Gaming How-To

How to Beat the Paths Diverge Brumak in Gears of War: E-Day

Use a carried Troika, the Gut-Puncher, and the Prototype Lancer to drop the unarmored Brumak in Act 4, Chapter 5.

Use a carried Troika, the Gut-Puncher, and the Prototype Lancer to drop the unarmored Brumak in Act 4, Chapter 5.

Image: The Coalition

Partway through Act 4, Chapter 5: Paths Diverge, the push to reach the Timgad Refinery stops cold when a Brumak walks into a wide refinery street. This one is nothing like the armored version at Fort Vigil. It carries no mounted guns and wears no armor, so there is no weak point to uncover and no sequence to solve. It fights entirely with its chain-wrapped forearms, and the whole thing is settled by keeping distance and pouring fire into its head.

Quick answer: Carry the Troika into the street and empty it into the Brumak’s head, then finish with Gut-Puncher grenades and the Prototype Lancer while circling cover.


Where the fight starts and what to carry in

The route to the street passes through a roofed passage and an office. A Troika waits along the way; take it with you as you head outside. It can hit the gate with 54 rounds showing, so use that ammunition to begin the battle.

The office also holds a yellow Hard Case on the floor beside the desks, the HARD LAUNCH / GUT-PUNCHER MOD, along with ammo for the Lancer and Gut-Puncher. A “SUPPLY CACHE NEARBY” prompt shows out on the street, but you do not need to open it to win the fight. A checkpoint lands at the chain-link gate before you step through.

As you pass the chain-link gate where civilians are setting up sentries, the objective updates and “Kill the Brumak” is added under the main goal of reaching the refinery.

Kill the Brumak objective appears582:47Kill the Brumak objective appears
The sub-objective "Kill the Brumak" appears as you step through the chain-link gate into the refinery street. Shown at 582:47 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

Here is a clean loadout to walk in with. The sentries the civilians place are not yours to use, and there is no fixed emplacement to fire from in the street itself.

WeaponAmmoRole
Troika54Opening burst into the head
Gut-Puncher14Hardest hit per shot
Prototype Lancer600Finishes the fight
Snub136Sidearm

How the Paths Diverge Brumak attacks

The Brumak enters on foot beneath the gantry at the street’s far end. Heavy chains wrapped around its forearms glow orange as it stomps and swings them. Its attacks have a broad reach, so keep at least a car’s length between you and it.

It tracks you around the cover, leaving nowhere you can remain safe. Use the arena’s transformer box and brick wall beside the gate, wooden crates, shipping container, concrete road barriers, central yellow car, and wrecked cars farther along. Circle the yellow car and barriers, firing whenever it turns to face you.

A narrow health gauge hovers overhead, changing from white to red as it drains. There is just one bar in this single arena, with no later phase to face. Flames spread across parts of the road and a car, so avoid them as you move to new positions.

The red cog-and-skull emblem that flashes in the center of the screen means your own health is nearly gone, not the Brumak’s. It can appear early here if you stand still to empty the Troika. Break away and let it clear.


The kill order: Troika, Gut-Puncher, then Lancer

As the Brumak walks in, put the Troika’s belt straight into its head. The counter will run down fast, from 54 to around 18 in roughly five seconds, and the weapon empties soon after. Drop it once it is spent; the pickup prompt stays on the ground but there is nothing left in it.
Equip the Gut-Puncher and put its 14 grenades into the Brumak’s head and chest, firing in the pauses between its moves. Roll from the left wall past the crates toward the yellow car to keep it from cornering you. These are your most powerful shots and will remove about a third of the bar.
Once the Gut-Puncher runs dry, equip the Prototype Lancer and keep shooting its head continuously while circling the yellow car and stone gate pillar. Midway through, its bar falls below half; it nearly empties as its hide grows darker and starts bleeding. Plan on using about 360 Lancer rounds to bring it down.
Lancer fire on the head584:22Lancer fire on the head
Keep the Prototype Lancer trained on the head to close out the health bar. Shown at 584:22 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition
Toward the end of the battle, a floating creature with a gas-bag body and dangling tentacles appears above you, releasing small spiked mines. Shoot mines that come near, while directing most of your fire at the Brumak instead of pursuing the creature.

Confirming the kill

When the bar empties, the Brumak slumps grey and dead in the street. There is no finisher prompt and no cutscene kill to trigger. Shortly after it drops, a checkpoint fires and “Kill the Brumak” is struck out in your objectives, which is how you know the fight is over.

Brumak down in the street584:56Brumak down in the street
With the health bar gone, the Brumak collapses in the street and the objective is struck out. Shown at 584:56 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition

Rewards and opening the gate

An ammo pickup sits on the road beside the body, giving back Lancer and Gut-Puncher rounds. A “HARD CASE NEARBY” prompt then points you to a yellow case against the chain-link fence, tucked behind the blue-and-white police car parked on the right before the big iron gate. Opening it gives the BLOOD GROOVE / BREECHSHOT MOD and empties the case.

A second ammo pickup near the case tops the Lancer to 600 rounds and the Gut-Puncher to 14. The route contains neither of the chapter’s two collectibles, and its two Hard Cases are distinct from those collectibles.

Your next objective is “Open the gate.” Find the lever on the big iron gate’s left pillar and pull it; the gate opens to let you continue.

Open the gate objective585:20Open the gate objective
Head to the iron gate and pull the lever on its left pillar to continue. Shown at 585:20 in MKIceAndFire’s video. Image: The Coalition