Difference between revisions of "Summon Zombie Dogs"
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[[File:IconSummonZombieDog.png|left]] | [[File:IconSummonZombieDog.png|left]] | ||
[[File:wd-mongrel1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Good dogs.]] | [[File:wd-mongrel1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Good dogs.]] | ||
− | '''Summon Zombie Dogs''' is a Defensive [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 4. It summons several zombie dogs, commonly known as "mongrels" which [[tank]] for the Witch Doctor. | + | '''Summon Zombie Dogs''' is a Defensive [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 4. It summons several zombie dogs, 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] |
+ | |||
+ | At the 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. | ||
− | |||
<br><br>__TOC__ | <br><br>__TOC__ | ||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Zombie Dogs 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. | Zombie Dogs 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 Rune Effects== | ==Skill Rune Effects== | ||
− | + | Refer to the [[Summon Zombie Dogs rune effects]] page for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips. | |
− | <skill class="WitchDoctor">Summon Zombie Dogs</skill> | + | {{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> | ||
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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. | 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. | ||
− | + | Players assumed the dogs would be viable tanks or even weapons throughout the game, but shortly after Diablo III's launch it was discovered that Mongrels and [[Gargantuan]]s were underpowered and had far too few hit points to survive more than a few seconds on higher difficulty levels. As a result all early Witch Doctors in Hell and Inferno were forced to play petless builds. Blizzard vowed to adjust this unfortunate reality in a patch. | |
==Synergies== | ==Synergies== | ||
− | The following [[Witch Doctor passives]] provide a benefit to Summon Zombie Dogs: | + | The following [[Witch Doctor passives]] 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 Veil</skill> | |
− | + | <skill class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Handler</skill> | |
− | + | <skill class="WitchDoctor">Fierce Loyalty</skill> | |
+ | |||
+ | 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] | ||
+ | |||
+ | The math was sound, and damage from 10,000-25,000% weapon damage is possible, but at least partially due to the underpowered survivability of Mongrels on higher difficulty levels, this strategy was not much pursued in those early days. | ||
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− | {{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD}} | + | {{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD|defensive}} |
+ | [[category:Active skills]] | ||
[[category:Witch Doctor skills]] | [[category:Witch Doctor skills]] | ||
− | [[category: | + | [[category:Witch Doctor active skills]] |
Latest revision as of 23:06, 6 June 2012
Summon Zombie Dogs is a Defensive Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 4. It summons several zombie dogs, 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.[1]
At the 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.
Contents
Background[edit | edit source]
Zombie Dogs 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 Rune Effects[edit | edit source]
Refer to the Summon Zombie Dogs rune effects page for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.
Name | Level | Description |
---|
<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>
Skill Design[edit | edit source]
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.
Players assumed the dogs would be viable tanks or even weapons throughout the game, but shortly after Diablo III's launch it was discovered that Mongrels and Gargantuans were underpowered and had far too few hit points to survive more than a few seconds on higher difficulty levels. As a result all early Witch Doctors in Hell and Inferno were forced to play petless builds. Blizzard vowed to adjust this unfortunate reality in a patch.
Synergies[edit | edit source]
The following Witch Doctor passives provide a benefit to Summon Zombie Dogs, runed or not:
Name | Level | Description |
---|
<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Jungle Fortitude</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Handler</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Fierce Loyalty</skill>
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.[2]
The math was sound, and damage from 10,000-25,000% weapon damage is possible, but at least partially due to the underpowered survivability of Mongrels on higher difficulty levels, this strategy was not much pursued in those early days.
Development[edit | edit source]
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.
For BlizzCon 2009, the skill was moved to the Zombie Skill Tree. By then, skill enchantments had been removed, replaced by skill rune enhancements. For a brief period of time, this skill apparently cost health instead of mana.
At BlizzCon 2010, they evinced more damage and improved AI, preferring proximity to the Witch Doctor over dealing with stragglers. Flux described it like this:[3]
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.
Beta[edit | edit source]
Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Summon Zombie Dogs became a level 1 skill. Flux gave it another try, and discussed the skill's function:[4]
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.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.
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
Summon Zombie Dogs is the spiritual successor to Diablo II's Necromancer skill Raise Skeleton, which is also a low-level tanking minion summoning skill.
Media[edit | edit source]
Summon Zombie Dogs can be seen in action on video here:
- Gameplay: WWI 2008
- Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
- Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects
- Gameplay: July 2011
- Video: August 2011 Witch Doctor Skill Animations
You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
All versions of the Dog, including un-runed.
References[edit | edit source]
- BlizzCon 2008 Witch Doctor Gameplay Report
- BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
- BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report
- BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
- Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
- Witch Doctor Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One — IncGamers 30th Sep 2011
- Witch Doctor Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
Classes of the Diablo games |
Skills - Active skills - Skill runes - Passives - Resource - Movement ability [e] Barbarian Demon Hunter Monk Necromancer Witch Doctor Wizard Followers Other Classes Fan-made |
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The Barbarian | Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) | Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
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|
Primary Might |
Secondary Tactics |
Defensive Rage |
Pound of Flesh (10) |
Superstition (30) |
(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. |
Barbarian skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Might Tactics Rage |
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Bash |
Cleave |
Frenzy |
[e] |
Hammer of the Ancients |
Rend |
Seismic Slam |
Whirlwind |
[e] |
Ground Stomp |
Leap |
Sprint |
Ignore Pain |
[e] |
Ancient Spear |
Revenge |
Furious Charge |
Overpower |
[e] |
Weapon Throw |
Threatening Shout |
Battle Rage |
War Cry |
[e] |
Earthquake |
Call of the Ancients |
Wrath of the Berserker |
[e] |
Demon Hunter skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Hunting Devices Archery |
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Hungering Arrow |
Entangling Shot |
Bola Shot |
Grenades |
[e] |
Impale |
Rapid Fire |
Chakram |
Elemental Arrow |
[e] |
Caltrops |
Smoke Screen |
Shadow Power |
[e] |
Vault |
Preparation |
Companion |
Marked for Death |
[e] |
Evasive Fire |
Fan of Knives |
Spike Trap |
Sentry |
[e] |
Strafe |
Multishot |
Cluster Arrow |
Rain of Vengeance |
[e] |
Monk skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Techniques Focus Mantras |
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Fists of Thunder |
Deadly Reach |
Crippling Wave |
Way of the Hundred Fists |
[e] |
Lashing Tail Kick |
Tempest Rush |
Wave of Light |
[e] |
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Breath of Heaven |
Serenity |
Inner Sanctuary |
[e] |
Dashing Strike |
Exploding Palm |
Sweeping Wind |
[e] |
Cyclone Strike |
Seven-Sided Strike |
Mystic Ally |
[e] |
Mantra of Evasion |
Mantra of Retribution |
Mantra of Healing |
Mantra of Conviction |
[e] |
Necromancer skill categories: Primary Secondary Corpses Blood and Bone Reanimation Curses |
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Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo |
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Poison Dart - Rune effects |
Corpse Spiders |
Plague of Toads |
Firebomb |
[e] |
Grasp of the Dead |
Firebats |
Haunt |
Locust Swarm |
[e] |
Summon Zombie Dogs |
Horrify |
Spirit Walk |
Hex |
[e] |
Soul Harvest |
Sacrifice |
Mass Confusion |
[e] |
Zombie Charger |
Spirit Barrage |
Acid Cloud |
Wall of Zombies |
[e] |
Gargantuan |
Big Bad Voodoo |
Fetish Army |
[e] |
Wizard skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Force Conjuration Mastery |
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Magic Missile |
Shock Pulse |
Spectral Blade |
Electrocute |
[e] |
Ray of Frost |
Arcane Orb |
Arcane Torrent |
Disintegrate |
[e] |
Frost Nova |
Diamond Skin |
Slow Time |
Teleport |
[e] |
Wave of Force |
Energy Twister |
Hydra |
Meteor |
Blizzard |
[e] |
Ice Armor |
Storm Armor |
Magic Weapon |
Familiar |
Energy Armor |
[e] |
Explosive Blast |
Mirror Image |
Archon |
[e] |
Followers | Kormac the Templar | Lyndon the Scoundrel | Eirena the Enchantress [e] | |||
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Level 10: |
Level 5: Level 10: |
Level 15: |
Level 15: Level 20: |
Level 25: Level 30: |
Diablo III Other Classes | Diablo II Classes | Diablo I Classes [e] | ||||
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Archetypes: |
Archetype sub-types: |
Other classes: |
Diablo II: |
Fan-made Classes | Fan-made Skills [e] | ||||
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• Alchemist |
• Flagellant |
• Ranger |
Dragon Warrior Skills |
Aurian Mage Skill | |
|