Destiny 2 players have mixed feelings about the Root of Nightmares raid for all the wrong reasons

The Destiny 2 World First race for the Root of Nightmares raid concluded yesterday, and it was achieved by team Hard in the Paint. Many fans were under the impression it was going to be another heated competition between Saltagreppo’s team, Elysium, and Datto’s team, Math Class. This was not the case, and both respective teams finished far from first. Now, as more players have cleared the raid, many have mixed feelings about the various encounters in Root of Nightmare. However, the reason behind this is for all the wrong reasons, and it’s not something the Destiny 2 community should be encouraging from every future raid.

The biggest complaint from Destiny 2 players is that while the mechanics from Root of Nightmares are interesting, there’s no grappling Boss DPS check that walls players for many hours on Contest Mode. Historically, a Boss DPS check in a Destiny 2 raid forces players to use a handful of specific meta weapons to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time. Nearly everything has to be perfect to pass this check.

Related: All Root of Nightmares loot drops and loot tables in Destiny 2

For professional teams like Elysium and Math Class, these checks are hard-tuned to their rhythm, and they typically go into these raids with the best-of-the-best weapons at the ready. While other teams also have access to these same tools, they might not have the same rhythm or clarity in the heat of the moment to do it perfectly, preventing others from passing this check as quickly.

Although not having this check in place did make the World First race end much quicker than everyone anticipated, it’s not a bad initiative by Bungie to focus more on the raid’s mechanics. However, the Math Class team struggled with the Scission encounter because of a handful of bugs and issues when using the lift, which many Destiny 2 players also likely had to grapple with when clearing this area.

There are other reasons to have problems with the Root of Nightmares raid. It might be the bugs and jank with the lifts in the Scission encounter are too off. Or, it could be that the mechanics were not complicated enough, potentially making it slightly easier when working through the raid.

Regardless of a reason to have an issue with Root of Nightmares, Bungie not placing a massive Boss DPS check in the dungeon shouldn’t be one of them. The encounters in Root of Nightmare require good communication and enforce teamwork in stressful situations. Those who complete it have hard-earned victories, not because they used the perfect weapon meta, but because they could work together effectively.