How to defeat Tormentors in Destiny 2

The Lightfall expansion for Destiny 2 brings out a slew of new mechanics, locations, objectives, and enemies for players to wrap their hands around. While some are callbacks from prior expansions, others are entirely new challenges that players are going to have to figure out how to surmount. One new enemy type that players will be seeing a lot of is Tormentors — ferocious mini-boss enemies that will wreak havoc on unprepared Guardians. Here’s how to defeat Tormentors in Destiny 2.

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How to easily kill a Tormentor in Destiny 2

The most obvious way to defeat a Tormentor in Destiny 2 is to shoot the obnoxiously glowing armor pieces. In the first stage, its shoulders glow — in the second, its chest. The actual trick to cheese this enemy is to consistently change your elevation, forcing it to jump upwards or downwards to match the platform you’re standing on. This consistently offers a clean shot of the weak spot, and also will interrupt the Tormentor from entering most attack animations. This method is also helpful to eliminate the rampant summons that the Tormentor will bring, occupying the Tormentor long enough to give Guardians some breathing room.

Tormentor attack variations

Tormentors have three primary attacks, not including their summons. Identifying which attack is going to occur will help players avoid the damage, which can often be fatal.

Scythe slam

With this attack, the Tormentor will jump into the air and hover for a moment, before plunging toward the player to slam its scythe into the ground. Being hit with the scythe is enough to kill most Guardians, but the resulting shockwave will also mete out heavy damage. Further, this attack isn’t reliably dodged with pillars — the Tormentor attack will slide around it. Leap into the air shortly after the Tormentor, and strafe either directly left or right to fully avoid this attack.

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Scythe projectile

The read on this attack is the Tormentor standing on the ground, and lifting its scythe above its head. This tells players that the Tormentor will begin firing purple scythes at the player, which travel at a relatively high speed. Find cover, and counter-strafe the Tormentor if it tries to bypass the cover. It is not safe to attempt to damage the Tormentor in this stage — wait until the projectiles are no longer firing before attempting to peek.

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Charge

The Tormentor will drop itself closer to the ground. It’s a difficult read in low-light situations, but pay attention to the glowing parts of the Tormentor armor. If they drop in elevation, the Tormentor is going to charge, and finish the charge with a ground attack. Take the nearest elevation when you read this animation, and continue to fire upon them until the attack pattern changes.