Overview[]
Steam Golem is a decent shielder for teams utilizing Burn and Charge, able to shield the team with Fire Shield, apply Charge stacks with Fuel and Load Up, and eventually build up a lethal Shield Burst. It also has access to the rare and powerful Shroud, allowing it to set up dodge buffs for the team, but it's only used on teams that care about all three of Burn, Charge, and Shields.
Shield Burst[]
Equipment[]
Restoring Wand, and Purifying Mace are both good support options and Golem loses little from using them. Trident offers the most toughness, while Summoned Sword deals the most damage (and is used over Heavy Mace because Golem actually has more use for Magic than Attack, since Fire Shield scales with it).
As with most Charge-based defensive monsters, Golem loves Charging Sphere, and can easily fit Drum for Defense and a 10% Shielding Boost. The last slot can go to Hide or Slime Skin for pure toughness, or you can use Sun Pendant for additional shielding triggers with Copy Shield that can potentially enable Load Up.
Thanks to Life Stability, Golem always runs Bananas as its food.
Build Details[]
Fire Shield is your main active skill, spreading Burn for Fuel and Mana Burn while shielding for Load Up and Shield Burst. Double Preparation plus Pre-emptive Shield gives the team an excellent boost on turn 0, especially when combined with Buffing Shield, Sun Pendant, Copy Shield, and Load Up. Neutral Affinity is taken for the 10% damage boost to Shield Burst. At level 42, you'll get more effectiveness out of building a bit of Mana and taking Light shift than from building more Defense and taking Dark Shift, especially since Golem doesn't need Crit or Attack.
Team Options[]
- Golem is almost always used with other monsters that combine Shield, Burn, and Charge support, like Goblin Pilot and Polterofen. These teams will most often have two allies set up charge and shields every turn while the third attacks, and Golem fits well into that rotation.
- It can also be used as a single shielder on a Burn/Charge team alongside allies like Skorch, which can buff the team's damage dealer and really appreciate extra shielding, in order to enable a damage dealer like Gryphonix.
Checks and Counters[]
- As with most debuff monsters, Tanuki is a major issue, able to keep Burn debuffs off its allies, prevent their application, and apply Blind, which is a significant problem for Shield Burst.
- Blind in general can shut down Golem's attempts at offense, as it needs to invest a lot into making an attack who's damage is very consistent, and so wants to be sure that attack will kill.
- Golem also doesn't like Chill or other heavy debuff teams, as it doesn't have great mana and debuffs can consistently damage your shields.