Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Operations: how to defeat the Carnifex miniboss 

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s Operations PVE mode features three minibosses that can randomly spawn based on the predominant enemy faction. You’ll never know when and where a Carnifex, Neurothrope, or Helbrute will pop up and take you by surprise, but it never hurts to know how to defeat some of the toughest foes on the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 enemy food chain. Read on to find out how to take down a Carnifex, or switch over to our Neurothrope or Helbrute guides if you want to learn how to take on those monstrosities. 

The Carnifex is the ultimate close-range miniboss 

Save for a move where it launches a volley of poisonous quills, the Carnifex only does close-range attacks. When at mid-to-long-ranges, the Carnifex will do one of three things: it can bombard players with its quills, charge straight at them for close-range battle, or do a jump attack where it digs its claws into the ground and pulls them out; dealing area of effect (AoE) damage to its surroundings. The Carnifex also digs its claws into the ground when it does its ranged quill attack, so players looking to capitalize on the stationary miniboss should be aware of the AoE damage that comes as it pulls itself out. Both the charge and the jump attack cannot be parried, so players need to time their dodges properly to avoid getting hit. 

Despite being so deadly up close, the Carnifex only has a few melee attacks. It can do a single swipe with either its left or right claw, a double swipe combo that always starts with the left claw followed by the right, and a turnaround swipe whenever players try get clever and approach it from behind. All of these attacks can be dodged, but what you really want to do is get a couple of good parries in. Despite sometimes not having the blue flashing light that denotes an attack can be parried, players should time their parries to the miniboss’s attack animations. Doing so will allow for Gun Strikes that deal a good amount of damage and will chip away at the Carnifex’s health. 

As far as minibosses go, the Carnifex is by far the easiest to defeat. Its telegraphed attacks and penchant for close-range battle make its attacks easy to dodge. As with most Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 enemies, the Carnifex’s head is its weakpoint. Both melee and ranged builds should have no problem taking down this imposing Tyranid.