Zo’Aurc, Explicator of Planets is the first boss you will come across in the new Root of Nightmares raid. It takes place after Scission once you get through a fairly annoying jumping section. It is the only encounter in the raid which does not have a “connecting the nodes” mechanic. This guide will help you learn how to align the planets to defeat Zo’Aurc, Explicator of Planets in Destiny 2: Root of Nightmares.
Defeating Zo’Aurc, Explicator of Planets
Immediately after entering the encounter area, you will see that it is split into two sides — left-side is Light and right-side is Dark. You will also see six Planets on each side with three Planets in the center — we will discuss these later! You will also see the boss on the backside of the arena. The purpose of the encounter is to align all the Dark Planets on the right-side and all the Light Planets on the left-side. But how do you do that? We have got you covered!
After the encounter starts, you will need to divide your fireteam into four runners and two add-clearers. The two people responsible for clearing adds in the middle will need to kill everything, especially the Solar-shielded Centurions. Zo’Aurc, himself, will be roaming around the area with a Flamethrower which deals a lot of damage so watch out for that.
As for the four runners, these players will need to stay on four platforms in the area — two on the left and two on the right. After the Centurions in the middle have been killed, a Colossus will appear on every platform. These runners will need to defeat their Colossuses to receive the Planetary Insight buff. This will help these players to see which Planets are Light or Dark — there should be one odd Planet on each platform. This means that there will be two Light Planets on the right-side and two Dark Planets on the left-side.
After all four odd Planets have been identified, the runners will need to grab their own odd Planet and deposit it on the other side. For example, if you are on top-left, you will grab your odd Planet and deposit it at the odd Planet which the person on top-right called. There are multiple ways to call these Planets and it all comes down to what your group is comfortable with. Also, all of this must be done before the Planetary Shift buff expires.
After all four Planets have been moved, you will need to kill Centurions in the middle again to spawn a new wave of Colossues. Just like before, kill these to receive the Planetary Isight buff. However, this time around, see the three Planets in the middle. These three Planets will either be Light or Dark. At this point, you simply need to grab a Plaet from the correct side and deposit it on the corresponding plates (three in total) in the middle. For instance, if the middle plate is Light and the other two are Dark, you will grab a Light Planet and deposit it in the middle and grab two Dark Planets and deposit them on the left and the right.
After that, move away from the plates, clear enemies, and wait for the DPS to start. After the DPS starts, you will see that the boss will either have a Light shield or a Dark shield. In order to damage the boss, you will need to stand on a plate that has the same color as the boss’ shield. Repeat it on all three plates until Zo’Aurc, Explicator of Planets goes immune.
Best DPS Options
Similar to Nezarec, Zo’Aurc, the Explicator of Planets does not have a lot of health. While the best options are Rocket Launchers, Fusion Grenades with Starfire Protocol, Izanagi’s Burden, etc., feel free to use anything. Even some Machine Guns such as Retrofit Escapade, Commemoration, etc. are decent options.
This is all we have on how to defeat Zo’Aurc, Explicator of Planets in Destiny 2: Root of Nightmares. If you have any other questions, be sure to let us know in the comments below!