Fastest, and most efficient way to build a golem

[SpicyBoi_Nezu]

I want to be able to build golems as soon as possible

What class would be the best option?

What feats are required?

How soon could this happen?

What does it cost to create a golem?

How realistic is this goal?

[noob]

the fastest way is using simulacrum: casting simulacrum takes only a day or something like that and the time for building a golem the normal way is so long that in the time period needed for doing so you can level up enough to go from level 1 to the level needed for casting simulacrum or buy a simulacrum scroll.
It is even earlier if you use lesser planar binding for getting a mirror mephit to cast simulacrum for you.

[RoboEmperor]

What class would be the best option?

Artificer


What feats are required?

How soon could this happen?
Craft Construct at level 6. Legendary Artisan, Extraordinary Artisan, Exceptional Artisan, and Magical Artisan reduce the cost to create quite a bit.


What does it cost to create a golem?

How realistic is this goal?

Hydra Effigies are playable. They're really cost efficient.

If you just want constructs there are other methods.
1. Cast Personal Weapon Augmentation on a Colossal Weapon to give it the Flying property (magic of faerun) to turn it into a Colossal Animated Object for 10min/level starting at level 1. If you go Illumian and take a level in Cleric you can use Divine Metamagic:Persistent Spell to persist it instead at level 2.
2. As an outsider wizard or sorcerer grab the feat Assume Supernatural Ability:Animate Objects, Alter Self into a Ravid, and use its CL20 Animate Objects (Su) ability to perpetually animate a Gargantuan object. Achievable at level 3.
3. As an Artificer at level 6 craft scrolls of Simulacrum and create Simulacra of Golems. You're using the Divine Crusader Spell List to create CL6 Scrolls of Simulacrum.


It is even earlier if you use lesser planar binding for getting a mirror mephit to cast simulacrum for you.

Improved Familiar is faster.

[emeraldstreak]

It's possible to Alter Self with just a feat from UA.

[Jack_Simth]

Define efficient. Time, levels, gp, xp? Pick one. Wish has a magic item creation clause in 3.5, and golems are made as magic items, so time efficiency could be as low as one standard action... but without forms of optimization frowned at by most dm's, you aren't doing that until mid level 17, and it costs more xp.

[Thurbane]

Would a Golem Manual (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#golemManual) help things along? Are they worth the cost?

[RoboEmperor]

Define efficient. Time, levels, gp, xp? Pick one. Wish has a magic item creation clause in 3.5, and golems are made as magic items, so time efficiency could be as low as one standard action... but without forms of optimization frowned at by most dm's, you aren't doing that until mid level 17, and it costs more xp.

Forgot about this. Artificers can craft scrolls of Wish at level 7 so just bank a ton of xp and use it all to create one scroll to create your Golem in a few days. A Mithral Golem costs only 15,000xp to create this way.

I also forgot to add there's also Animate Weapon (sor/wiz 3). Concentration duration that lets you animate a Colossal Weapon. So just cast it at the start of the day and concentrate on it all day.

[Jack_Simth]

Would a Golem Manual (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#golemManual) help things along? Are they worth the cost?
Depends.


A golem manual contains information, incantations and magical power that help a character to craft a golem. The instructions therein grant a +5 competence bonus on skill checks made to craft the golem’s body. Each manual also holds the prerequisite spells needed for a specific golem, effectively grants the builder use of the Craft Construct feat during the construction of the golem, and grants the character an increase to her caster level for the purpose of crafting a golem. Any golem built using a golem manual does not cost the creator any XP, since the requisite XP are "contained" in the book and "expended" by the book during the creation process.

The spells included in a golem manual require a spell trigger activation and can be activated only to assist in the construction of a golem. The cost of the book does not include the cost of constructing the golem’s body. Once the golem is finished, the writing in the manual fades and the book is consumed in flames. When the book’s ashes are sprinkled upon the golem, it becomes fully animated.
The book says it DOES grant the XP, spells, craft construct feat, and a few other odds & ends. The book says it DOES NOT pay for the body.

Those aren't the only costs. There's also the 'enchanting supplies' by whatever name. It's unclear whether or not it's intended to cover those.

If it does cover those, then it's well worth purchasing a golem manual to build your golem.
If it does not cover those, then the golem manual lets you craft it without the feat, XP, or spells known... but is generally a waste of gold.

Math on the cost of the golem manual suggests it's probably not intended to cover the enchantment costs. But it's not crystal clear.

[SpicyBoi_Nezu]

Forgot about this. Artificers can craft scrolls of Wish at level 7 so just bank a ton of xp and use it all to create one scroll to create your Golem in a few days. A Mithral Golem costs only 15,000xp to create this way.

I've heard other people say this, how exactly does this method work? Do you just wish for the golem, and then expend the xp to use the spell?

[Jack_Simth]

I've heard other people say this, how exactly does this method work? Do you just wish for the golem, and then expend the xp to use the spell?

Scrolls are filled with a specific amount of xp at creation time. You craft it into the scroll initially, or upgrade it as you have available xp. See the DMG: Miracle and Permanency both have notes about it.

As to getting a scroll of Wish as an Artificer 7: They can get scrolls done two levels earlier than the class that gets the spells natively. There are several PrC's that could be used to get 9th level spells at caster level 9, and get Wish. They take some build up to get there, but the Artificer ability only cares about the caster level.

However, it is a level of optimization that most DM's will not like.

[Necroticplague]

Wish doesn't work to make golems, anyway, so whether that uber-early access trick works is irrelevant.

Wish allows you to make magic items. A golem is a creature, not a magic item. Thus, Wish can't make it. At least, within the bounds of a safe wish.

[RoboEmperor]

Wish doesn't work to make golems, anyway, so whether that uber-early access trick works is irrelevant.

Wish allows you to make magic items. A golem is a creature, not a magic item. Thus, Wish can't make it. At least, within the bounds of a safe wish.


The characteristics of a golem that come from its nature as a magic item (caster level, prerequisite feats and spells, market price, cost to create) are given in summary form at the end of each golem’s description.

..........

[Prime32]

I want to be able to build golems as soon as possible

What class would be the best option?

What feats are required?

How soon could this happen?

What does it cost to create a golem?

How realistic is this goal?
Does it have to have the specific abilities of a golem, as in powered by an elemental and immune to most magic? Or can it be any construct that serves you?

One of the easier options is the lv1 spell beget bogun, which allows a 7th character with the Craft Wondrous Item feat to create a Tiny construct at the cost of 25 XP and no GP. At least, no GP if you're capable of casting wood shape and control plants - if not, you'll need to spend 3,150gp on scrolls.

And artificers get the ability to craft a homunculus at lv4, which get a few new varieties in various Eberron books.