Crystalline or Volcanic?

Leonnator - Sanctuary

I will be taming my golem on my veno soon since this will last untill herc I want tame the right one......so any advice?b:surrender

sandeep122

at level 100

Chrysocolla - Harshlands

There is very little difference in terms of stats. The lvl 17 one (crystal) has better stats, the general rule being that (within the same 'class') the pet that starts at a lower lvl will have better stats. Since there's only 1 lvl gap between them the difference is to small to be a notable imo, so it doesnt really matter which you go for.. One thing to take into account is that volcanic starts with Tough which saves you 300k.

LloydAsplund - Sanctuary

Chrysocolla - Harshlands wrote: »

There is very little difference in terms of stats. The lvl 17 one (crystal) has better stats, the general rule being that (within the same 'class') the pet that starts at a lower lvl will have better stats. Since there's only 1 lvl gap between them the difference is to small to be a notable imo, so it doesnt really matter which you go for.. One thing to take into account is that volcanic starts with Tough which saves you 300k.

But crystalline comes with level 2 bash, better if you do not intend on using tough that much. Anyways, it doesnt really matter all that much. Most people just leave all the skills at original level and save up for a herc.

Mothergoose - Sanctuary

Well, there's always the Torgrim Brave if you're too cheap to buy skill books(lvl 1 tough and lvl 3 bash). Stat difference is bigger, but it's still strong enough to handle any grinding mob. Besides, it runs faster.b:chuckle
http://snowbloom.110mb.com/pl2.htm#golem

tweakz

Leonnator - Sanctuary wrote: »

I will be taming my golem on my veno soon since this will last untill herc I want tame the right one......so any advice?b:surrender

Taming is not that difficult, and lvl 1 taming is all you need btw. Tough will probably be useless on these, so go for the one with the better bash. Both are disposable and should be replaced instead of upgraded as new ones become available especially if you're saving for a Herc.

OMGLAZERZ - Heavens Tear

Mothergoose - Sanctuary wrote: »

Well, there's always the Torgrim Brave if you're too cheap to buy skill books(lvl 1 tough and lvl 3 bash). Stat difference is bigger, but it's still strong enough to handle any grinding mob. Besides, it runs faster.b:chuckle
http://snowbloom.110mb.com/pl2.htm#golem

The highest level golem I'd personally tame for long term use is a Torgirn Puppet because the gap between the Puppet and the Brave is bigger than the difference between the Crystalline and the Volcanic, and the difference between the Brave and the Magmites is bigger than the difference between the Puppet and the Magmites.

IceJazmin - Heavens Tear

CMag hands down (well, little tiny hands down).

Solandri - Heavens Tear

LloydAsplund - Sanctuary wrote: »

But crystalline comes with level 2 bash, better if you do not intend on using tough that much.

Even if you factor in the cost to upgrade Bash, the Volcanic still ends up 100k ahead. The 100k will probably make a much bigger impact on your character's life than the extra stats of the Crystalline. I suppose if you really wanted to argue, you could point out that Tough is often available on auction at a discount, while pet books (to upgrade skills) are very rare oh AH.

tweakz wrote: »

Tough will probably be useless on these, so go for the one with the better bash. Both are disposable and should be replaced instead of upgraded as new ones become available especially if you're saving for a Herc.

??? If you're going to be using this as your regular grind pet, it will gain exp and level with you. Why would you want to dispose of and replace it?

If you're talking about skills, Bash is indispensable for aggro management. Tough is not useful as frequently, but if you learn to use it properly it will probably save you from a few deaths. That's actually the main reason I recommend the Volcanic - Tough expands your bag of tricks beyond "kill" and "kill faster". Just thinking up ways to use Tough will help improve your tactics since it expands your thinking from one dimension (how much offense do I use?) to two dimensions (would more offense or more defense be better in this situation?).

It'll also let you tank bosses at a lower level. Tough gives you a safety net you can trigger if the boss gets in a string of lucky hits and your spam healing falls dangerously behind. With a Crystalline, there's nothing you can do but hope (well, you could use an alchemy powder to speed up channeling, but few people carry those). With a Volcanic, you just trigger Tough, catch up on healing, and carry on.

IceJazmin - Heavens Tear

I find Threaten far more useful on my CMag. It adds a third dimension to the thinking I party alot, so Threaten has made lots of tanks very happy (even other venos with hercs).

Solandri - Heavens Tear

IceJazmin - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I find Threaten far more useful on my CMag. It adds a third dimension to the thinking I party alot, so Threaten has made lots of tanks very happy (even other venos with hercs).

Yup, I really like threaten too. If you group regularly, I'd say it's much more valuable than Tough (or Bash). It's not just the tanks who love it, the clerics like it too. Less healing gives them a breather to do something else, whether it's toss in a nuke or futz around with potions to try to preserve their charm.

But since neither golem comes with it, it's irrelevant to the question of which you should choose. If you can afford to buy it for the Crystalline, you can afford to buy it for the Volcanic.