Greetings Exiles,
The release of Age of Sorcery — Chapter 3 approaches swiftly! On March 14 you will prevent a cataclysmic ritual, brave a new boss-dungeon, experience a full journey system overhaul, new Bazaar and Battle Pass cosmetics, and a brand-new feature: Golem Shaping.
Today, we will dive into how you can craft your very own golem to follow you on your adventures. These followers are highly customizable - invaluable gatherers of resources and powerful warriors in battle.
Blood of the Giant Kings
The powerful sorcerer, Mek-Kamoses, has received a vision and has charged you with collecting a mysterious new resource for his ritual: Blood Crystals. When the ancient Giant Kings fell, it is said their blood seeped into the earth, where it remained for aeons, spreading beneath the world through ever-flowing rivers of molten rock.
After eons, the blood has cooled and hardened into crystals. At long last, it rises from the depths, charged with forces potent enough to animate the land itself. Seek out and slay these new creatures to tear the crystals from their bodies.
Mek-Kamoses is not the only one who can use them. Speak to Master Carver Huang who stands close to Mek-Kamoses at his spire (or Camp of the Castaways on Isle of Siptah) to take your first step into the mystical art of Golem Shaping.
Shape your Golem for War or for Wealth
Once you have spoken to Huang, you will be able to craft the Golem Workbench and the Guardian Assembly Station. Opening the assembly station will present you with a number of slots, each representing a part of your golem’s body.
That’s where the workbench comes in. Craft your golem parts there and then fit them into the appropriate slot in the assembly station. There are six parts to a golem: a head, a torso and a pair of legs and arms, but you don’t necessarily need all of them to animate your golem. A headless, armless golem is completely possible, although significantly less useful in battle.
The material you choose for each of these parts has a huge impact on the golem itself. The most basic golem can be crafted with stone while the most powerful golem is pure blood crystal. All golem parts, even those of stone, require some blood crystals to craft. More powerful and specialized golem parts can be found as loot throughout the game, while a few recipes can be acquired with knowledge points and crafted. Some parts are even sold by Master Carver Huang for blood crystals, although his stock is always changing.
To give your golem a weapon, it must be crafted together with the arm in the workbench, fusing them together. Depending on how you want to put your golem to use, you’ll want to equip it with the appropriate weapon type. For example, equip it with the scythe or sickle to make it efficient at gathering plants, or a maul for minerals. Some weapons are good for both gathering and fighting, such as an axe, which chops limbs and trees with equal efficiency.
Give your Golem Purpose
Your golem may lack a soul, but it can pack a punch. By default, your golem will follow and defend you, using whatever weapon you have given it. To order it to collect a certain material, place that material in its inventory, and if that material exists within a certain area, and it has the required tool equipped, your golem will autonomously begin to harvest it.
Deep customization comes into play with special body slots. Craft the Lightning Rod Guardian Head and watch as your golem harnesses the power of lightning storms to destroy your enemies. Or make the Lotus Burner Guardian Torso to provide a buff around your golem depending on the lotus you burn in it.
Your golem can also be coated in either brimstone or tar in the construction phase. Both golems will fight enemies normally but in addition, a brimstone golem will choke enemies that hit it with a gaseous cloud, while a tar golem will create pools of tar on the ground that can be ignited. Throw a fire orb at a golem surrounded by enemies, then watch it stride out of a pile of bodies.
An important aspect of Golem Shaping is that Golems cannot be healed, and damage they take over time will eventually and irreversibly break it down. Golem Shaping is a craft that you will return to again, crafting new combinations of Golems each time.
To offset this, a Golems’ hard skin can occasionally deflect attacks, completely avoiding damage, and unlocking Authority perks that provide or improve healing of other followers will further improve your Golem’s sturdiness in this regard.
As you adventure through the Exiled Lands, collect new golem parts and craft new upgraded golems. Combine the parts you find and explore a wealth of combinations. Only one golem can fight for you at a time (or two with the authority perk), but you can create an army standing by for your selection.
We hope the idea of having your own customized golem companion is as exciting to you as it is to us. Watching your own creation stomp wordlessly into a group of enemies certainly pleases the sinister sorcerer in the back of our minds.
Age of Sorcery — Chapter 3 releases March 14.
See you then, Exiles.