Brute

Brute is one of the antagonists in Zardy's Maze.

Visual Appearance
Brute wears a brown robe with a hood. They have no visible face and wear a metal mask. They carry a large hammer with them in their hands and can fly.

Appearances
Brutes appear in the main game and in challenges 3, 4, and 7.

Behavior
Brutes are located in the clearings where the weeds and hole are found, where they fly around the edges in a rotational manner. Brutes spawn in once the player gets close enough to the weeds and teleports to the different clearings in order to be close to the player. Shining the flashlight on a Brute immobilizes them. Brute kills the player on contact. If the player is in front of Brute, shines the light on them, or hits a weed with the axe, then the Brute will "notice" the player. This causes them to fly straight toward the player at a faster speed. Brutes cannot leave the clearing.

Strategy
If a Brute is unaccounted for when approaching a weed it is safer to wait for them to teleport before going into the clearing as to prevent being caught off guard. Destroy the weed and leave the clearing as quickly as possible, using the flashlight to stop Brutes when needed. Escaping through the corn is not usually a viable solution because the Brute will most likely catch up to the player before they can get away. In challenges with multiple Brutes, the flashlight can be used to get all Brutes into the same position.