How To Best Kill Tormentors In Destiny 2: Lightfall

Tormentors are the key new enemy type in Destiny 2: Lightfall, and they can prove to be very difficult to deal with, particularly in the Legendary campaign. They are arguably among the toughest enemies in Destiny 2, as these hulking brutes hit hard, fast, and are effective from any distance. While they aren't invincible, they can easily halt your momentum and are absolute nightmares to deal with in certain encounters, including the final Lightfall boss fight.

If you're having trouble with these scythe-wielding enemies, here's how you can deal with them effectively whenever you encounter them.

How to kill Tormentors

Like some of the more challenging bosses and enemies in Destiny 2, Tormentors are multi-phase fights. When you first run into one of them, you'll want to focus your attacks on the weak points located on their upper body. Don't bust out your abilities, explosive weapons, or Supers just yet, as for now, you'll want to focus your attacks on the Tormentor's exposed weak points on (located on their shoulders) with your precision weapons. Linear fusion rifles, scout rifles, and bows work well here, as you'll be able to do serious damage and stay mobile.

After a weak point is destroyed, the Tormentor will briefly go invulnerable, so don't waste your ammo. Once both shoulder weak points have been destroyed, the Tormentor's chest will be exposed and it'll also begin taking damage to the rest of its body. This is "phase 2" of the fight, and will see the Tormentor dish out heavier and more lethal attacks as it becomes much more aggressive.

Tormentor attacks to watch out for

While it usually attacks with scythe swings and projectiles, an enraged Tormentor will constantly chase you down in its unleashed mode, and once close enough, its natural suppression field will prevent you from using your abilities.

If that's not bad enough, Tormentors will augment their attacks with Void energy and they'll constantly launch heavy slam attacks that can wipe out huge chunks of your health bar. If they get too close, they'll use a grab attack to leave you at death's door, and on higher difficulties, outright kill you with this ability. Fortunately, a berserk Tormentor can be defeated by staying mobile and airborne. They usually telegraph their attacks in this state, and as long as you're aware of them, they can easily be dodged.

Perhaps most critically, you need to be prepared for the attack where a Tormentor rises into the air and then slams down at your location, suppressing you. Because this prevents you from using your jump abilities or your Strand grapple, this can be very deadly when combined with knockback. As seen in the final campaign boss fight, it's easy to be knocked off the map with no ability to recover because of the suppression.

Keep your distance, lead them on the chase, and keep firing back to shave their health bar down to zero. Close in for a finisher kill to wipe them out, but you'll want to avoid doing this if you're fighting the Nezarec-named Tormentors. Even deadlier than the usual Tormentor, these elite versions can't be taken out with finishers and cannot be suspended with Strand powers.

For more on Destiny 2, you can read up on how to conquer Defiant Battlegrounds, known issues present in Lightfall, and the seasonal challenges that you can currently pursue.