Golem build/minion mana

Hi guys. Started a new summoner build and decided to use clayshaper, there are some things i cant find answer for. Is there any way to make golems use skills more often or they just derp around and use it as they wish? And do minions need mana? Like if i support them with clarity will they cast more often? Also i feel like stone golem works better than other but everyone is telling fire is best to use as minion dmger.

Is there any way to make golems use skills more often or they just derp around and use it as they wish?
Mostly the latter. You can increase their attack/cast/movement speed (minion speed support, for example) so that they cycle through actions quicker. But there's not any way to guide them in terms of AI attack choices.

And do minions need mana?
Not sure on this one, sorry. I don't think so, but don't take my word for it.

Also i feel like stone golem works better than other but everyone is telling fire is best to use as minion dmger.
I did a stone golem build recently and rather enjoyed it. I've not tried flame golem, but I have heard that they are more consistent in their skill usage for some reason which would mean more consistent damage.

Spectres definitely use mana, just like the monsters they used to be. My suspicion would be that golems do too because they also use skills, but I don't think I've ever seen a definitive answer.

Going again off what I know of spectres, it's worth supporting some golems with Blood Magic to see what happens. Some monsters are limited by mana, some by AI. Golems, who knows?

Re: Stone vs Flame, there was a bug in Stone Golem's AI that made it more or less unusable (causing it to completely freeze up randomly). I assume it hasn't been fixed as no mention of it has been made anywhere, but if you've been using them a fair bit and not encountered it then maybe it has been.

I've linked blood magic to golems before and never noticed their health dipping. Not to say it didn't, just that I may not have noticed it - if it only costs a small amount, we'll call it 9 mana, and they have 12,000 HP, for example, it would be difficult to see the difference from the HP bar.