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One of the newest additions to Destiny 2’s enemy roster is the horrifyingly frequent, Tormentor. These scythe-wielding nuisances are Lightfall’s contribution to boss battles, and they do not disappoint in terms of raw killing power. You first encounter these during your very first mission in Lightfall, but they appear like clockwork throughout the duration of the campaign.
These enemies, even on Standard difficulty, are brutal. More than capable of killing you without a second thought, a nightmare on your resources, and coming at you with more aggression than adrenaline-fueled Cabal Marauders. These guys never stop, and if you even think about slowing down, you are going to find yourself respawning over, and over again. This is how you beat them.
More Destiny 2 content:
New Weapon Showcase | Strand Subclass | Defiant Engrams | Unfinished Business
Avoiding Tormentor’s Attacks
The first thing to understand about Tormentors is that you can’t really brute force them. They have too much HP and they will wreck you if you stand and fight them – for the most part. This means you need to avoid them, learn their attack patterns, and strike them when they are vulnerable.
The second thing to understand is that they have two phases, and their attacks change between phases.
Phase 1
This is the easiest part of the fight. Tormentors will be reasonably aggressive, but will also prioritise ranged attacks over attacking you in melee. They have two attacks in this phase, and they are a ranged scythe projectile and a rift that spawns a stream of Void projectiles. Both of these do a lot of damage.
The regular scythe attack can be avoided simply by moving and strafing. Keep on the move and you should avoid this attack 100% of the time. Its second attack, however, is a bit trickier. This attack will fire relentlessly at you for several seconds, and dodging is much harder to do as a result. They also have tracking making it even harder. We recommend ducking behind cover and waiting it out.
Phase 2
Phase 2 is where things get harder. Tormentor will run at you constantly and look to engage you in melee. His scythe attacks deal heavy damage and if you get caught in a protracted melee encounter, you are going to die. This thing has more tricks up its sleeve to make things more difficult.
Tormentor will gather void energy and jump into the air. After a brief delay, they will slam down on top of you. This has a medium-sized AOE, deals heavy damage, and temporarily disables your Class Abilities. This means no running, jumping, grenades, or melee. You are a sitting duck. Not only that, if you were in your Super, then it is immediately cancelled and your Super Energy is not refunded.
Finally, Tormentor can gather energy and then grab the player. On higher difficulties, this can be an instant kill. Otherwise, this will do massive damage. Avoid this at all costs.
The trick with this phase is to never stop moving. Keep away and keep airborne. Tormentor, despite having a jumping attack, can’t hurt you in the air. Just be aware that their jumping attack does have knockback and this can send you off edges (and to your death). As long as you are moving, you should be fine.
How To Kill Tormentors
Dodging Tormentors attacks is one thing, actually killing it is another. During Phase 1, do not waste your Special, Heavy, or Super. This is because Tormentor, during this phase, is weak to precision fire. Bows and Scout Rifles are ideal here. Aim for Tormentors glowing shoulder pads for massive damage. Once they are down to around two-thirds of their maximum HP, Phase 2 will begin.
Tormentors’ weak points will move from their shoulders to their chest. This is the ideal time to whip out the big guns and lay into Tormentor with everything you have. Tormentor is fast, so aim carefully with those Rockets and Grenades. If you land a Precision Hit on Tormentor’s weak-point during this phase, it will stagger. This can give you time to escape and make some distance.
If you have access to Strand and your class can ‘Levitate’ enemies (Titan Barrier will do this, for example), then use this against Tormentor during Phase 2. This will trap Tormentor long enough that you can land two Rockets straight into its ugly mug for massive damage.
Providing you are moving and dealing reliable, accurate damage to Tormentor, it will go down. Try and master this fight ASAP, as you will have to fight these things regularly – sometimes several at once. Those encounters are as horrifying as they sound.
That’s all we have for Destiny 2 Lightfall. Be sure to check out our other Guides, Lists, and Walkthroughs for more Lightfall content.
