Root of Nightmares raid guide

Root of Nightmares arrived on March 10, 2023, as the Lightfall raid, and it takes your fireteam of six into a Pyramid ship to deal with Nezarec, Final God of Pain. The core idea of passing Light and Darkness along chains of nodes carries through almost every encounter, so once it clicks in the first room, the rest feels familiar. It comes in Normal and Master difficulty.

1. Cataclysm

The first encounter teaches the raid’s main trick. Stand in a node’s aura and shoot it to pick up Field of Light, a short buff. A trail then points to the next node in the chain, and you have to reach it and shoot it before the buff runs out, passing the Light along the network.

Meanwhile Cabal waves and pairs of shielded Psions keep the pressure on. Killing a Psion pair brings in Tormentors, and those matter: the Sweeping Terror timer counts down the whole time, and when it hits zero the team wipes. Killing a Tormentor adds time back, so treat them as a priority rather than a nuisance. A Barrier Colossus also shows up, so bring an anti-barrier answer.

2. Scission

Scission splits the arena into a Light side and a Dark side, and the enemies follow the same split. The Redolence of Splendor can only be damaged while you hold Light, and the Redolence of Decay only while you hold Darkness.

Runners carry their buff across the gap using launch cannons to activate nodes on the other side. To use a cannon, shoot the crystal in front of it. The encounter works its way across three floors, zig-zagging back and forth between the sides, so clear communication about who is launching when saves a lot of grief. Another Barrier Colossus joins the party here.

3. Macrocosm: Zo’aurc, Explicator of Planets

The space puzzle. Killing Centurions spawns Terrestrial Lieutenants, and killing a Lieutenant gives you Planetary Insight, which lets you see which colour each planet is. Your job is to find the planets that don’t belong on their side and move them across, then fill the three centre planets so they match.

When the layout is right, shoot the shard to start damage. Zo’aurc’s shield switches between Light and Darkness, and you need to stand on the plate that matches the current colour to hurt him. Watch the colour change and move together.

4. Nezarec, Final God of Pain

The final boss combines everything. There is a Light node chain on the left and a Dark node chain on the right, and damage only opens up once both chains are complete. While runners work the chains, someone should shoot Nezarec in the chest to pull his attention away from them.

• Break the crits on his shoulders during the fight. The colour of the burst tells you which colour his wipe attack will be.
• To survive the wipe, get into a Refuge, made by carrying the opposite buff into a node.
• After enough damage phases comes a final stand. If he isn’t dead in time, the team wipes, so save some burst for the end.

Challenges

• Illuminated Torment (Cataclysm): Tormentors must be killed by a player holding Field of Light.
• Crossfire (Scission): the cannon crystals must be shot by the opposite side.
• Cosmic Equilibrium (Macrocosm): Dark planets end up on the left and Light planets on the right.
• All Hands (Nezarec): every player activates one Light node and one Dark node per damage cycle.

Conditional Finality

The raid exotic, Conditional Finality, is a shotgun that splits its damage between Stasis and Solar. It only drops from Nezarec, as a random drop, and completing the raid’s triumphs improves your chances. The full loot table is below.