According to a new post on March 13, players have been clearing Destiny 2’s Root of Nightmares faster than any other raid in the game.
PvE raid content has made up most of the end-game content in Destiny 2, giving players a reason to invest heavily in their weapons and characters. While most raids are time-consuming challenges that require mutual collaboration and effort, successful raiders are always rewarded with valuable loot for their troubles.
The new Root of Nightmares raid promised to be as threatening as its predecessors, with a highly anticipated lore boss releasing alongside the game’s Lightfall expansion. Players must face off against the newly revived Nezarec, a former Disciple of the Witness with the power to create Nightmare creatures.
However, Destiny 2’s newest raid run may be one of the lighter challenges players have faced yet. Despite the title, the Root of Nightmares has been a mildly unpleasant dream at worst, with 45,541 players completing the raid on Day One.
All Destiny 2 Day One/Two Completions
Leviathan: 761
Leviathan PC: 3,258
Leviathan Prestige: 604
Eater of Worlds: 4,545
Eater of Worlds Prestige: 7,689
Spire of Stars: 19
Spire of Stars Prestige: 1,811
Last Wish: 2
Scourge of the Past: 954
Crown of Sorrow: 104
Garden of… https://t.co/Rco6nBvcDm— D1 Alpha Vet (@D1AlphaVeteran) March 12, 2023
A tweet by D1AlphaVeteran compared the rate of Day One completion for raids so far in the game. Destiny 2’s lowest Day One completion rates come from Last Wish and Spire of Stars, with only two and 19 players finishing the raids on the first day.
Meanwhile, the second raid with the most Day One completions is Eater of Worlds Prestige, with around 7,689 players, still far below Root of Nightmare’s Day One clears.
Challenge vs accessibility
Although Destiny 2 players agree that the raid is easier to complete, there may be other reasons why the Root of Nightmares has seen such massive clear rates.
Destiny 2’s new Lightfall expansion has broken records for the game’s concurrent player base, bringing over 300,000 players to the Steam server at once in late February. In addition, last month’s concurrent player record more than doubled Destiny 2’s previous record of 128,000 players.
While the increased number of players may have contributed to the clear rates, Reddit user YukiTsukino also noted that the way players have been clearing the new raid might also be a factor in calculations.
“If there really are 500 percent more clears, then it’s certainly not caused by the increase in players, but rather from people deciding to run [Root of Nightmares] multiple times,” the user said.
The theory is also given more weight considering the raid’s current play with more skilled players. After finishing the raid once, high-end players committed to running competitive raids without dying on the hardest difficulty.
Considering how slight miscalculations would have caused total party kills in previous raids, this is only further testament to the ease of the new challenge. Some Destiny 2 players have welcomed the change of pace, considering it a warm welcome to new players in the Lightfall expansion.
“This raid was definitely an accessibility thing, it was built with accessibility in mind. And that’s okay,” Twitter user Hunkolicious said. “The next new raid should 100 percent be a little harder.”
However, other Destiny players criticized the lack of challenge, with one Twitter user calling it an “absolute joke.” While the statement appears harsh, it may be somewhat warranted. Even after the end of Root of Nightmare’s competitive mode, players have discovered new methods to exploit the raid’s content. Some players have even managed to beat Nezarec in less than 20 seconds, thanks to a specific set of kit load-outs.
