How to Summon Golem in Diablo 4 and Make It Work for You?
So you’ve picked the Necromancer, raised a few skeletons, cursed a pack of demons – and now you’re wondering where your big, hulking golem is. Totally fair question. The golem isn’t handed to you at the start like your skeleton minions. There’s a process, a quest, some running around Sanctuary, and a couple of steps that the game doesn’t spell out super clearly. A lot of players hit level 25 and then spend twenty minutes scratching their heads wondering why the golem isn’t just… there. This guide explaining how to summon golem in Diablo 4 walks you through everything – from triggering the quest to assigning the skill and picking the right golem type for your build. No filler, just what you actually need.
You Can’t Summon It Until You Do This Quest First
The golem becomes available once you complete a Necromancer class quest called “Call of the Underworld.” It pops up as a priority quest the moment you hit level 25. If you’ve been blasting through the campaign and suddenly see this quest appear in your log – that’s your cue.
Your quest log will flag it as a Priority Quest, and the marker leads you to the northwest of the Fractured Peaks region. Specifically, you’re heading into Sarkova Pass, where you’ll find the Shrine of Rathma and a ghostly NPC named Maltorius.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the quest steps:
- Find the Shrine of Rathma in Sarkova Pass, northwest of Menestad.
- Talk to Maltorius – he’s the ghost hanging around near the shrine.
- Kill enemies nearby to collect 12 Unbroken Bones, then take them to The Bitter Cave and fight through everything inside.
- Activate the Jar of Souls to trigger an ambush inside the cave – deal with the phantom enemies, and Maltorius will show up again to wrap the quest up.
- Once done, the golem summon is yours to assign.
The whole thing takes maybe 15-20 minutes if you know where you’re going. Worth it.
How to Actually Summon the Golem After Unlocking It?
Here’s where people get tripped up – and honestly, the game could do a better job explaining this. The golem does not appear under your regular Abilities tab in the main menu. Instead, you access and summon it through the Skill Assignment menu.
On PC, press S to open the Skill Assignment menu. At the very bottom, you’ll see the new golem skill. Drag it to your active skill bar to assign it. On console, hit the left stick while inside the Skill menu and assign it the same way you’d assign any other ability.
Once the golem is assigned a slot on your action bar, it automatically spawns – no manual casting required to bring it out the first time. And if it dies? It respawns on its own after 20 seconds. Pretty convenient for a creature made of bone and dark energy.
One thing that catches a lot of players off guard: the golem has its own active ability you can trigger manually. Activating the golem skill while it’s already on the field makes it Unstoppable, taunts all nearby enemies, and gives it 30% damage reduction for six seconds. That’s a solid panic button when things get messy.
The Three Golem Types – Which One Fits Your Build?
Not all golems are built the same. There are three variants total, and you don’t get them all at once. Here’s how they break down:
| Golem Type | Unlock Level | Main Role |
|---|---|---|
| Bone Golem | Level 25 | Tank / taunter, sheds corpses when damaged |
| Blood Golem | Level 28 | Defensive support, absorbs damage you’d take |
| Iron Golem | Level 32 | Crowd control, stuns enemies with slams |
By default, the Bone Golem is the first one available. It acts like a frontline tank – drawing enemies in and absorbing hits so you don’t have to. The Blood Golem functions more like a bodyguard; it absorbs a percentage of damage you’d normally take, making it the go-to option if your Necromancer build is on the squishier side. The Iron Golem is the crowd-control option – it slams the ground to stun groups of enemies, and its second upgrade even makes affected enemies Vulnerable for three seconds, which pairs nicely with crit-focused builds.
Each golem also has two upgrades and a Sacrifice option. Let’s talk about those.
Upgrades, Sacrifices, and the Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead – accessed via Shift+C by default – is where you customize your golem. Each type has two upgrade options and a Sacrifice option. Selecting one locks out the others.
| Golem Type | Upgrade 1 | Upgrade 2 | Sacrifice Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Golem | Sheds a corpse each time it takes 20% of its max life as damage | +10% Max Life; Thorns inheritance increases from 30% to 50% | +10% Attack Speed |
| Blood Golem | Absorbs 15% of damage you’d take | While Healthy (80%+ HP): gains 25% Damage Reduction and 50% more damage | +10% Maximum Life |
| Iron Golem | Every 5th attack triggers a shockwave hitting multiple enemies | Slam attacks make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds | +30% Critical Strike Damage |
The Sacrifice mechanic is genuinely interesting. There’s real value in the Book of the Dead golem tab even if you never want to summon one – you can sacrifice the golem ability entirely in exchange for powerful passive bonuses for your character. If you’re running a Bone Spear or Shadowblight build and don’t care about minions at all, that +30% crit damage from sacrificing the Iron Golem is nothing to ignore.
That said, if you’re going full minion build – the kind where your army just melts everything while you stand back – keep the golem active. Key passive skills like Kalan’s Edict work best in an all-out minion setup, and nodes like Golem Mastery directly boost your golem’s max life and damage output. Hellbent Commander is another solid node if you’re also running skeletons alongside your golem.
Why the Bone Golem Is the First Thing You Should Try?
When you first unlock the golem at level 25, the Bone Golem is all you have – and honestly, that’s fine. It’s a solid choice even in the later game.
Here’s what makes it work:
- It taunts nearby enemies, forcing them to attack it instead of you.
- With Upgrade 1, it sheds a corpse every time it takes 20% of its max health in damage – and corpses are an incredibly valuable resource for Necromancer skills like Corpse Explosion.
- Upgrade 2 boosts its survivability via extra Thorns, which is handy when you’re stacking that stat anyway.
The Bone Golem is basically your own personal damage sponge that generates resources while it tanks. It’s hard to say no to that.
How to Summon Golem in Diablo 4 on Each Platform?
If the steps feel a bit different depending on your platform, that’s because they are – slightly. Here’s a quick breakdown so there’s no confusion:
- PC: Press S → Skill Assignment → drag Golem to your hotbar
- Xbox / PlayStation: Open the menu → go to Abilities → hover over the skill toolbar at the bottom → left stick click to open Skill Assignment → assign Golem to a slot
- All platforms: Once assigned to the hotbar, the golem spawns automatically. Activate the skill again during combat to trigger the taunt / Unstoppable ability
Switching your golem type mid-session is possible through the Book of the Dead, but there’s a catch – swapping triggers a death animation for your current golem and starts a hefty cooldown before the new one appears. So plan your golem type before heading into a Nightmare Dungeon or boss fight, not during one.
Common Mistakes New Necromancers Make with Golems
You know what’s surprisingly common? Players completing the quest and then not being able to figure out why the golem isn’t there. Or having it disappear and panicking. Here are the usual culprits:
- Not assigning it to the hotbar – the game doesn’t auto-assign it; you have to drag it yourself.
- Forgetting it has an active ability – a lot of players just let the golem sit there passively and never use the taunt button.
- Swapping golem types in combat – this kills your current golem and leaves you without one for a while.
- Ignoring the Sacrifice option entirely – if you’re not building around minions, it could free up a hotbar slot and give you a genuinely useful passive buff.
- Not upgrading via Book of the Dead – the base golem is decent, but the upgrades are where it gets interesting.
FAQ
What level do you need to summon a golem in Diablo 4?
You need to reach level 25 with the Necromancer class and complete the “Call of the Underworld” quest.
Where do I start the golem quest in Diablo 4?
Head to the Shrine of Rathma in Sarkova Pass, northwest of Menestad in the Fractured Peaks region. The NPC Maltorius will be waiting there.
Why isn’t my golem appearing after I unlocked it?
You need to manually assign the Golem skill to your hotbar through the Skill Assignment menu (press S on PC). It doesn’t appear automatically.
Can other classes summon a golem in Diablo 4?
No – the golem is exclusive to the Necromancer class. It’s part of the Book of the Dead mechanic.
What happens if my golem dies?
It respawns automatically after about 20 seconds. You don’t need to resummon it manually.
Is it better to sacrifice the golem or keep it?
Depends on your build. Minion-focused builds benefit from keeping it active. Builds that rely on personal damage (like Bone Spear) can get strong passive bonuses from sacrificing it.
How many golems can I have at once in Diablo 4?
Only one. You can switch types via the Book of the Dead, but you can never have more than one golem active at a time.
Wrapping Up
Getting your golem up and running in Diablo 4 isn’t complicated once you know what you’re doing – but the game doesn’t exactly hold your hand through it either. The quest is quick, the quest steps are straightforward, and the actual summoning process is just a matter of knowing which menu to open. From there, it’s all about figuring out which golem type fits how you want to play and whether the sacrifices are worth it for your build.
If you’re building a full minion Necromancer, the golem is basically mandatory – it’s your tankiest, most impactful summon. And if you’re going for something like pure Bone Spear? Those sacrifice bonuses are worth a serious look. Either way, do the quest, assign the skill, and watch Sanctuary tremble under those massive stone feet.
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