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Summon Zombie Dogs

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[[File:IconSummonZombieDog.png|left]][[File:wd-mongrel1.jpg|leftthumb|250px|right|Good dogs.]]'''Summon Zombie Dogs''' is a Defensive [[Witch Doctor skill]] enabled unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 14. It summons several zombie dogs, better commonly known as "mongrels" which [[tank]] for the Witch Doctor.The dogs fight and damage enemies, but their damage is quite low, making their main function that of tanks or distractions. The best way to deal damage with them is via the [[Sacrifice]] skill, which detonates all of the dogs, dealing potentially enormous damage, when stacked with other skills and passives.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/zombie-dogs-sacrifice-possibly-best-burst-aoe-damage-in-the-game]
This is At the basic minion skill time of Diablo III's launch, the hit points and defense of Mongrels and other Witch Doctor[[pets]] did not scale up adequately, making them useless by Hell difficulty, since any monster would kill them in a second. Fans requested much improved minions, a much reduced cooldown, or both, and Blizzard admitted that the pets were not functioning as planned at higher levels and said they would look into adjusting their value in a future balance patch.
Mongrels can also be detonated by the [[Sacrifice]] skill, dealing substantial damage to anything in the vicinity. This is their most effective way of directly damaging monsters.
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==Background==
{{Skillbox D3|portrait= Wd-mongrel1.jpg|portrait-width= 175|name= Summon Zombie Dogs|user= Witch Doctor|clvl= 1|description= The Witch Doctor summons a zombie dog to aid him. Can have multiple zombie dogs at once.|type= [[Summon]]|resource= Costs [[Mana]]|alabaster= Unknown|crimson= Dogs share WD's damage|golden= Unknown|indigo= Unknown|obsidian= Unknown}}More points in the skill allow for more, higher level mongrels. They have good foot speed and are fearless, if not very damaging with their hand to hand combat. Sacrifice deals far more damage than the mongrels ever will.
They are also useful as tanks or distractions, detaining monsters in combat and allowing the Witch Doctor to get in free shots at stationary enemy targets.
==Skill DesignRune Effects==Refer to the [[File:Wd-mongrel3.jpg|left|thumb|Two mongrels.]]Summon Zombie Dogs is the first summoning [[skillrune effects]] most Witch Doctors will ever usepage for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, and forms the backbone of early Witch Doctor strategytips. The dogs are not very strong individually, either in giving or taking damage, but they are effective meat shields for the Witch Doctor to use his attack spells from the back row. {{skill description header}}<skill subcat="Pet" class="WitchDoctor">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Rabid Dogs">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Final Gift">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Life Link">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Burning Dogs">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Leeching Beasts">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill>
At higher levels Mongrels can deal decent damage, and in a swarm they may be useful against individual enemies, especially when their damage is boosted by a [[runestone]].
 
 
===Enhancing the Dogs===
[[File:Wd-mongrel-locust.jpg|thumb|350px|Mongrel enhanced with Locusts.]]
Earlier in Diablo III's development, the Witch Doctor's fire and Locust spells could jump to the Mongrels, granting them fire or locust damage on top of their own (weak) attacks. This feature was removed in 2009, and later replaced by various runestone effects.
==Skill Design==
[[File:Summon-Zombie-Dog-allruned.jpg|300px|thumb|All versions of the Dog, including un-[[rune]]d.]]
Summon Zombie Dogs is the first summoning [[skill]] most Witch Doctors will ever use, and forms the backbone of early Witch Doctor strategy. The dogs are not very strong individually, either in giving or taking damage, but they are effective meat shields, allowing the Witch Doctor to use his attack spells from the back row.
 ==Skill Rank Table==* '''Rank 1:''' Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 1 zombie Players assumed the dogs at a time. Cost: 10 Mana.* '''Rank 2:''' Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 2 zombie dogs at a time. Cost: 10 Mana.* '''Rank 3:''would be viable tanks or even weapons throughout the game, but shortly after Diablo III' Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog s launch it was discovered that Mongrels and [[Gargantuan]]s were underpowered and had far too few hit points to aid you. Can have up to 3 zombie dogs at survive more than a time. Cost: 10 Manafew seconds on higher difficulty levels.* '''Rank 4:''' Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 4 zombie dogs at As a time. Cost: 10 Mana. (A)* '''Rank 5:''' Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog result all early Witch Doctors in Hell and Inferno were forced to aid youplay petless builds. Can have up Blizzard vowed to 5 zombie dogs at adjust this unfortunate reality in a time. Cost: 10 Manapatch. (A) (A) = Assumed 
==Synergies==
* No The following [[synergiesWitch Doctor passives]] with any provide a benefit to Summon Zombie Dogs, runed or not:{{skill description header}}<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor">Jungle Fortitude</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the [[passive Veil</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Handler</skill><skill class="WitchDoctor">Fierce Loyalty</skill]]s are yet known.>
Shortly before release, a strategy article on Diablo.IncGamers.com did some theorycrafting and revealed that Zombie Dogs + Sacrifice, when stacked with the right passives and other skills, could deal amongst the highest damage output in the entire game.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/zombie-dogs-sacrifice-possibly-best-burst-aoe-damage-in-the-game]
 ==Skill Rune Effects==[[File:Mongrels-arena2.jpg|thumb|350px|Fiery mongrels set a Wizard ablaze.]]The known [[rune]] effects for Summon Zombie Dogs are:* [[Crimson rune]]: Level 2 rune effect: Zombie dogs share 20% of the math was sound, and damage the Witch Doctor takes.* Unidentified rune: Increases the mongrel's damage output.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from10,000-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor]* Unidentified rune: Gives 25,000% weapon damage is possible, but at least partially due to the mongrels more hit points.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-underpowered survivability of Mongrels on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor]* Unidentified rune: Gives the mongrels substantial fire damage.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/]* Unidentified rune: Gives mongrels a chance to drop a health orb when they die. It's higher difficulty levels, this strategy was not known if [[Sacrifice]]d dogs would also qualify for this. If so, given that there are traits that enable mana gain from health orbs, it could be largely self-sustainingmuch pursued in those early days. 
==Development==
[[File:Wd-mongrel-locust.jpg|thumb|250px|Mongrel enhanced with Locusts.]]
'''Summon Zombie Dogs''' debuted with [[Diablo III]] in the [[WWI 2008]] gameplay video, where the skill was in the [[Voodoo Skill Tree]] at Tier I. Summon Zombie Dog was called [[Summon Mongrel]] (as [[Mongrel]] was the original name of the Zombie dog), and mongrels could be enchanted with [[Locust Swarm]] or [[Skull of Flame]], among other spells.
<blockquote>''I saw them finish off the last zombie on screen a number of times, and I don’t recall ever having to summon new ones simply because the old ones had gotten stuck or lost around some corner of the dungeon. That speaks to their pathfinding as well, since the dungeons in this year’s Blizzcon PvM demo were made largely from narrow corridors and were quite windy and full of sharp corners and obstacles.</blockquote>
===Beta===[[File:Wd-mongrel3.jpg|right|thumb|Witch Doctor walking two pets.]]Skill tiers were removed for shortly before the [[July 2011 Press Eventbeta]]started in September 2011, and Summon Zombie Dogs became a level 1 skill.[[Flux]] gave it another try, and discussed the skill's function:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta-skills-mega-report]
<blockquote>''Better known as “Mongrels,” this is the default tank for the beta, and a very effective one. The dogs don’t have a lot of killing power — all three of them on the same normal enemy is considerably slower than any Witch Doctor attack spell — but they’re not meant for damage in their base form. They’re meat shields, and they do a pretty good job of that.
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''This skill previously worked with “one cast per dog,” so it took three casts to get all three of them out. (And you got more dogs with more skill points.) No more; now a single cast summons all three dogs, or re-summons fresh ones if your current batch are wearing out or one or more have died. It’s a full replacement cast, too; if you have two left you don’t just cast one new one to join the others; you get three new dogs.</blockquote>
 
The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]] in February 2012, and Summon Zombie Dogs was classified as a Defensive skill and moved to level 4.
===Previous Versions===
See the [[Witch Doctor skill archive]] for more details on previous versions of Summon Zombie Dogs (or [[Summon Mongrel]]) and other Witch Doctor skills.
 
===In Other Games===
Summon Zombie Dogs is the spiritual successor to [[Diablo II]]'s {{iw|Necromancer Necromancer}} skill {{iw|Raise_Skeleton Raise Skeleton}}, which is also a low-level tanking minion summoning skill.
 
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ImageFile:Diablo_III_Logowd-mongrel1.jpg|Skill use 1Close-up of two Dogs.File:Summon-Zombie-Dog-allruned.jpg|All versions of the Dog, including un-[[rune]]d.File:Wd-mongrel-locust.jpg|Mongrel enhanced with Locusts.File:Wd-mongrel3.jpg|Witch Doctor with two Dogs.
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==References==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor- beta-skills-mega-report Witch Doctor Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One] — IncGamers 1st Aug 30th Sep 2011* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/ Witch Doctor Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site 
{{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD|defensive}}
{{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD}}[[category:Active skills]][[category:Witch Doctor skills]][[category:Witch Doctor active skills]]
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