Based on my knowledge of Spine 4.2, this behavior change is related to how Auto Key works. In version 4.2, Auto Key defaults to off, which means you need to manually key your changes. When you key only one property (like rotation), the other unkeyed changes (like translation) are lost when that key is set.
To get the behavior you're looking for from 4.1, you have a couple of options:
Enable Auto Key: Turn on the Auto Key button in the main toolbar. When Auto Key is enabled, all changes you make will be automatically keyed, so you won't lose any modifications.
Use the Key Edited hotkey: Instead of clicking individual key buttons, press K on your keyboard after making all your changes (rotation, translation, scale, shear). This will key all changed properties at once, preserving all your modifications.
Use specific tools: If you're working with Auto Key disabled and want to avoid accidentally creating unwanted keys, consider using the specific transformation tools (Rotate, Translate, Scale, Shear) rather than the Pose tool. This gives you more control over what gets keyed.
The team has actually recognized that Auto Key being off by default can be confusing, and they're considering changing it to default to on in future versions since it's the most common usage pattern.
