Originally Posted by
rrra
if you get well synergized golems and then bo them, they can get pretty absurdly tanky. In my experience they can tank just about anything the game can throw at them. Lvl 20 with them is easy. Lvl 19 is still manageable even with them all attacking at once now. They tank knarst and azatoth on 18 easily. Lvl 17 isnt a problem for them. Nor is 16 even if you run into mass nihlathak. They tank the bone spirits just fine. You on the other hand, will get 3 shotted. So beware of that. The only issue I have ever had with them surviving is vs cain. But in that case, just recast them as he is immune to curses and so your necro isnt doing anything but standing by the entrance anyway. So the life of the golems isnt a problem usually.
All that being said, you are much less tanky than the golems. Some things to watch out for in later levels are:
1. Bone spirits from nihlathaks. (and the less dangerous ones from sand dwellers on lvl 13) Avoid them at all cost. Luckily level 16 has a lot of walls you can hide behind while your golems distract things.
2. Kaalut and Mappo on lvl 19. Inject acid from Kaalut will kill you unless you are immune to curses. Stay far enough away to avoid it. Mappos magic-damage fire attack can also ruin your day. Stay back from it.
3. Psi storm on lvl 20. The psionic storm (it looks alot like the one on SC2 and procs from the nephalem birthright amulet) from Eldryssian can one shot you if you arent careful. Try to stay far back from her.
Overall, the keys to playing a decent golemmancer in the crucible are:
1. High max resists (As close to 95 as possible) and decent life. This helps you to avoid the damage from random spells and gives you time to pop a pot in bad situations.
2. Good positioning. I usually use 800x600 resolution. On that resolution, I can stand just over a screen away from my golems without them running back to me. If you can hide behind a wall to dodge spells in scary situations, (lvl 16 nihlathak packs) do so. You dont really need much damage reduction as you shouldnt get hit much to begin with. But watch out for centaurs on lvl 14 because of this.
If you are fairly wealthy, it is possible to make a poison maelstrom necro with enough golems to tank effectively while still pumping out good damage. My necro is not at this point yet, but if I ever find the new Trag Oul's True Guise, (for conviction aura) I think I can get there.