JWA Patch Notes 2.3: New Moves & Creature Updates

Patch 2.3 is upon us and it brings a lot of news to the table. New Creatures, Creature Updates, Raids, QoL - all in one package! We have coverage for everything that is useful to know and you can find it in the articles linked below:

In this article, we will be going over the New Moves and Creature Changes. There are some particularly big creature updates so make sure you pay attention to those! 

We have several new moves this patch with most of them going to the new creatures. It seems most of them will be raid specific, but there are some that could be useful in the arena. 

Cautious Impact (Gorgotrebax)

Self: Increase speed 10% for 1 turn. 75% chance to Dodge 66.7% of damage for 1 attack for 1 turn.
Target highest damage: Precise: Attack 1,5x. Reduce opponent’s damage 50% for 2 attacks, lasting 1 turn.
Cooldown: 1

Emergency Group Heal (Parasaurolophus Lux)

Priority
Target Allies and Self: Heal 1.5x. Cleanse.
Delay: 1     Cooldown: 2.

Evasive Rampage (Aquilamimus)

Self: 75% chance to dodge 67% of damage for the next 4 attacks, lasting 2 turns.
Target lowest HP opponent: attack 2x.
Delay: 1  Cooldown: 2.

Revenge Group Cunning Strike (Gorgotrebax)

Self: Cleanse DoT.
Target highest damage: Remove Critical increase and attack increase. Reduce critical chance -100% and reduce damage -50% for 2 attacks for 1 turn.
Crit chance -100%. Attack 1x.
Revenge:Target all opponents: remove Critical increase and attack increase. Reduce Critical Chance 100% and reduce damage 50% for 2 attacks, lasting 1 turn. Attack x1
Self: Cleanse DoT.

Group Instant Distraction (Gorgotrebax, Poukandactylus)

Priority.
All opponents: damage reduced 100% for 2 attacks, lasting 1 turn.
Cooldown: 2.

Revenge Instant Ferocity (Antarctopelta, Antarctovenator)

Priority
Self: Gain 50% Damage for 4 attacks, lasting 2 turns.
Cooldown: 2
Revenge: Priority
Self: Gain 50% Damage for 6 attacks, lasting 3 turns.
Cooldown: 2

Revenge Nullifying Rampage (Gorgotrebax)

Target most buffed: remove Positive Effects. Attack 2x.
Delay: 1. Cooldown: 2.
Revenge: Target most buffed: remove Positive Effects. Attack 2x.
Cooldown: 2.

Side Flap (Poukandactylus)

Priority. Self: Cleanse. 100% chance to Dodge 66.7% of damage for 2 attacks, lasting this turn.
Increase Speed +10% for 2 turns. Taunt for 1 attack, lasting 1 Turn

As with any update, we have some creature changes as well and while there wasn't a lot, there were some significant ones. We won't go over all of them but will focus on the big ones that will probably make the most difference in the arena. 

Monolorhino

Attributes
Attack: 1300 changed to 1250

This is technically a nerf, but the loss of 50 attack points doesn't really change too many matchups. What's interesting is one of the parents of Monolorhino, Woolly Rhino, didn't receive any changes and that swap in damage is much better than MRhino's.

Phorusaura

Abilities
ability 3: Delayed Rampage And Run changed to Rampage And Run

The Bird is back. Back again. Yes, you read that right. It seems that the old 2.1 Phorusaura that had an Instant Rampage and a Rampage and Run in 2 consecutive turns is back. Get your Lania and other high HP creatures ready as you should expect to see an increase of the terror bird again most likely. The Delayed Rampage and Run it was given in 2.2 had a delay of 2 turns so we believed it gave Pho some balance and toned down the power it had as in 2.1 it was able to do 4x damage in 2 turns. It seems they decided to revert back to the 2.1 moves, and we don't think this was a particularly good move on Ludia's part. 

Quetzorion

Attributes
Attack: 1500 changed to 1450

Unlike the Monolorhino attack nerf, this one hurts Orion a bit more. Creatures with 4500 HP will now survive 2 hits from Orion as long as Orion doesn't crit. We thought Orion was perfectly balanced in 2.2 so we are surprised and confused by this change. We'll have to wait and see how much it really affects Orion in the arena, but there might be more matchups where you opponent wins by the skin of their teeth that Orion would have otherwise won before. 

Smilonemys

Attributes
HP: 4200 changed to 3900

I think of all the changes being made to creatures in 2.3, this one hurts the most. Losing 300 HP, puts Nemys in range of a lot of creatures being able to 2 shot it now. Just like Orion, we felt Nemys was a good balance in 2.2. It doesn't have the highest attack but it was speedy and had the armor to deal with the fast cunning creatures. It had counters (as all creatures should) but it was not OP in any way. It was solidly High Elite in our 2.2 Tier List but I'm afraid this change will bump it down at least 1 tier. This is a big blow to Nemys and you can probably expect to see it being dropped from teams as people find other creatures to replace it.

Thoradolosaur

Resistances
DOT Res.: 0% changed to 50%

This is a HUGE buff for the big green monster. Especially for the few DOT creatures that were still being used (Thylacotator, Spinoconstrictor, Pteravexus). As with many of the other changes in this patch, we aren't really sure why Thor needed a partial DOT resistance, but this is a big one for it and will make it even more difficult to bring down if you don't have a cunning creature to deal with it. 

The new moves seem interesting, but most of them are on newer creatures you might not see a lot of in the arena. The creatures changes also leave us scratching our head over some of the choices (RIP Nemys). Hopefully, the patch ends up being better than we think after reading the notes, but only time will tell. Make sure to join our discord for all the hype!