Changes to Dodge and Evasive Mechanics and How it Affects Gameplay

RNG has always been a part of the game, but it has also been the most frustrating part for many players. Specifically, when it came to dodging. Creatures that can cloak or have evasive abilities could sometimes run through your whole team without taking a hit if the RNG cards were in their favor. That seemed the number one RNG complaint from players when looking at the forums. It seems that Ludia listened as well with the implementation of patch 1.8. 

1.8 brought a lot of changes, but nothing affected game play and style more than the change to the dodge mechanic. Before 1.8 dodge was an all or nothing. You either got hit through your evasive/cloak  or you didn't. Now, you will be hit through your cloak/evasive stance even if you dodge it. Meaning you will always take some sort of damage. Instead of having a 50% chance to dodge 100% of damage, you will now have a 50% chance to dodge 66% of damage. So no matter what, you will take 33% of the damage dealt. This also applies to anything with swap in dodge. You will get hit through the dodge no matter what so you are essentially swapping into guaranteed damage. 

For a look at all the changes to RNG in 1.8 check out our article below

The creatures that are affected by this change are any that have evasive, cloak, prowl, sidestep, or swap in dodge abilities.

All of the creatures listed below have one of these abilities:

Erlidominus, Gallimimus, Indominus  Rex, Indoraptor, Marsupial Lion, Monomimus, Ornithomimus, Phorusrhcos, Procerathomimus, Pteraquetzal, Quetzorion, 
Smilocephalosaurus, and Smilodon

The change to the dodge mechanic hit some creatures harder than others. Those that relied on evasive and dodge to survive (those with low HP especially) have to be played in different ways now. You also won't be able to try and cloak or use evasive when you have very low HP hoping for the hail mary win. 

Most of these creatures don't just have evasive or dodge abilities though, so while you can still use them as a tactic, you need to try and take advantage of their other strengths. Procerathomimus, for example, has 2 distraction moves that can help it survive without having you use evasive stance. Indoraptor also has a cleanse and Defense Shattering Rampage that can deal some big damage as well. Erlidominus has speed on it's side and with a turn 1 Rampage, it can hit hard before you can hit it back.

What you can't do however is use your cloak or evasive move when you have really low health. If 33% of their attack will take you out no matter what, it's a waste of a move on your part. Better to try and deal damage before going down or trying to bait out a big move so you can set up another dino.  

While some people doubt the validity of some of these creatures on teams, I think they still have a place if played correctly. The dodge mechanic hurt them in some ways, but I for one am happy I don't have an Indoraptor sweeping my entire team any more. I think the change to dodge really helped make the arena a little more bearable and more skill based instead of luck based (even though we still see that with crits and jimbo stuns).

So if you have one of these creatures on your team, fret not! They are still usable you just need to find a way to make them work on your team. And if you are someone who ran 4 dodge dinos and immediately cloaked or dodged and prayed to get lucky, just remember you won't be able to rely on that any more. 

For a look at how some of these dinos perform against high damage dealers in the arena, check out our latest YouTube video!

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