Brute

Brutes are synthetic-organic creatures derived from krogan and turians and mutated by Reaper technology. Brutes were first introduced in Mass Effect 3.

Capabilities
Offensive

A Brute's main pattern of attack is a charging attack followed with a wide melee attack, both of which deal high damage&mdash;often enough to completely drop shields and, subsequently, health.

It possesses an over-sized claw arm that can grab and smash a person into the ground, resulting in instant death.

When they die, Brutes can still cause damage to people immediately in front of them with their falling bodies.

Defensive

Brutes are protected by thick, metal plates that can be shot off. They possess high armor, but no barriers or shields.

Tactics

 * Once you spot a Brute, concentrate most of your fire on it as it can kill you and your team very quickly. Avoid close-quarters combat at all costs.
 * Maintain a safe distance from a Brute at all times. Better yet, keep some obstacles between you and the Brute, so it can't harm you even it charges at you.
 * Large parts of the Brute are protected by armor plating, making those areas immune to damage until shot off. Most notably, the claw arm; it will sometimes use it as a shield for its head. Equip mods or ammunition and use powers such as Warp or Cryo Blast that reduce the effectiveness of armor plating, or resort to abilities like Carnage and Incinerate which ignore it outright.
 * In single-player, if a Brute manages to come into close range and performs a charging attack against the player, the game will slow down for a brief moment. A well timed combat roll during this window will allow the player to emerge unscathed.
 * Take advantage of ladders, which Brutes cannot climb.
 * Brutes are less aware of their surroundings than most other enemies, often attempting to charge in locations where obstacles prevent them from reaching their target. This can be exploited by goading the Brute into a charge while in a tight or confined area, standing just behind nearby cover. The Brute will harmlessly hit the obstacle and often spin around in one spot from its own momentum, leaving it wide open to attack. Be careful however, as sometimes Brutes will simply vault over low obstacles.
 * During later waves in multiplayer Brutes will be accompanied by Banshees. Since the Banshee is slower, prioritize your team's firepower onto the Brute, then the Banshee.
 * A good tactic in multiplayer is to use the Flamer ability that Vorcha possess: while one teammate distracts the Brute, the other can use this ability to great effect.
 * Although dangerous, it is possible for a Vanguard to use Charge against a Brute, especially after a squadmate has used Warp or Reave against it. This will inflict substantial damage and stagger the Brute, giving a little extra time to dodge its melee attack. Alternatively, if the Brute is very low on health after using Charge, the Vanguard is in an excellent position to finish it off with a shotgun. When executed with Nova and a few well timed dodging rolls, a Vanguard with 200% power availability can easily take down a Brute single-handededly.
 * Shooting the Brute with a high-powered sniper rifle, like the M-98 Widow, in exposed areas of flesh, will cause massive damage on lower difficulties.
 * Another good tactic is to have the M-77 Paladin or N7 Crusader as a backup, as these weapons can tear through armor very easily.
 * In the Resurgence Pack DLC, the Geth Infiltrator with its "Shield Pulse" Heavy Melee can be effective in dealing with Brutes in hand-to-hand combat, if played on Bronze or leveled properly. The Infiltrator can cloak, kill the Brute and slip away.
 * A very effective strategy to kill a Brute fast is to have Incendiary Ammo or Armor Piercing Rounds combined with an accurate and powerful shotgun like the N7 Crusader and the M-11 Wraith. And if supported by abilities like Carnage and Incinerate, this combination can destroy the Brute's Armor bar very quickly, thus killing the Brute.
 * Do not stand near a Brute while it's beating it's chest, the roar that happens afterwards is enough to cause players to stagger, leaving the player vulnerable to the Brute and its allies.
 * While Brutes do have an instant-kill attack, they use it much less often than Banshees, Atlas Mechs, or Phantoms. This makes close-quarters combat risky, but doable for a close-range specialized character. Krogan, vorcha, and batarians can all take down a Brute more quickly than a squad's focused fire, with the right builds. No matter the build, though, always try to blindside the Brute. Never let it get in the first hit.