Destiny 2: Lightfall’s new Root of Nightmares raid is finally here, and by facing and overcoming its challenges, players can earn a variety of exclusive raid weapons, armor pieces, and a brand new Exotic. These pieces of gear have quickly proven to be some of the best that the Lightfall expansion has to offer thanks to their excellent perk pools, and as a result, tons of players are keen to get their hands on them and hunt down (or craft) perfect god rolls.
To that end, we’ve included the raid’s complete loot table in this guide that shows which weapons and armor pieces drop from each encounter. We’ve also gone over all the perk options and the best PvE and PvP god rolls for all six of the Root of Nightmares raid weapons, as well as how you can acquire the raid’s Conditional Finality Exotic Shotgun.
Destiny 2 Root of Nightmares: Loot table
Like the majority of the game’s raid experiences, the Root of Nightmares splits up its six raid weapons and five armor pieces across each of the raid’s four encounters. This means that if you’re after specific weapons or armor pieces, there are some encounters that you should prioritize clearing each week because there’s a chance the gear you want will drop from them. We recommend doing full clears since all of the raid loot is great, but if you’re limited on playtime, try to find checkpoints for encounters that drop the gear you want on Destiny 2 LFG Discord servers (Checkpoint bots from D2Checkpoint.com are also an excellent resource).
Below (and in the image above), you’ll find a complete loot table for Root of Nightmares that shows where each of the raid’s weapons and armor pieces can drop.
| Cataclysm (First Encounter) | Scission (Second Encounter) | Macrocosm (Third Encounter) | Nezarec (Final Encounter) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koraxis’s Distress (Heavy Grenade Launcher) | Nessa’s Oblation (Shotgun) | Rufus’s Fury (Auto Rifle) | Conditional Finality (Exotic Shotgun) |
| Briar’s Contempt (Linear Fusion Rifle) | Acasia’s Dejection (Trace Rifle) | Acasia’s Dejection (Trace Rifle) | Rufus’s Fury (Auto Rifle) |
| Nessa’s Oblation (Shotgun) | Mykel’s Reverence (Sidearm) | Mykel’s Reverence (Sidearm) | Briar’s Contempt (Linear Fusion Rifle) |
| Helmet Armor | Koraxis’s Distress (Heavy Grenade Launcher) | Koraxis’s Distress (Heavy Grenade Launcher) | Nessa’s Oblation (Shotgun) |
| Arms Armor | Arms Armor | Chest Armor | Acasia’s Dejection (Trace Rifle) |
| Chest Armor | Chest Armor | Leg Armor | Helmet Armor |
| Row 6 – Cell 0 | Leg Armor | Class Item | Class Item |
| Row 7 – Cell 0 | Row 7 – Cell 1 | Row 7 – Cell 2 | Leg Armor |
Destiny 2 Root of Nightmares: Raid weapon perks and god rolls
Much like the raid weapons from Destiny 2’s reprised King’s Fall raid, the six weapons you can earn from the Root of Nightmares are all excellent and have quickly become fan-favorite options in the PvE metagame. Several of them can perform well in PvP, too, making the raid worth grinding every week even if you’re primarily a Crucible player.
Since the raid weapons are now visible in Destiny 2’s API, we now know each perk and trait that each of them can roll with. Below, we’ll cover each weapon individually and list what perks you can get with them, while also highlighting some awesome PvE and PvP god rolls you should keep an eye out for. Note that all of these weapons come with the Harmonic Resonance Origin Trait, which gives you increased reload speed, handling, and damage against Lucent Hive, Tormentors, or Guardians using their Super whenever you have two of these weapons equipped.
Remember that once you’ve acquired five Deepsight Resonance versions of a weapon, you’ll unlock its weapon pattern and can craft it with enhanced perks at The Enclave. Once Master difficulty comes out, you’ll also be able to earn Adept versions of these weapons by completing encounter challenges while playing on Master (you’ll be able to “ascend” these to make their perks enhanced, too).
Koraxis’s Distress perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Rapid-Fire Frame 150 RPM Heavy Grenade Launcher (Strand)
- Column 1 Perks: Impulse Amplifier, Field Prep, Danger Zone, Envious Assassin, Reconstruction, Demolitionist, Chain Reaction
- Column 2 Perks: Frenzy, Harmony, Surrounded, Wellspring, Hatchling, Paracausal Affinity, Full Court
- PvE God Roll: Volatile Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Demolitionist/Chain Reaction and Hatchling/Paracausal Finality
- PvP God Roll: Volatile Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Impulse Amplifier, Full Court
Heavy Grenade Launchers haven’t been popular for a long time, but since Bungie buffed their damage against bosses by 20% and their damage against minor rank-and-file enemies by a whopping 40% when Lightfall launched, they’ve begun to see more use. In this developing meta, Koraxis’s Distress, a new Strand Rapid-Fire Frame Heavy Grenade Launcher from the Root of Nightmares, shines as a phenomenal ad clear weapon that also doubles as a solid DPS tool against beefier targets.
For minor perks, you should opt for Volatile Launch and High-Velocity Rounds to maximize projectile speed and explosion radius without having to deal with negative drawbacks. Then, you want either Demolitionist or Chain Reaction in the first column, and Hatchling or the raid’s exclusive Paracasual Finality perk in the second. Both Demolitionist and Chain Reaction with Hatchling pair phenomenally with Threadling-focused Warlock Strand builds, while Chain Reaction with Paracausal Finality will allow you to blow crowds of ads apart with buffed and extra-explosive grenades once you get a Strand kill.
If you’re after a PvP roll, shoot for Impulse Amplifier and Full Court. The former makes your grenades go much faster, while the latter increases their damage the longer their airtime is. These two perks are rather contradictory, but even a small damage buff from Full Court will make securing kills easier, and there aren’t better PvP options here, anyway.
Briar’s Contempt perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Aggressive Frame Linear Fusion Rifle (Solar)
- Column 1 Perks: Keep Away, Envious Assassin, Slideshot, Incandescent, Rewind Rounds, Demolitionist, Reconstruction
- Column 2 Perks: Frenzy, Surrounded, Harmony, Adagio, High-Impact Reserves, Paracausal Finality, Focused Fury
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Accelerated Coils, Rewind Rounds/Reconstruction, Focused Fury/High-Impact Reserves
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Accelerated Coils, Slideshot/Incandescent, High-Impact Reserves
The Cataclysmic from Destiny 2’s Vow of the Disciple raid has been the DPS king of Solar Linear Fusion Rifles since it was introduced with The Witch Queen expansion last year, but the Root of Nightmare’s Briar’s Contempt can go toe-to-toe with it thanks to the high base damage of its three-burst Aggressive Frame archetype and stellar perk options.
For barrel and battery traits, go with Arrowhead Brake and Accelerated Coils for better recoil and charge time. In PvE, the best perks to use are either Rewind Rounds or Reconstruction with Focused Fury or High-Impact Reserves. Both traits in the first column will significantly increase your magazine time, and the ones in the second will provide you with a big damage boost as you fire. Note that Rewind Rounds and Focused Fury require consistent critical hits to proc, so Reconstruction and High-Impact Reserves will be the better pairing to use if you find yourself missing sometimes.
PvP-wise, the best options are Slideshot or Incandescent with High-Impact Reserves. Slideshot gives you extra stability after sliding, which should make lining up a shot against a player trying to flinch you easier. Incandescent, meanwhile, gives the weapon solid multikill potential since a headshot kill will cause your target to explode and spread burning Scorch stacks to their nearby teammates. Since you don’t get much ammo when picking up Heavy bricks in PvP anyway, taking High-Impact Reserves for the damage increase is the obvious choice in the second column.
Nessa’s Oblation perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Pinpoint Slug Frame 65 RPM Shotgun (Void)
- Column 1 Perks: Compulsive Reloader, Envious Assassin, Dragonfly, Repulsor Brace, Reconstruction, Demolitionist, Fourth Time’s The Charm
- Column 2 Perks: Frenzy, Harmony, Paracausal Finality, Opening Shot, Destabilizing Rounds, Vorpal Weapon, Focused Fury
- PvE God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Assault Mag/Accurized Rounds, Repulsor Brace/Reconstruction/Fourth Time’s The Charm, Destabilizing Rounds/Vorpal Weapon/Focused Fury
- PvP God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Accurized Rounds, Dragonfly, Opening Shot
One of the most interesting weapons from Root of Nightmares is Nessa’s Oblation, a Pinpoint Slug Frame Void Shotgun with two very different, and very effective, PvE god rolls. The first is a traditional slug shotgun DPS setup: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Assault Mag or Accurized Rounds, Reconstruction or Fourth Time’s The Charm, and either Vorpal Weapon or Focused Fury. With this roll, you can dish out tons of damage to close-range bosses like Templar, Taniks, and potentially even Nezarec without having to reload much (if at all) during DPS phases.
The second god roll is more ad clear-focused, and features Hammer-Forged Rifling, Assault Mag, Repulsor Brace, and the new Destabilizing Rounds perk. Destabilizing Rounds causes your target to explode and make nearby enemies volatile, while Repulsor Brace gives you Void overshields for killing Void debuffed foes. These perks work extremely well together, as the continuous spread of volatility allows you to proc Repulsor Brace repeatedly. Since being in close-range against hordes of ads is dangerous in endgame content, those overshields will be extremely helpful.
For PvP, you should look for Hammer-Forged Rifling and Accurized Rounds to maximize range. Then, you’ll want Dragonfly and Opening Shot. The former creates a Void explosion on headshot kills that could score you multikills against groups of players, while the latter improves the accuracy and range of the first shot you fire.
Acasia’s Dejection perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Adaptive Frame Trace Rifle (Solar)
- Column 1 Perks: Field Prep, Hip-Fire Grip, Perpetual Motion, Keep Away, Envious Assassin, Reconstruction, Rewind Rounds
- Column 2 Perks: Frenzy, Harmony, High-Impact Reserves, Target Lock, Paracausal Finality, Vorpal Weapon, Incandescent
- PvE God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Particle Repeater, Reconstruction/Rewind Rounds, High-Impact Reserves/Target Lock
- PvP God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Particle Repeater, Keep Away, Target Lock/Incandescent/Paracausal Finality
Trace Rifles have become more popular in recent years, and the Acasia’s Dejection has the potential to be the best Solar Trace Rifle in the game in terms of damage output. Hammer-Forged Rifling and Particle Repeater offer a great balance of increased range and stability, and in PvE, either Reconstruction or Rewind Rounds paired with High-Impact Reserves or Target Lock will dish out both strong DPS and lots of total damage against yellow bar enemies and bosses.
For PvP, Keep Away gives you increased reload speed, accuracy, and range when you’re not close to an enemy player, which you generally shouldn’t be if you’re using a Trace Rifle. Target Lock is a good second perk option to ramp your damage up as you’re beaming someone, though Paracausal Finality is a good option too if you can somehow get a Solar kill before using it. There’s also Incandescent for spreading Scorch stacks on kill, which has the potential to cause Ignition multikills.
Mykel’s Reverence perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Rapid-Fire Frame 450 RPM Sidearm (Strand)
- Column 1 Perks: Elemental Capacitor, Unrelenting, Perfect Float, Thresh, Rewind Rounds, Pugilist, Perpetual Motion
- Column 2 Perks: Offhand Strike, Frenzy, Harmony, Tap The Trigger, Swashbuckler, Hatchling, Paracausal Finality
- PvE God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, Pugilist/Perpetual Motion, Hatchling/Frenzy/Paracausal Finality
- PvP God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, Perfect Float, Tap The Trigger
Arguably the weakest weapon from the raid, the Mykel’s Reverence ultimately suffers due to how bad Sidearms are in the PvE sandbox. They have terrible range and don’t do enough damage to make them worth using over SMGs or Auto Rifles (including the final weapon on this list), but you can still find success with them as long as you have some important traits. Whether you want a PvE or PvP roll, Hammer-Forged Rifling and Ricochet Rounds are a must so that you can get your range and stability as high as possible.
Then, for PvE, either Pugilist or Perpetual Motion with Hatchling, Frenzy, or Paracausal Finality are recommended. Pugilist and Paracausal Finality work well together in melee-focused Strand builds, as kills with the weapon will give you melee energy and melee kills (along with other Strand final blows) will make Paracausal Finality boost the weapon’s damage. Perpetual Motion and Hatchling is solid for Warlock Threadling builds, and you could also trade Hatchling for Frenzy to get better damage and reload speed after being in combat for a short period of time.
Mykel’s Reverence stands out more in PvP, where it shines as a close-range primary to use with jump-heavy playstyles. Aim for Perfect Float and Tap The Trigger, as Perfect Float increases your Airborne Effectiveness and resists flinch while you’re in combat, while Tap The Trigger gives you extra stability and accuracy when you start firing.
Rufus’s Fury perks and god rolls
- Weapon Archetype: Rapid-Fire Frame 720 RPM Auto Rifle (Strand)
- Column 1 Perks: Thresh, Perpetual Motion, Reconstruction, Moving Target, Rewind Rounds, Pugilist, Demolitionist
- Column 2 Perks: Harmony, Target Lock, Adrenaline Junkie, Frenzy, Tap The Trigger, Paracausal Finality, Hatchling
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Flared Magwell/Armor-Piercing Rounds/Ricochet Rounds, Reconstruction/Rewind Rounds/Demolitionist, Target Lock/Hatchling/Adrenaline Junkie
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Ricochet Rounds, Perpetual Motion/Moving Target, Tap The Trigger
Last but absolutely not least is the Rufus’s Fury, which is easily one of the best weapons from the raid (and my personal favorite). For PvE, you’ll first want Arrowhead Brake and either Flared Magwell, Armor-Piercing Rounds, or Ricochet Rounds for a boost to recoil control and reload speed or range. From there, there are multiple stellar perk combos.
Demolitionist and Hatchling is phenomenal for Warlock Threadling builds, as these two perks will ensure constant Threadling uptime between spawning them on headshot kills and refreshing your Threadling Grenade energy with each final blow. Demolitionist also reloads the weapon when you throw or consume your Threadling Grenade, so you’ll barely ever have to reload it. Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie will also work well in any grenade-focused build, and there’s also the option of pairing Reconstruction or Rewind Rounds with Target Lock for powerful sustained damage against yellow bars, minibosses, and Champions.
In PvP, it’s an amazing Auto Rifle for players that like to move around and strafe a lot. Perpetual Motion or Moving Target are both excellent movement-focused options in the first column. The first gives you better reload speed, stability, and handling when moving, while the second provides faster movement speed and increased aim assist. Then, you have Tap The Trigger in the second column for more stability and accuracy.
Destiny 2 Root of Nightmares: How to get Conditional Finality
On top of the six Legendary raid weapons, the Root of Nightmares also has an Exotic called Conditional Finality that players can earn. This Exotic Shotgun is a unique paracausal double-barrel that fires Stasis pellets in the first shot, and Solar ones in the second. If most of the pellets land, the Stasis shot will instantly freeze enemies, while the Solar one will Ignite them. This allows you to freeze an enemy in place with the first shot, then both Shatter and Ignite them with the second, dealing a huge chunk of damage that will heavily wound or outright kill most resilient yellow bar enemies like minibosses or Champions. Notably, the weapon is also an effective and ammo-efficient boss DPS weapon at close range, as most of its damage comes from the Stasis Shatters and Solar Ignitions.
Some previous raids have made their Exotic weapons earnable through a questline, such as the Touch of Malice in the original King’s Fall and the Divinity Exotic Trace Rifle in Destiny 2’s Garden of Salvation. Like One Thousand Voices, Eyes of Tomorrow, or Collective Obligation, however, Conditional Finality has a random chance to drop from the final chest after killing Nezarec, Root of Nightmares’ final boss. Keep in mind that the Exotic can only drop from looted clears, meaning that you only have one chance per character each week to get the weapon.
Something important to note is that unlike previous RNG-based raid Exotics, you can increase your chances of getting Conditional Finality to drop by completing Root of Nightmares raid triumphs that have an Exotic Engram symbol attached to them. These can be viewed by going to Journey > Triumphs > Neomuna > Root of Nightmares.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, Windows PCs, and PlayStation systems. In it, you’ll take the fight to Emperor Calus, get access to Strand subclasses and their unique abilities, and more. It also unlocks the Root of Nightmares raid, allowing you to challenge the deadly forces within.
