Effects of Golem Mastery

[Coldfire]

Effects of Golem Mastery

Is it true that the % bonus life to golems given by the Golem Mastery skill is only based off of the level one golem's life? So if you've invested 20 points in a golem, adding points to Golem Mastery to up their life is basically pointless? (don't worry, I haven't F-ed over a character, but figured I'd ask before I do f-over a character :wink3: )

 

[Lord Nyax]

I'm not actually sure, but I'm going to say that because Golem Mastery actually makes a huge difference in Golem Life that no, it doesn't work like that. Just so you know, my Clay Golem hit 58k life with a nice Golem Mastery, so you should definitely invest at least one point if you plan on getting a golem. Plus, it's a pre-req for Summon Resist.

In summary: No, it isn't true, and yes, you should invest in it. How much you invest is up to you.

 

[SSoG]

Is it true that the % bonus life to golems given by the Golem Mastery skill is only based off of the level one golem's life? So if you've invested 20 points in a golem, adding points to Golem Mastery to up their life is basically pointless? (don't worry, I haven't F-ed over a character, but figured I'd ask before I do f-over a character :wink3: )

Sort of.

Yes, Golem Mastery only boosts base golem life. Since 3 of the 4 golems have a fixed base life total (Blood, Iron, and Fire), points in Golem Mastery only boost the slvl1 Golem Life (actually, a little bit less than the slvl 1 Golem life if you have a point in Blood Golem, since that will also boost base life). The Golem Mastery synergy works additively with the Blood Golem synergy (so that if you have +100% life from Golem Mastery and +50% life from Blood Golem, that's +150% life total, or 2.5 times base golem life).

The exception is Clay Golem- Clay Golem is the only golem whose life scales with his level (so a slvl 10 Clay has more life than a slvl 1 Clay). In this case, since his base life is constantly rising, Golem Mastery will keep boosting a constantly rising amount (which is how Clay Golems can achieve such ridiculous life totals- imagine if the Lycanthropy life bonus and the Battle Orders life bonus worked multiplicatively and that's what you have going on with Gumby).

Anyway, as to whether Golem Mastery is worthless... as I said, all golems except Clay have fixed life, and Blood Golem is a weak synergy... so in that respect, Golem Mastery is really the best (and pretty much only) way to boost your golem's life. If you want your golems to be tougher, Golem Mastery is hardly worthless. I mean, BO only boosts your base life, but I don't think anyone would really call BO useless here. Doubling something's life is doubling something's life.

I'd rather have a slvl 1 Fire Golem/slvl 20 Mastery (or slvl 1 Iron/20 mastery) than a slvl 20 Fire/Iron paired with slvl 1 Mastery. It'll be a ton more durable. In fact, the only golems potentially worth boosting past slvl 1 (in my opinion) are Blood (to boost its leech) or Clay (to boost its life and slow).

 

[Coldfire]

Well, my main interest is in the clay golem, and I guess I didn't know people could get the life so freakishly high :shocked:

That's why I was wondering why anyone would bother putting more than one point into golem mastery if they'd already invested multiple points in clay golem for the rising amounts of life, if GM only boosted the starting life...glad to know this isn't the case!

Thanks for the replies!
~Coldfire

 

[Darker Realm]

And on a final note, do not underlook the Faster Run Walk a Golem can give. For a golem (e.g. Clay) that is meant to be hit, it will follow more closely and thus keep you safer. For a golem that means to hit, it will make quicker AI decisions and hit more often.

More most importantly in my opinion in Golem Mastery, is the attack rating % increase for any type of Golem. In the Chance to Hit formula which takes Attack Rating and Defense into account,

CtH = 100 x AR/(AR+DR) + 2 X Alvl/(Alvl + Dlvl)

it will tell you that the only way your Golem will improve its chances of hitting without putting additonal points on Golem Mastery is by leveling (IIRC Golem mlvl = your character level). However, that would mean that as you go to harder and harder difficulties, your Golem would have a harder time hitting things because it is not like a character who can put on additional equipment to enhance AR. Thus, additional points on Golem Mastery can be helpful unless you are opting for the 1 point wonder with 1 point on your choice of golem.

I'd rather have a slvl 1 Fire Golem/slvl 20 Mastery (or slvl 1 Iron/20 mastery) than a slvl 20 Fire/Iron paired with slvl 1 Mastery. It'll be a ton more durable. In fact, the only golems potentially worth boosting past slvl 1 (in my opinion) are Blood (to boost its leech) or Clay (to boost its life and slow).

Because of the attack rating situation, as well as additional life and running speed, I would rather have the former, 1 Fire Golem and 20 Mastery. However, this is certainly the reason you put more points on Golem Mastery. When I do a 20 Fire/Iron (either not both) combination, I place 5 points on Golem Mastery.