Pooch

Pooch

Still

Animated

A weak, but very dangerous zombie.

Main Stats

Health

100

Melee Damage

130

Crit. Chance

0%

Speed

40

Rage Drop

1

Behavior Stats

Agility

100

Aggression

18

Morale Stats

Charisma

-48

Charisma Radius

50

Pooch is an infected canine. Patches of its skin and fur have rotted off, partially exposing its rib cage.

Overview

Pooch is a runner-type enemy that has very low health, but compensates with extremely high speed. It runs in a zig-zag pattern, giving it a good chance to run past human units on the battlefield. Pooches tend to come in packs.

Pooch is one of the few enemies with universal targeting priority: every unit in the game will prioritize attacking the nearest Pooch to them, should there be any present on the field.

Strategy

The best way to deal with Pooch is by spamming fighters like Redneck, as their speed makes them likely to block them in time. Farmer can be used in hopes that his shotgun will hit several Pooches at once, but his slow speed makes it unlikely that he will be able to move in time to get in Pooch's way. Dropping an Empty Barrel is also effective, but requires more precise timing to account for its sporadic but predictable zig-zag movement. Mechanic might act as a counter against Pooches, considering that his sledgehammer attack grants him a slight speed boost while charging and a slightly bigger attack range.

Given their speed and unique movement pattern, fighting against Pooch may simply come down to luck, making several retries a possibility in order to get a 3-star rating in missions where they are encountered.

Trivia

• Currently, Pooch is the only known zombified animal in the game.
• According to a Q&A answer that addresses the presence of canine units (which are often for searching), Pooch was presumably used by emergency services to locate victims, but succumbed to the infection. This echoes with the common presence of Aidman and Paramedic in earlier locations.
• In one of the promotional artworks for the game, a missing pet poster shows a Pooch, affectionately named "Princess."

Gallery

• 

  Journal entry.
• 

  Pooch as seen in a Facebook advertisement, alongside Robber (notice the different pose Pooch is in).
• 

  Ditto. (Recreation)
• 

  Missing pet poster, shows a Pooch with the name "Princess"
• 

  Artwork of Pooch with paint in his body, Desperado and Free Hugs in a Mexican dress.
• 

  Promotional Artwork of a painted Pooch, some painted Skeletons and Desperado..
• 

  Spritework of Pooch running towards Welder during the Harvest Day event.