Clay Golem

 is a Skill in Diablo II,  and first of the Golem skills.

Lore
''While it is fairly simple for a Necromancer to animate dead tissue, it is another matter entirely to instill the spark of life into inanimate objects. The Clay Golem is the simplest form of this complex art, creating a servant directly from the earth to serve the Necromancer. The intense drain this places on the psyche of the caster only allows him to maintain a single Golem of any type at a time.''

Synergies
Clay Golem produces a mysterious being from the earth itself that follows the Necromancer and fights his enemies. The Golem approaches monsters and strikes them in close combat while withstanding their attacks. Its remarkably high life and endurant nature makes it excel at this last purpose, by keeping the attention of monsters on itself, thus protecting its master. Although its attacks deal insignificant damage later in the game, they greatly slow opponents (including Act Bosses), further preventing them from harming to the Necromancer. In these ways, Clay Golems can act as powerful tanks, provided the Necromancer has other means of dealing damage.
 * Gives synergy to:
 * +20 Attack rating per level
 * Iron Golem: +20 Attack rating per level
 * Fire Golem: +20 Attack rating per level
 * Receives synergy from:
 * Golem Mastery
 * Summon Resist
 * +5% Life per level
 * Iron Golem: +35 Defense per level
 * Fire Golem: +6% Damage per level

Investing more points into Clay Golem slightly increases their damage and attack, but particularly their life and ability to slow opponents. Like Skeletons, a Clay Golem provides excellent crowd control and exceeds at pacifying enemies with its slow, particularly when aided with Decrepify and a source of cold damage. An enemy slowed by all these sources can barely move, which greatly reduces its ability to cause damage. The effect is particularly visible against Act Bosses, whose threat drops remarkably when slowed. Clay Golems recover quickly and can sustain great amounts of damage before being destroyed. Even when destroyed, they can be easily replaced.

Clay Golems have three major drawbacks. First, they cause very little damage on their own. Poison and Bone Spells and Skeletons are all excellent sources of damage that can supplement the distraction a Clay Golem offers. Secondly, in total, only one Golem can be in service at any time. As such, they cannot be made in numbers and will also compete with Blood Golems, Iron Golems, and Fire Golems for skill points (although investing in more than one Golem grants mutual benefits through synergies). Finally, while Clay Golems have the most life, other Golems may be more useful, depending on the Necromancer's skill set.

Golem Mastery increases the speed and life of all Golems. Clay Golems particularly benefit from the bonus life they receive from this skill, though the speed bonus is usually not very necessary, as Golems keep up decently well when following their master. Golem Mastery also grants a small bonus to all Golems' attack rating.

Skill Progression
Defense: 100

Trivia

 * Of all Golem types, the Clay Golem is closest to the original concept in Hebrew mythology. As God created Adam from the earth, so the creation of golems from clay is symbolically similar to the creation of Man.