Brute

Description
Brutes are enemies featured in Assassin's Creed II. They are essentially human tanks, wearing heavy, durable armor and carrying large, heavy weapons, and also moving very slowly due to the weight of their equipment. They are the strongest guards in terms of combat difficulty in the game, but can easily be avoided.

Combat
Brutes are tricky enemies to defeat because of the nature of their special attacks and normal attacks.


 * Normal attacks: Brute normal attacks can be blocked with any weapon but can't be countered with a short blade or sheathable weapon. They can however, be countered (lethally) with another heavy weapon such as those the Brutes themselves carry, a long weapon (carried by Seekers), or by the Hidden Blade(s), although the successful timing window for the latter is rather short (a fraction of a second). They can also be countered with Fists, which will disarm the Brute which, followed up by a quick attack on the unarmed Brute, can kill him quickly, but the timing for the disarm is short, although apparently slightly longer than for the Hidden Blade(s). Special care should be taken when trying to counter the Brutes' with the Hidden Blade(s), as, because of the very short timing window for successful counter kills, it is highly possible to fail a counter-kill. This failure is penalized severely, as Brute attacks deal great amounts of damage and, should the Brute perform a combo, you may lose a significant chunk of your health bar. A less risky but more time consuming tactic is to dodge the Brute's attacks and follow up with a combo of your own. Performed correctly, the combo may end with an execution. The maximum number of hits in a Brute combo is three.
 * Special attacks: Neither of the Brutes' special attacks can be blocked or countered. It is suggested that you either attack the Brute before he actually executes the attack, dodge and fire back with an attack of your own, or simply walk out of range of the attack (since the Brute, after beginning to charge a special attack, cannot move again until after performing it) and, again, attack back.


 * Smash: The Brute takes a strong downward swing with his weapon, knocking Ezio on his back and doing about as much damage as a normal attack. A Brute is about to perform a smash attack if he raises his weapon high above his head. A Smash special attack takes less time for a Brute to prepare (approx. one second) than a Knock Weapon Away special attack.
 * Knock Weapon Away: This special attack is not named 'Disarm' because it is not the same as Ezio's disarm ability; that is, the Brute does not take Ezio's weapon and use it for himself. Instead, the Brute takes a hard right-to-left swing with his weapon, breaking Ezio's guard for a second and, if Ezio was using a short blade, sheathable weapon or picked up weapon, knocks it out of his hand. The attack does no damage, but, as said above, breaks Ezio's guard for a second, opening him to attacks from other foes in the fight. A Brute is about to perform a Knock Weapon Away special attack if he holds his weapon out behind him. A Knock Weapon Away special attack takes a Brute longer to prepare than a Smash attack, which means a larger window of time to attack them than for a Smash special attack.
 * Attacking: The best times to attack a Brute are after disarming him, while he is preparing for a special attack, after dodging an attack, or after moving out of range of a special attack.

Weaponry
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Intelligence, Agility, and Methods of Escape
Brutes are not highly intelligent and can be escaped once you've gotten out of sight by blending or hiding. They are also not agile or quick in any sense of the words, and cannot free-run or climb (at least not without possible glitching, and even then only for a second or less), so taking to the roofs is an easy method of escape.

Ranking
If someone could please add images and information on Brute rankings here, that would be helpful.

Special Brutes

 * One of Ezio's assassination targets, Dante Moro, carries what may be a Larys with an enlarged head, and fights like a Brute, only with far more health and immunity from disarming.


 * One of Ezio's allies, Bartolomeo, carries what appears to be a Bastard Sword, (although the design and coloring of the handle appears different from those carried by Brute guards) which he calls "Bianca" and prizes, and behaves like a Brute in combat, only with far more health.