I found the solution to the particle effect rotation problem by using this code as base
http://badlogicgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7060#p32607
And adding a small change to conserve the amplitude of the effect. Hope it helps.
public void rotateBy(float amountInDegrees) {
Array<ParticleEmitter> emitters = particleEffect.getEmitters();
for (int i = 0; i < emitters.size; i++) {
ScaledNumericValue val = emitters.get(i).getAngle();
float amplitude = (val.getHighMax() - val.getHighMin()) / 2f;
float h1 = amountInDegrees + amplitude;
float h2 = amountInDegrees - amplitude;
val.setHigh(h1, h2);
val.setLow(amountInDegrees);
}
}
}