

High Level

The fastest way to level any Necromancer that has points invested in Golems is by using Fire Golem, since leveling speed = killing speed. Fire Golem has the greatest damage of them all. Switch to Clay Golem when the monsters are difficult. One will discover that, the higher his level, the more effective Fire Golem becomes, since Monster Level = Character Level. Fire Golem is great on Necromancers that are Level 95+.

Magic Find

The Necromancer is the only character class that can wield at least and not up to, three different Holy Auras, and one class-inherent Aura that does that reduce kill effectiveness (since Golem is not an active skill but a summon, so frees up the Necromancer to do other tasks). A Holy Shock Paladin would have to switch between Teleport and Holy Shock, taking up time. Also, a 20 point Holy Shock Paladin is a different build, and uncommon. A 20 point Fire Golem Summoner has, different uses.

If one runs around in Normal or Nightmare (Nightmare requires Lower Resist to be cast), monsters will instantly be annihilated and disappear. It is like the Diablo skill Armageddon.

You can have a Level 1 base Fire Golem to do this , but after +Skills the Golem needs to be at Slvl 30 (since Holy Fire tops at level 30). Place a Holy Shock Aura on your mercenary, and another Holy aura on your Necromancer.

Great way to improve the economy with excellent normal and exceptional rare, and unique items, and a chance to help others out with your spare finds. Great way for finding Low-Level Dueling items.

Effective Use:

Always prebuff before long games (long Mf runs) and encounters with other players. You do not have to prebuff for short games. Aside from your normal items, put +Skills gear on, cast Golem, then put your normal gear back on. Once prebuffed, make sure your Golem does not die.

If prebuff is not used, recast when Golem Life is low. You do not have to hotkey the Golem, but make sure you can access the Skill Speed Bar quickly (I personally use Spacebar). Always give Battle Orders from Call to Arms when necessary. Make sure at least one point is invested in Summon Resist.

Learn to chain commands by holding down right-click and quickly cycling through skills. That way a player is able to quickly curse, explode, attack, resummon. Make sure every monster that Fire Golem engages in is cursed. Use Amplify Damage normally, and use Decreptify on difficult monster packs and bosses.

Use in conjunction with Clay Golem. Nobody said a Necromancer could only use one Golem. First cast Clay Golem to slow a pack of unique monsters down, then cast Fire Golem. This is the method of choice against bosses. It is the fastest way to beat a boss for any Necromancer. Alternatively, one can carry a % Slows Target by Item and use it in place of Clay.

There is no better choice than using Fire Golem when there is another Necromancer that is using Clay Golem present in a game. Clay will desynchronize the server if they are at different levels. Given that the chances of different Clay Golem Skill levels are very high, it is to the best interest of the player to avoid massive server desynch and instead improve overall damage while retaining the slowing ability for difficult enemies (e.g. bosses, Death Lords)

To defeat Baal, first Decreptify him, then use a % Slows Target Item or cast Clay Golem on him. Switch to Amplify damage once he is under control, and attack him. If he attacks back with a ranged cold spell, or moves around, Decreptify him again. Then Amplify. If the Slows Target effect wears out, reactivate Clay, then switch back to Fire Golem once you see the boss slow down.

Use with AI curses. We know if Fire Golem causes chaos to monsters, Fire Golem and Confuse will cause delirium among the ranks. Dream on a mercenary will suffice. Also it could be useful with Attract if you use Fire Golem on one side, Attract on the other side and have an army at your disposal, creating a two-point battle strategy. Attract + Amplify Damage, period.

If Last Wish or Life Tap is being used, allow the Golem to strike a few monsters before recasting your main curse (Amplify, Decrep, or Lower Resist)


Conditions and Terrain:

Fire Golem is best used in a Solo game. Actual damage will be dealt to monsters, and the Golem will finish off any monster your mercenary or army does not. Make sure you bring your mercenary.

Because of the Holy Fire Aura, the monsters target your Golem instead of mercenary, thus increasing the chances of survival of your mercenary and yourself. Fire, just like Clay Golem, reduces casualties of Skeleton Warriors and Mages.

In a multi-player game with high monster life, it is still an effective skill in teamplay. Stay near players with powerful auras such as Might, Concentration and Fanaticism, Enchant, and Battle Orders. That way, the Golem continues to be damage effective. It is best if you are able to play with other Necromancers with Fire Golem. Think about a game with three or four Fire Golems running around. Even if the monsters have more life, there are more Fire Golems present.

Play with friends if possible. Your friend will understand your build and he or she will increase the utility of Fire Golem, and your Fire Golem will help your friend. Certain builds complement each other. It is for the player to investigate such build combinations.

Use Fire Golem to light very dark areas, especially if you don’t have a torch or is wearing –light radius items. Jail, Catacombs, Caves, Halls of the Dead, Nilathak’s Temple are all too well known examples. All Golems and Mages have a light radius but Skeletons and Revives do not. If you use Fire Golem, it is like bearing a Torch.

Bestiary Knowledge and Player versus Player:

Study the resists of various monsters, and pay attention to Fire especially. There are some monsters that Fire Golem is especially useful against…

-Greater Mummies (Most have 50% Fire, Cold, Lightning Physical Resist). For the Bone Necromancer, Fire Golem is essential when dealing with Magic Immunes.

-Oblivion Knights. Since they are Cold Immune, Fire Golem burns them fast. Decreptify or Amp the Oblivion Knight, then attack them by teleporting on them. Fire Golem is more reliable than skeletons at successful hits (higher AR and attack speed). Use in conjunction with a mercenary and army. Do it this way, Oblivion Knights will die in 1-2 seconds. Teleport on them and attack yourself using a weapon, wand, or bone spell, and the Knight will die even faster.

-Cold Immunes. Any monster in the Ice Caves will have a difficult time dealing with Fire Golem. Especially useful on Ice Creepers, since they do not leave bodies. If a Cold Immune monster leaves a body, then use Corpse Explosion and you will have double the Fire damage.

-Physical Immunes. Very useful on Ghosts, Fire Golem is the quickest way to destroy them. Since they congregate in a single stack, focus damage on one Ghost, then use Corpse Explosion on the rest

“Fire Golems also absorb and heal from fire damage, so they can thrive in places other golems would die immediately.”

- Diabloii.net Necromancer Section

Fight Fire-based enemies in both PvP and PvM, for the Golem is Immune to Fire and absorbs if your opponent has Conviction or Lower Resist. Fire Sorceresses and Fire Druids (Fire Claws or Fire Elementals), Fire Assassins, and even other Fire-using Necromancers could be some example. Travincal, Act 4 Hell, are fine examples of Fire-using monsters. The purpose is not to damage Fire-using monsters that are Fire-Immune, but letting the golem and entire army to live to fight another day.

Spam from town in PvP. This is the only way to damage other players from town, and Fire Golem, out of all the character classes, is the fastest running summon (and has a nearly unbeatable attack rate). It explodes when it dies, so this can be compounded with IM or Thorns. Fire Golem is the second best golem to use for damage returned after Iron.

Strike fear and impatience into your opponents. If it hurts another player, not matter how much life it takes off, they will fear it. This can be used in conjunction with IM or Thorns.

In PvP, use it as an instant attack or an instant kill that automatically aims. Bone Spear may be fast and Bone Spirit may be homing, but Fire Golem is fast and homing.

Conclusion:

There is no final word on the skill. All that is wished here is an open-mind and initiative to find the uses of the skill rather than discussing it in theory. The range of effectiveness of ANY skill in Diablo 2 on Battle.net is far from being used to its full ability. Most players focus on one skill and right-click their way through the game. There is a great and wide world out there, and can be explored at one's wish.

In the past patches, Fire Golem was a popular skill. There is unlikely to be a new patch. The challenges in the way of Fire Golem in 1.10 are:

-No Fire Mastery Synergy
-Increased Damage / Monster Life scaling
-Cannot synergize itself (despite having +6% base damage synergy)

However, here are unused values in the code of Fire Golem, and if activated, in a patch, for example, the damage should be in region of 6 times as much. So If we did 1000 flat, Fire Golem would do 6000. If we pushed out 2000, Fire Golem would be able to do 12000. Much more on par with a Fire Sorceress.

The advantages that Fire Golem has in 1.10:

-Access to Infinity, Beast, Faith, Last Wish, Pride
-Hellfire Torch boosting the level of Fire Golem, Mastery, and Summon Resist, and other indirect benefits
-Stronger character classes = Stronger teammates with nice auras and synergies

This means that more options are available to the player, and more applications of the skill.

Any additional information shall be appended in future revisions.