Root should definitely have a chance to break instantly on application. I had this happen in the following case too.
Which green mob you use it on is another matter. Some NPCs were innately very magic resistant (as seen when I tested in town guards on eqlive being green/light blue and still very resistant in largely unchanged zones like Felwithe/Grobb guards). Other NPCs were "undercons" like Dorn in Nro. Not every single lvl x npc should be a template of another of the same class.
I've barked up the Sergeant Slate tree 50 times about it
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