Destiny 2's latest Raid, aptly called Root of Nightmares after its final boss, Nezarec, was released to mixed opinions from the community due to reasons tied to difficulty (or lack thereof) when it came to bosses and mechanics as a whole. The Root of Nightmares Raid is widely regarded as one of the most visually-stunning pieces of content Bungie has ever put out, but it also came with a huge controversy regarding the studio's decisions about Destiny 2's difficulty with the Lightfall expansion. Lightfall increased Destiny 2's difficulty quite a lot across the board, to the point that most Legendary Primary weapons feel very weak even for add-clearing.
While this is true for most of the game's activities and enemies, Destiny 2's Root of Nightmares Raid was a very weird exception to the rule, to the point that it accrued the highest number of completions in the history of the franchise in Contest Mode. Contest Mode is an exclusive high-difficulty mode available for the first 48 hours after new Destiny 2 Raids release, but even that didn't stop players from completing Root of Nightmares with ease. Part of that depends on the fact that Nezarec as a final boss can be a bit on the weak side, with it getting lower health than other Raid bosses and some of its mechanics being negligible, which made players "bully" it in many ways.
Why Destiny 2's Nezarec Was Bullied Online Since Root of Nightmares' Release
Root of Nightmares' lack of difficulty put Bungie in a tough spot because some players were asking the developer to do something it has never done in the past, which is to increase the health of the Raid's bosses and make them more challenging. Destiny 2 players used glaives to nullify Nezarec's abilities when enraged, making one Guardian the target of a plethora of disruptive moves that are completely blocked by the glaives' shield mechanic.
Not only that though, as many Guardians even finished the Raid in Contest Mode while completing additional challenges, such as a full fireteam of players using the same class, subclass, or both. And yet, Nezarec's low health pool in Root of Nightmares also made possible fun strategies that are normally never attempted in Contest Mode or for a little while after a new Raid drops, such as a fireteam using six copies of the Rat King Exotic sidearm, which increases damage dealt based on how many allies are using it. This is something Destiny 2 players tend to do much later in the lifespan of a Raid, especially not immediately after an expansion's release.
As such, Nezarec was "bullied" online because of how easy it ended up being as an encounter, especially considering that its massive model can easily end up stuck in an endless run if players use the Raid's platforms and crouching to their advantage. These things combined made for an extremely easy farming experience for many players since Destiny 2's Root of Nightmares launched, but that's not even the last reason why Nezarec is being bullied.
In fact, the boss looks very akin to the regular Tormentors from Destiny 2's Lightfall campaign, even using the same weak spots as them and a character model and weapon that are hard to tell apart at first glance. Bungie shared Destiny 2's concept art for Nezarec on social media, and some believe it could have been more interesting on a visual level too. All of this sparked a bit of a controversy with players who think Nezarec is fine as is in terms of difficulty and aesthetics on one side, and others who believe it should have been more difficult and unique in terms of looks on the other.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.