Carnifex is a bit too sturdy

[Delta_Assault]

Anyone else feel this way? Most of the time, melta bombs are enough to take care of any vehicles you might encounter, but for some odd reason they don't seem to work on Carnifexes in the campaign. The only really effective weapons are plasma cannons and missile launchers, but the former has a setup time which is trouble when it's lumbering at your squad, and the latter is completely awful at anti-infantry.

[CommodoreKitty]

What difficulty are you playing on? On the lower ones you can melee him with your commander and thule if you have him, but the higher ones need more fineness.

[Delta_Assault]

Captain.

So far, I've only been getting by with a lot of focused fire from Avitus garrisoned inside a building and some artillery strikes.

[Surrealitycheck]

Well-timed Det Packs one-shot Carnifexes. Remote Det Packs are also viable, but you get them much later in the campaign.

[WhiteDeVile]

On captain difficulty remote detonation pack blow takes about 50% hp of a Boss Carnifex, and a little bit more from a normal one.
(the ones with that big red HP bar, for example at the end of a "defend" objective mission)

Lure him right on it (try to predict its path, like where he'll come frome, they always move in a straight line right to your squads)
then BAM! Take 50% of his hp instantly, the rest is just Plasma Guns and Plasma Cannon fire, also tie him with your hero using War Cry, and throw a frag nade nearby, he should be dead after all this.

[bjbrains]

The best way to beat fexs on a higher level is to kite them with Tarkus's taunt. Just run around in circles while having your FC hit him from behind with a power weapon.

[Delta_Assault]

How long does Tarkus's taunt last?

[Ap0k]

Not really a beginner question, so I'll move this to the general strategy section, which should yield some information on dealing with 'fexes.

[2nd_law]

cyclone missles are pretty effective.

[konfeta]

Detpacks one shot them. And they don't dodge them (very nice when you send Cyrus out on loner demolition).

Plasma weapons deal decent damage.

Terminator Assault Cannons do fair amount of damage, but you will probably end up doing a little kiting before it goes down.

Dreadnought Assault Cannon's Barrage one shots most carnies, and brings them down into red later on.

[Skif]

What Konfeta said.
With some practice it is actually very easy. Run in with some squad, shoot carni, run. He goes after, Cyrus throws a detpack in his path, profit.

[Pocktio]

Dred AC w/ Hellfire ammunition = dead fex. In the meantime - power weapons, plasma and explosives.

[Midgetus]

The intel report in-game says 'fexes are weak to explosives, and it's right. The best tactic against a normal carnifex is to stealth Cyrus up and toss a demolition pack on it. They won't even notice anything until they're blown to bits. Even if you don't have detpacks, it's nice to stealth cyrus ahead so that you can set up your ML/Plasma in a good locations and get more shots in before the fex gets close. For the bosses, the detpack is much harder to get a hit with, but if you've got plenty of charges on your rosarius you can use the rosarius while a melee unit holds the carnifex's attention in order to hold him in one place long enough for the pack to detonate. The rosarius aslo helps your bait survive the blast. For the actual carnifex boss-fight, I've found all I need is Avitus with a missile launcher and a lot of time. Just keep dodging all the predictable attacks and keep your distance, actvating focused fire whenever you've got a chance to get 2 or 3 shots in before you'll need to move again.

[Aquila]

Honestly, once I started getting power weapons for Force Commander and Thaddeus, I had no trouble with carnifecii whatsoever. Occasionally it will insta-kill the commander, so an Iron Halo is handy until you get Terminator Armor.

[Alpha_1]

Never underestimate the power of immolate.

[Ducalion]

I one-shotted a Carnifex boss with an Orbital Bombardment last night :0