The Root of Nightmares raid in Destiny 2 begins with the Cataclysm encounter, here's how you can overcome it.
First Published March 28, 2023, 12:31
Cataclysm is the first encounter you’ll come across after making your way into the Witness’ Pyramid Ship in Destiny 2 Root of Nightmares Raid.
Here, you’re introduced to the raid’s main mechanic: the Seeds and the Field of Light buff. To get started, separate the team into teams of two and four players. The team of two are going to be the team focusing on the buff, while the other four are going to be focusing on clearing adds.
Bring weapons that are good for burst DPS and Barrier Champions because you’ll be dealing with them a lot.
How To Beat The Cataclysm Encounter In Root Of Nightmares
After you’ve picked your teams, have one player stand in the aura surrounding a white plate and a white orb, or Seed, and shoot the Seed to gain the Field of Light buff. This buff is required to activate the next plate in the sequence. After the buff has been given to the player, a faint line will be drawn from the first Seed to the next one. Follow that line to the next plate and you’ll find a small black orb that must be shot with while you have the Field of Light buff. Note that you must be standing on, or floating just above, the plate for it to be activated.
Once that black orb is shot, it will change into a Seed and light the way to the next plate. The second player for this mechanic will stand in the aura and follow suit: shoot the Seed to gain the Field of Light buff, follow the line to the next plate, shoot the dark orb, and then rinse and repeat. The Seed with the aura must be shot to see the next black orb, and the Field of Light buff aura will move between Seeds as the encounter advances.
It is also important to note that if the Seed with the aura is activated while players still have their buff and the black orb on the next plate has not been activated yet, it will Disrupt the sequence. This will put the entire mechanic on a cool down for around 12 seconds, so make sure that the black orb has been changed into a Seed before the next player refreshes their buff.
Sweeping Terror Debuff, Explained
The other four players will focus on adds, Psions, the Barrier Champions, and Tormentors. During this encounter, players will have a Sweeping Terror countdown. If it reaches zero, the team will wipe. To avoid this, 2 Leviathan-style bubble Psions will spawn in the area and must be killed to spawn a Tormentor and a Barrier Champion. Killing the Tormentor will add 30 seconds to the timer. The Barrier Champion doesn’t need to be killed to extend the timer, but if they’re left unattended, they can become a problem, so try to focus them after the Tormentor is dealt with.
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Written by Austin Ford
Austin is a freelance writer, theatre nerd, and lapsed stand-up comedian. His love for writing and dissection of video games brought him to the games journalism space where he’s written for outlets like The Outerhaven and XboxEra. When not working on Destiny 2 YouTube videos or streaming on Twitch, he helps to build out our Destiny 2 coverage with his deep knowledge of the game and its systems. With multiple Day One Raid completions, Austin likes to think of himself as an expert not only in Destiny but Bungie’s entire catalog of games. When not actively obsessing over The Traveler, Austin is also a fan of indie titles and JRPGs. If you ask him what his favorite game of all time is, he’d say Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and will not rest until a sequel or Reboot is in his hands.
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