How to beat Nezarec in the Destiny 2 Lightfall Root of Nightmares raid

In the latest expansion from Destiny 2, Lightfall, players can experience a new campaign and missions on Neptune, traverse across Neomuna to find hidden treasure chests, earn new exotic weapons, and experience the new Power subclass, Strand.  

But the best part of it has been the release of the Root of Nightmares raid. The raid only launched on March 10, and players have already worked through the four encounters to get the new loot and Triumphs. However, the final boss, Nezarec, is the most challenging encounter in the raid as it requires a lot of teamwork and communication.

So, how do you beat Nezarec, the final boss, in the Root of Nightmares raid?

How to beat Nezarec in Destiny 2 Lightfall

The Nezarec encounter in the Root of Nightmares raid is challenging, and it requires you to split your team into two groups, with three players in each group. The easiest way to defeat Nezarec is to designate roles for each member—Runner, Mob Cleaner, and Tank.

Nezarec encounter player roles

Runner

The players assigned the Runner role will focus on activating their nodes. So, Light Runners will activate Light nodes and Dark Runners with activate Dark nodes.

In addition, they’ll also be responsible for making a safe place for their team to avoid Zecarec’s wipe mechanic. When a tank draws Nezarec’s attention, you must shoot one of his shoulders, and when it pops, a light will shine from that shoulder. It will be either white or orange. If it’s white, then the Dark team must make a safe haven on a completed Light-side node. And if it’s orange, the Light team must make a safe haven on a completed Dark-side node.

If you’ve made the haven and weren’t killed by Nezarec’s mechanic, Runners can continue activating the nodes to complete the chain. 

Tanks

The role of a tank is very straightforward: you must aggro Nezarec and hold the aggro by getting his “Nezarec’s Hatred” debuff. When he gives your team a debuff, you’ll want to shoot his chest to get the debuff and then shoot his shoulder. It will burst and show either a white or orange. 

Immediately let your Runner know so they can create a safe haven for you all so that you can avoid the wipe mechanic. When the debuff timer ends, the other team’s Tank must shoot his chest to get the debuff. And you’ll alternate until he begins his wipe mechanic or when the Runners have completed the chains. 

Mob Cleaner

As the name suggests, Mob Cleaners must ensure no mobs will affect the Runners or the Tanks. Three Colossus’ will spawn on the first wave of each phase, so be sure to take them out first. 

Damage Phase

When your Runners have completed their chains, the fight’s damage, or DPS phase, will begin. Nezarec can start taking damage once the beam of light shoots down into the middle of the map. The best way to do damage safely is to group up and move to one of the higher points on the map. From there, you need to throw everything you have at Nezarec until the end of the phase.  

Once this phase ends, you must move to your designated positions and repeat the process. Eventually, you’ll move on to the final stand.

In this phase, he can take damage. But you must hit him as hard as possible immediately after he roars to kill him, or else he will perform a raid-wide wipe. If you can kill him, that’ll signal the end of the fight, and you’ll be able to collect your loot. But if not, you’ll need to try again.

And if you’re struggling, Esoterickk has a great gameplay video of what you can expect from each fight phase.

So, as long as you know your roles, play it safe, and hit hard during the DPS phase, you can defeat Nezarec, claim epic loot, and complete Root of Nightmares.