0.915 golems....

Since you are in a game with Resoln, I would like to add one comment. The dirge (sp?) death spell of Resoln does NOT work on golems. That can really save your day (if the AI used that spell, lets assume that the Frog will make it so).

When I play as Resoln I have the demons from death shards (372 hitpoints EACH) and I use the death spell. All perish but the golems. Then I have to curse the golems and kill them with my demons.

It might not be that important, but it does add a touch of value to the golems compared to normal units.

that is good to know, when i go for the final push, tricked them into an all out war against everyone and victory is pretty much assured anyway >) sad that of the two units i named hammer of gilden, the human version is just so much better... they do look cool though. 

I like the current golems, with a bit of love, like the lightning hammer (+1 lightning att x level and with the survival rate of the golem is great combo) and the bracelet that give +2 ini, they can be really effective (remember to constantly upgrade the shield of your veteran golems).

Not alone (I usually took 1 per army and 1 per border city, to boost the militia defence), but they can take a lot punishment even at low level, and if coordinate them with other troops, you can beat most enemy without losing troops.

about upkeep, they are magic machine, but machine all the same, they need wages for support like your car

But that same combo is many times more effective on a light-plate Armour wearing group of ironeers armed with kite shields and the same hammer. Many many times more effective both in battle and in auto-resolve. The upkeep was just an idea to make it a more viable alternative to a much much better not at all special unit. Seriously 5 soldiers equipped with hammer of lightning, with the +1 per level becomes 5x more damage, and yes each individual has less HP and armour than the golem but together they have more. The golem gets no further advantages beyond the hammer giving him more attack each level and this it. Where is the benefit in having him then? -30 mana for a cool but suckful unit, ontop of an abhorent metal cost. The only plus is it takes less turns due to being an indvidual, but i question how much of plus that is really, esp when you have the spell that trains units instantly. If you don't believe me -- try it. Beyond being immune to that dirge thingy i can't see a good point here; and in what way is Gilden balanced against the superpowers like Altair, the Yog guys...actually any fallen side who can get the bigger monsters as well demons etc... and juggernaughts (yog guys ) is going to lay the beat down on the golems. IF they could be upgraded with research or a spell they might be alright. Considering its place in the tech-tree, especially since its in the magic line where gilden are trade and war heavy as i understand --> it should be a more of a heavy weight. 

EDIT:

Test unit created Gilden Guardian. In group: 65 attack 62 Defense 45 Health at level 1 (+1 health per level due to race, a high level squad might have considerable health). 12 initiative and 1 move (admittedly not good) but a high initiative is next to useless for a tank. A medium variant can be created with round shields and leather boots and greaves that still sports higher max armor than the golem, and has 2 moves and 16 initiative. 

Test golem 11 attack (1 lightning / 9 weapon / 1 mystery) 54 armour (10 from an ability) 84 health, immunity to poison and crit hits, but vulnerable to lightning (not good). 

I saw the individuality like a minor, but it mean that he don't lose attack and defence when he took damage (I see him like the master of attriction war, like the champs, he don't lose effectiveness due to weariness)

in your example you see the unit like a whole, but is a group of 5 people with 13 attack, 12 defence and 9 hp, for sure in the beginning is more powerful than the golem (that the reason I don't use more than one per army, is a support, not a weapon of mass destruction), but in a long fight they will lose 13 att and 12 def for each individual loss.

Def stays the same as members in a unit dies off. Except when they have specific traits such as Enduring (+defense when under X% hitpoints)

thanks! never notice that!

but they lose all the same attack

I am pretty sure that defense is not multiplied per unit. A unit of 5 guys with 12 defense have 12 defense in total.

Also one big attack is usually better then 5 small ones because defense is only applied to it once instead of 5 times.

I think the iron golems need a serious buff. I'm sure the devs will get around to it.

What the golems need: overwhelm. That should be plenty, but if they were nice, then put the three traits (immune to poison, crit, and vulnerable to lightning) into one single trait. That way you can custom tailor your golems a bit better with 2 extra trait slots.

Maybe an ability that would cause everyone near them to attack them for a turn.  Letting them use their high defense to help the rest of the army.

I think something like this would be best.  Looking at golems now, they are just combat units, like any other.  Limited offense vs normal troops means they should be a damage soak, but Gilden likes its melee troops, and there is no way to force units to attack the golem. 

Increasing the attack stats could help, something like overpower, so they scale with enemy numbers, or a flat increase to make them a better choice midgame, when the come out.  However, this doesn't make them very unique, if you were attempting to optimize you'd likely want to max golems or melee troops, not have a mix, which is desirable.

By having some sort of taunt like mechanic, they could protect troops.  Personally, I like taunt, but it may be too powerful, golems are incredibly tough.  Instead, maybe some sort of slow, so that units adjacent can't leave the squares around the golem, would serve a similar purpose if you correctly maneuver.  But if you want to attack a target with both your golem and your troops, they'd be vulnerable to counterattack.

Golems are a midgame tech unlock. That sucks a little because by that time most of my enemies can ignore them. I would like to see these Golems get more armor and Hp per level than a regular unit. They should be getting at least +10hp per level and maybe +3 armor per level. Since they will never be doing massive damage like other units, this sort of bonus makes alot of sense. 

Re: Payday for Iron Golems ...

          ======== >    Iron Maidens, of course.