Summon Zombie Dogs

Summon Zombie Dog is a tier I skill in the Zombie Skill Tree, which summons zombie dogs to do the Witch Doctor's bidding.

Zombie dogs fight against the Witch Doctor's enemies, though they don't deal very much damage and are more useful as tanks allowing the Witch Doctor to cast attack spells from the back row, devastating monsters who are engaged with the dogs.

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.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]

Summon Zombie Dog Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Skill Description:
Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to X zombie dogs at a time.
Skill Details:
Type:	Summon
Quantity:	Cast
Effect:	Target
School:	Magical
Health cost:	10 health
Cast time:	Unknown
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	Unknown
Synergies:	Unknown
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Witch Doctor summons forth vicious undead lackeys to do his bidding.

Skill Design

Two mongrels.

Summon Zombie Dog is the first summoning skill in the Zombie Skill Tree, and is the backbone of early witch doctors specializing in this tree. They aren't 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.

At higher levels Mongrels can deal decent damage, and in a swarm they may be useful against individual enemies.

Enhancing the Dogs

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, but it's possible it may return, perhaps as a Mongrel enhancement from runestones.

Skill Rank Table

(legend (A) = Assumed)

Rank: 1/5
- Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 1 zombie dogs at a time.
- Health Cost: 10 health
Rank: 2/5
- Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 2 zombie dogs at a time.
- Health Cost: 10 health
Rank: 3/5
- Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 3 zombie dogs at a time.
- Health Cost: 10 health
Rank: 4/5
- Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 4 zombie dogs at a time. (A)
- Health Cost: 10 health
Rank: 5/5
- Summon 1 level 12 zombie dog to aid you. Can have up to 5 zombie dogs at a time. (A)
- Health Cost: 10 health

Mongrel enhanced with Locusts.

Synergies

None known.

Skill Rune Effects

None confirmed. Elemental (fire or locust) effects may be granted to the dogs by runestones.

Development

Summon Zombie Dog was seen in every Diablo 3 game demo to date, and was iterated, renamed and moved, judging from the latest demo. The Summon Zombie Dog was called Summon Mongrel (as Mongrel was the original name of the Zombie dog), was in the Voodoo skill tree and mongrels could be enchanted with Locust Swarm or Skull of Flame.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:

References

Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats