JWA Patch Notes 3.4: New Creatures!

It’s been a while but hey, the new patch notes of update 3.4 are in business!

In this update, we’re getting 8 new creatures, and I believe they would surely surprise you, because after a whole year, Jam City finally fulfilled their overdue promise of granting us something from the Common category!

That’s not all, as 3 Apexes being released in a single update is something beyond my imagination too.

Without further ado, let’s break it down!

Plateosaurus is a Resilient.

Moves:

• Resilient Double Strike
• Instant Armoured Deflection
• Defensive Counter Strike

Kicking off the first update of 2024, we finally have our first ever Common creature after ages since Sinosauropteryx back in update 2.11!

By looking through its moves, it seems this Triassic herbivore it’s the 3rd creature, after Pterovexus and Fukuiraptor that could deal more than 1X damage in it’s 1st move in the name of Resilient Double Strike; making it an effective tool against flocks and in my opinion, Eremotherium for sure.

Instant Armoured Deflection seems to prioritise on granting Plateo a shield and armour increase as well, making it useful against the Omega Fukuiraptor on Pounce And Bite. Lastly, you have Defensive Counter Strike, which grants you a shield and speed increase in return, sweet!

To conclude, Plateosaurus seems to be a defensive tank that could chip away flocks and the health of cunning Omegas. Besides, it also has a Unique hybrid as well, so let’s hope it’ll be wild soon.

Gigantspinosaurus is a Cunning-Resilient.

Moves:

• Group Resilient Strike
• Brace And Taunt Impact
• Nullifying Rampage
• Swap In Shielded Distraction
• Luring Counter Strike

Second to this update we have the Chinese stegosaur Gigantspinosaurus, which to be fair, is a decent choice for being on the run.

Group Resilient Strike is always neat for any Argenteryx or Compsognathus around, but Brace And Taunt Impact? It’ll probably be what I believe to be a superior tank to combat Cunnings. If not, probably it could handle more survivability on its own.

Nullifying Rampage as a Unique move is awesome to have, especially against Megalotops or anything that uses positive effects that further enhance their own mindgames.

With the new Luring Counter Strike, chances are if it has stun immunity to start with, along with Group Resilient Strike, it might even be able to kick Pulmonoscorpius to the curb.

Swap In Shielded Distraction is also pretty decent, but I’ll say it’ll probably be mediocre if it’s facing up against an eternal fierce tank like Giganotosaurus or Allosaurus Gen 2.

Overall speaking, it’s definitely a bane towards Cunnings, and perhaps some Omegas that focus much on evasion as well. So, will it be a choice for tournaments? I think it may stand a chance, but still, the results may vary as the stats and resistances haven’t been revealed for this fella.

Sinraptor is a Cunning-Fierce.

Moves:

• Fierce Strike
• Devious Impact
• Definitive Impact
• Afflicting Vengeful Swoop
• Wounding Counter
• Afflicting Lockdown On Escape

Our only Omega on the list is the Metriacanthosauridae Sinraptor. Definitely not a raptor, despite the misleading name it has and from its moveset alone, it looks pretty oppressive.

Right from the start you’ve got Devious Impact inherited from fellow affliction ally Megalaina, which has been considered to be one of the bigger threats in the Common to Rare meta.

Definitive Impact ain’t too bad to be fair as it’s secondary big hit, but Afflicting Vengeful Swoop is definitely going to be an issue, especially against those without on-escape abilities when Sinraptor can have the ability to swap out, afflict you and hit that bleed on you. Chances are if Sinraptor is quick enough and has swap prevention immunity, it can be one of the best bleeders in the game.

Wounding Counter was completely MADE into this Omega to further enhance its bleeding abilities from top to bottom.

Lastly with Afflicting Lockdown On Escape, you ain’t going anywhere with this guy around. With such immense bleeding and afflicting abilities that had completely blown out of my mind, I have high hopes for this guy playing mind games on the Omega meta.

Plateopikasaurus is a Resilient super-hybrid fused from Plateosaurus and Gigaspikasaur.

Moves:

• Resilient Double Strike
• Lesser Group Decelerating Rampage
• Double Impact Bulwark
• Precise Dispiriting Rampage
• Swap In Bulwark Strike
• Counter Power Heal

A Unique fused with a common component usually isn’t really the brightest thing out there, but take one look at Plateopikasaurus’ moves would instantly make you change your mind.

To start off, you have Plateosaurus’ Resilient Double Strike, and then you have a group rampage with Lesser Group Decelerating Rampage which functions mostly as a defensive attack to shake things off. If Bulwark from the Omega Homalocephale is an effective tool to repel Cunnings, Double Impact Bulwark would be a total nightmare to those critters. Again, it’s a double impact itself, so I do hope its attack stat ain’t too high considering it’s a Resilient, but even to me the attack stat isn’t the biggest problem: Gigaspikasaur already has 40% armour by default, while the Bulwark increases 25% armour. We aren’t sure whether Plateosaurus would have armour, but still thinking of it having so much to cover itself is just unbelievable. It’s just like Geminideus in a Unique format.

Moving on, we have Precise Dispiriting Rampage, which again, slows the opponent down with an extra distracting ability. As if so many defensive abilities weren’t enough, Swap In Bulwark Strike and Counter Power Heal certainly wouldn’t be likeable to anything that cannot penetrate a shield. Whether it be meta or not, we’ll have to see whether it has rend resistance, because from the looks of it, it seems like Thylos bait if it doesn’t. With so many moves mainly for defence, meaning it’s probably not gonna be very effective against Fierce-Resilients like Atrocimoloch and Concatosaurus. So, my hopes aren’t too high for it, as if it’s a creature being dropped mostly in a fierce-oriented meta, but if it were to be against a horde of Cunnings, it’ll rule.

Giganspinoceratops is a Resilient super-hybrid fused from Gigantspinosaurus and Spinoceratops.

Moves:

• Protective Advance
• Bracing Taunt And Impact
• Nullifying Rampage
• Ferocious Impact
• Swap In Laceration
• Medium Resilient Counter-Attack
• Stunning Obstruction

Spinoceratops itself has been a top tier Legendary on its own, and finally it deserves the hybrid it should have gotten a long time ago and boy Giganspinoceratops looks even more than just a simple upgrade to Spinoceratops for sure.

Losing Heavy Strike in favour for the priority Protective Advance isn’t the main reason why I would announce that, but it’s rather Bracing Taunt And Impact that could allow it to further expand the Brace ability to it’s peak. This considering both Gigantspinosaurus and Spinoceratops are relatively tanky creatures to begin with, as well as Nullifying Rampage that could further poke fun of anything that requires a setup to accomplish a win.

Now imagine that rampage being boosted with Ferocious Impact beforehand, heavy armour, absorb and probably the only ways to stop this stegosaur from charging at you.

That’s not all, as Swap In Laceration is practically Lethal Wound and Instant Rend combined together as a whole to be a swap-in.

On escape, Stunning Obstruction is always a neat passive to start with and so asking me whether this guy is worth getting or not? I’ll say it’ll need some time to adapt to the Unique meta, but once it can find a way to get in, it can definitely be a wise pick in tournaments like its Legendary component did. As one could see, a counter pattern on dodge removal and nullification could potentially be a harbinger to Pantherator. To beat this thing, we can’t say for sure what would be the best option considering we haven’t seen its stats yet, but I have a feeling that Pyrorixis nuking it with Berserk Decimating Wound would be the best choice.

Concatoloch is a Resilient mega-hybrid fused from Concatosaurus and Tuoramoloch.

Moves:

• Instant Shielded Ferocity
• Group Stunning Slowing Impact
• Hastening Shelter
• Expose Weakness
• Piercing Counter Strike
• Rejuvenate On Escape

Concatosaurus itself is already a beast in current PvPs and tournaments and it would make sense for Jam City to make an Apex out of it just merely an update later. If the defensive Concatosaurus focuses most of its kit on regeneration, perhaps Concatoloch’s second hybrid component being Tuoramoloch would probably make the existing abilities even stronger.

First up, it’s got Instant Shielded Ferocity which seems to benefit itself from setups to further make use of it’s other defensive move, Hastening Shelter. With ferocity and regeneration applied with shields combined, it’s probably gonna be a pain in the neck for any Cunning like Dracovenator and Nomingia to come against.

Again, having the ability to increase its armour and imposing vulnerability with Expose Weakness, while retaining the stun-and-slow combo from Group Stunning Slowing Impact, chances are if it has the usual rend and stun resistance, Thylos and Dsungascorpios might have a harder time dealing with it.

It's especially armed with Piercing Counter Strike that boosts its attack as well.

Those were apparently just the appetisers as for its last resort, it has Rejuvenate On Escape. This move apparently could allow the already hefty Concatoloch to heal itself back to full health when the opponent tries to swap out. So, any setups probably aren’t gonna be a problem for this hadrosaurid carnivore as it can potentially change the tide of the battle with that. If you really need to beat this thing up, you’re probably gonna need the biggest of the fierces to really take it out. If not, we’re probably looking at Stegosaurus Ungulatus 2.0.

Dracosaurus Lux is a Wildcard mega-hybrid fused from Styracosaurus Lux and Utarinex.

Moves:

• Cunning Heavy Strike
• Quickening Precise Impact
• Afflicting Horn
• Lightspeed Charge And Run
• Swap In Double Impact

The third instance of a double Unique to Apex fusion and this looks like it’ll be a rather interesting combo to begin with Dracosaurus Lux. Despite the name controversy, Utarinex seems to be the odd choice as opposed to Dracovenator or Dracoceratosaurus, as you already need Sinoceratops on building Giganspinoceratops, but hey, that’s just Jam City being themselves. Moving onto its abilities, which were somewhat flabbergasting.

Cunning Heavy Strike may not be the biggest threat it’s got, but the instant Afflicting Horn that afflicts the opponent while stunning and bleeding, it might be the biggest challenge to the meta. Even annoying stallers, like Diloracherius are probably gonna hate this ceratopsian hybrid for sure, because it’s nothing but a horrific combination to behold!

Along with the abilities Quickening Precise Impact and Lightspeed Charge And Run, they can further allow D-Lux to gain an upper hand on speed control to further get the maximum amount of power on its side; all can be proven even handy if D-Lux has swap prevention immunity.

If it really has this advantage, then this hybrid casually swapping and dealing damage with Swap In Double Impact would be a major stepping stone to further irritate the meta, especially when it nullifies any dodge effects that might want to evade every single strike from it.
 

Clever Girl and Pantherator users may have to cower in fear when this thing charges its way to the meta.

Sah Panthera is a Wildcard super-hybrid fused from Pantherator and Scutophicyon.

Moves:

• Determined Strike
• Afflicting Trap
• Resilient Group Rampage
• Vengeful Double Strike
• Swap In Devour Strike
• Medium Nullifying Counter
• Hunt On Escape

Initially thought to be a raid Apex by looking at its unique name, and now JamCity really just pulled out this huge plot twist on us. I wouldn’t be surprised either way, especially when this Pantherator hybrid was released just in time after Tyrannometrodon got Skoonametrodon back in November, continuing the uncanny ‘Rex Vs Panther’ rivalry.

The weirdest thing for Sah Panthera here is not the other hybrid component being the recently buffed Scutophicyon, but rather it having lost Evasive Hunt in favour of the new instant Afflicting Trap. Affliction has been a kit for an E5 Pantherator, so we’re not surprised to see it gaining this move when it distracts and slows the opponent down properly when paired up with Determined Strike as one of the best strikes in the game.

Unlike Shovel Chin though, it received Resilient Group Rampage from Scutophicyon, which is a group attack that would probably hit flocks hard.

Along with Vengeful Double Strike, which can be considered somewhat as a defensive version of Floating Dual Claw, where it can make good use of distraction to further maul its opponents.

Swap In Devour Strike from Albertocevia was also given to it, which was totally unexpected as well, given that it’s another swap that involves precision.

Despite Sah Panthera losing a variety of it’s oppressive elements like bleed and rend from Pantherator, it can seem to still hold its grudge against certain Fierce creatures like Thylos and perhaps even Skoonametrodon when it can make good use of its affliction abilities to distract and nullify the opponent. For the moment, we aren’t sure whether it can be replacing Pantherator in top teams immediately, as we would still have to wait until it’s stats have been revealed to determine whether it’ll be the more legitimate replacement. Besides, it requires EVEN more Marsupial Lion DNA, which already has 6 hybrids. But from the practical abilities his Apex has, let’s hope Jam City would make more events with Marsupial Lion in it or else everyone’s gonna go bankrupt with all those demands on its hybrid lineage.

And that wraps it up for the 8 new creatures!

For me, I believe all these new creatures would surely bring surprises through their abilities, especially for the 3 new Apexes that will probably make their way into the meta. Also, with Plateosaurus being the Common choice here, let’s get our fingers crossed for more Commons or even Rares once the next patch notes come. Additionally, it seems that most of these new creatures are mainly focused on resilience. Would it give a chance for Fierce creatures that act as a last resort, like Pyrorixis to make a comeback? I guess we’ll find out once the update goes live.

What are your favourite creatures in this update? Let us know and feel free to comment on our Discord server!

Thanks for reading and have fun playing!