Immune to Mental and Attack Traits

[LaSpeakeasi]

How are we supposed to beat them then? Iron golems often stonewall my entire party. Just cannot beat them whatsoever. The rules are ridiculously hard and unfair. This game sucks.

[Hannibal_PJV]

Melee and ranged works fine. Do not use spell, because They have attack trait and do not use weapons than have mental trait... Reading rules tells how and what traits the check has. But normally you can read them from the left side of the cards.

[Ethics Gradient]

For what it's worth, the this is one of the golem cards that has had a slight modification since the first edition.  The original card says:

You may not play spells with the attack trait.

 

The revised edition says:

The Iron Golem is immune to the Attack and Mental traits.

 

The two statements are virtual identical in that they prohibit using attack spells during the encounter.  However, by prohibiting damage traits instead of just the act of playing a type of spell, it also disallows the player from doing something like front-loading the encounter with a spell like Toxic Cloud.

 

Also, I think the only spell that isn't an Attack spell, but does have the Mental trait is Sanctuary.  Your character can't use it to confuse the golem and run away while it isn't looking.

 

In any event, in the D&D and Pathfinder universes, golems usually have traits that make them immune to magic. The way the Pathfinder Adventures card is written, it is in keeping with that sentiment.  Yes, it can certainly cause a problem if you made it to AD5 with a party of spell casters, but smashing golems with swords and bows is one of the many reasons to keep fighter-types in the party.