Explorers, here is the post you have all been waiting for… our thoughts behind the decisions made on the tier list! But before we jump into that there are a few things that I would like to bring attention to before we begin.

First off, this list was not the work of any single person, Big thanks to the team; Pocemon, MnBrian, Reebecca, Triceratops, LoganSBT, JHVS, ZhengTann, and Legomin1314.

Secondly, there seem to be feelings that we need more tiers added to further reflect the power levels of the dinos within each tier. This is definitely something we are looking into for the future, but no promises on that front quite yet.

Third, just because a dino falls into a lower tier does not mean it is a bad dino! I personally hit 5,000 trophies before the first tournament reset while utilizing Dimetrodon, which was sitting down in survivor, the entire time. I bring this up because there seems to be a lot of sentiment that anything that is not in Apex is bad and this is definitely NOT the case. I would go as far to say that Alpha and Apex could both be considered “end game” dino’s, based on your own preferences and team composition. Ludia has been doing a great job with balance in our opinion, and we are seeing the largest pool of dinos in these two tiers yet!

Finally, lets outline what we factor when decide where each dinosaur is placed into a tier. First, stats and moves (their “kit”) is a strong indicator for us. Dinos such as Blue and Brachiosaurus may not be popular due to their limited availability, but both sport impressive kits that definitely allow them to hang with some of the best dinos. Taking the kits a step further we start working out head to head match-ups for the dinos assuming equal levels and ignoring the availability of DNA. Pitting dinosaurs match-up spreads against each other, especially candidates that seem likely for Apex and Alpha tier, allow us to see how useful that particular dinosaur is. For example, Stegodeus has the potential to beat many of the other dinos that are assigned Apex tier and nearly everything else below it, so its definitely worthy of Apex tier itself. Of course minor considerations are also made as to what is popular in arena.

So without further ado, lets hop into what happened within patch 1.4 and get into the thoughts the team had while making the newest tier list!

Patch 1.4 was actually rather small on the side of balance changes compared to 1.3, where we saw nearly every dino get some sort of change to either moves or stats. In 1.4 we saw some minor stat changes that mostly affected common and rare dinosaurs with a few that impacted the uniques and legendaries. We also saw the addition of Swap-In Abilities (SIA for short), and Flying Reptiles, which will be under the umbrella of dinos for this article even though I am fully aware that they are not dinosaurs. Updated moves primarily consist of the newly buffed Damage Over Time (or Bleed as I like to call it) and Instant Charge, which had its delay lowered from two turns to a single turn.

APEX Dinosaurs

Alankylosaurus being placed into Apex seemed to be a shock to many and I cannot deny that it even surprised me. Many of us thought at first that it was destined for Alpha and fell into the mindset that its just a worse Tragodistis, but its match-ups told a bit of a different story. It may lose out in terms of speed and damage (due to the lack of counter) but it makes up for this by being an even sturdier tank, boasting short defense in addition to long invincibility. This means dinos such as Indominus Rex are not able to bait out one shield in order to score a kill after it has expired. Swap-In Invincibility also gives it utility by allowing it to essentially swap in for free which can definitely turn the tide of battle. The biggest concern it faces in our opinion is being gated by being an arena exclusive dino, although 2 weeks of Special Event Supply Drops and several strike events have made its DNA rather obtainable for the short time it has been available.

Allosinosaurus probably came in as less of a surprise due to the numerous buffs it received in the form of higher damage, defense shattering moves, and the buff to instant charge. Prior to these changes Allosino had no way to deal with shields that meta tanks were sporting after 1.3 and against other dinos it was often dying on turn 2 before it was able to fire off an instant charge. Those are concerns of the past now though and it sports strong matchups vs most dinos with the exception of those who outspeed it and carry a distracting move to reduce its damage.

Diloracheirus is the other new hybrid we added to Apex tier in this patch. We have not seen much disagreement on this one but we have seen a few saying that its reduced bulk and damage compared to 1.3’s Diloranosaurus make it seem like a weak addition. It sports one of the best movesets in the game, still retains high damage, and most importantly it falls into the 129 speed tier. This is important in both the Indoraptor and Magnapyritor match-ups since they both fall into 128 speed and are common in the upper arenas. Other dinos rode that speed tier up into relevance and Diloracheirus sports one more advantage over them still… Ludia fixed speed ties in 1.4 to factor in rarity again. This means that since Diloracheirus is the the only unique in this speed tier you could say its the fastest of the 129 dinos.

Erlidominus was one that was debated amongst the group. It’s very obviously a strong dino but struggles against shields. However, that is not where you want to be using it anyway. Minimal Speedup Strike allows it to deal with dinos that outspeed it by allowing it to outspeed them on turn 2; Strike and Run allows it to flee from unfavorable matchups and brings utility with the newly added Swap-in abilities; and then it always has massive damage to deal out with rampage before it goes down. It is on the frail side, but cloak can make up for that in most matchups with a little bit of luck. Also of note, immunity helps against the new Bleed mechanics.

Monomimus the ankle breaking dodgestrich (See what I did there? Dodge + Ostrich) got some slight buffs to its HP and damage. Honestly though it was probably underrated in the last list. It is extremely frail but it boasts both distracting impact and evasive stance to make up for that while sitting at the all important 129 speed tier. Its a solid counter to Indoraptor and can play the role of late game cleanup quite well.

Pyrritator, or more affectionately known as Kung Fu Parrot, got a small but important buff by jumping up from 128 speed to 129. Again, this comes in extremely important in the Magnapyritor and Indoraptor match-ups. Previous lists had seen it at Apex tier but later dropping to Alpha due primarily to bad match-ups with Superiority Strike dinos, but we felt that the jump in speed warranted it rising to the top yet again. If it finds an opportunity to use Ready to Crush it can very easily sweep the next 2 dinos and even without that it is able to play clean up at the tail end of battles extremely well.

Spinotasuchus is another dino who sits at the 129 speed tier and received a buff to not only its attack but also from its Bleed moves. Its currently the only dinosaur with swoop, which allows it apply a bleed and flee, where it can sit on the sidelines for a chance to come back later and potentially sweep.

Utarinex received two notable buffs, one to its damage and another from the instant charge changes. It plays more like 1.3’s Diloranosaurus than the current Diloracheirus due to its high HP, damage, and utility. It was probably another one that was a bit underrated on previous lists due to being essentially a worse Diloranosaurus before, but with the changes now I would go as far as saying its a contender for best dinosaur in the game.

Alpha Dinosaurs

Again, we want to make it clear that dinos in this tier could still be considered “end game.” They are not quite as powerful as their Apex brethren but still are fairly flexible dinos with the strength to turn a battle if utilized correctly.

Diloranosaurus took a heavy nerf to its damage stat, losing 300 damage in patch 1.4. However, it still boasts one of the best movesets in the game along with being fairly tanky. All in all, its still a dino that deserves respect in the arena or you may see it swapping in an out to lay a hurt down on your team.

Monostegotops‘ placement on this list has been the source of quite a few memes that we have noticed. It did not receive any changes this patch but still sports a good stat line and move set. The problem? It just barely loses to nearly every Apex dino and even a handful of the Alpha tier ones as well. It fills an important niche as a nullifying dino and is rather accessible in comparison to others, but its kit just does not warrant placement in Apex.

Let’s mix it up a bit here and talk about two Alpha dinos, Paramoloch, which climbed up from Survivor due to buffs to its damage and Instant Charge move, and Stegoceratops, the previous gatekeeper to Apex, who lost some HP, speed, and only gained 5% more armor. The reason I mention the two of them together is because they are both stun bots that aim to prevent their opponents from making moves at all.

Paramoloch is the new undisputed Queen of this with a 20% chance to stun with Low Stunning Strike and two chances for 75% stuns with Greater Stunning Strike and Instant Charge. Stegoceratops was previously teetering between Alpha and Apex but with the nerf to HP we felt it was time for her to drop. The speed nerf did not affect Stegoceratops much due to having Slowing Impact. The lack of cleanse and new Bleed moves are also something both of these stunning dinos have to wary of.

Spinotahraptor also saw a rise up to Alpha. It gained some HP that will occasionally allow it to survive an extra turn and it gained gashing wound which is quite a powerful bleed ability. The concerns here are that its a bit slow compared to other raptor-esque dinos and how fragile it is, although distracting rampage can make up for that in some cases.

Tanycolagreus managed to turn a few heads due to its climb. This one did not see any changes directly but in a world of 129 speed dinos it still outpaces them all with its 130. It has nullifying impact to answer cloak, evasive stance, and any other buffs many of the top dinos utilize, and also has armor piercing strike to ensure that it can do decent damage even when paired up against tanks. Like other speedy dinos it excels at coming in late and cleaning house. If only Ludia would release it from parks so we could collect more DNA for it…

Utasinoraptor remember that disclaimer at the top about Alpha dinos being really good still? Utasinoraptor in particular is part of the reason that is there. This dino scored extra points for looking cool but we felt that it just barely falls short of Apex. It received a buff to its damage and the buff to Instant Charge, yet can still stuggle against dinos that are faster than it, too tanky, or possess immunity. Just to be clear, in the right team it’s ability to get other dinos low without killing them may be a benefit due to it allowing the next dino a turn to set up, but on its own merit it just barely loses too many match-ups.

The Rest…

The Flying Reptiles flew in rather disappointingly. Everyone was expecting some sort of built in dodge chance and high speed but they did not deliver on that front. Arambourgiania and Alanqa are pretty much just worse versions of Alankylosaurus. Pteranodon almost looks good but its too frail to swap in to get that boost and too slow to take advantage of it the next turn before it comes crashing down. Similar story for Tupandactylus and Dsungaripterus.

Dinos that use Bleed, like the two Spinosaurs and Suchomimus saw a slight increase, along with dinos that benefited from the buff to Instant Charge such as Sinoceratops and Stygimoloch.

Other special mentions include Majundasuchus, with its new swap in ferocity allowing it to get a 100% damage buff after it uses ferocious strike, Gallimimus, who saw a speed buff to ensure it can evasive strike before going down, Monolometrodon, who’s beautiful sail and good move set could not be saved from its disappointingly low damage stat. Nodopatotitan, weighs in as an only slightly better Gigaspikasaur without enough oomph to even make it go up a tier in comparison. We were hopeful with Sarcorixis‘ buffs but again, they did not give it enough of a running start to leap up a tier.

Parting Words

That about wraps up the changes we had to the tier list after the 1.4 tier list. If there are other dinos that you would like an explanation about our placement ask in the comments below or join our discord! We hope this answered most of your questions and we look forward to doing this again after the next update.

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