Gears of War: E-Day Chapter 13 Walkthrough: Desperate Times and the Fort Vigil Brumak

Gears of War: E-Day's thirteenth chapter closes out Act 3. Bravo Squad has to walk the civilians of the Golden Quarter across the rooftops to Fort Vigil in the stretch known as Desperate Times, then hold that same fort against a full Locust assault and an armored Brumak in Desperate Measures. As of November 2026, this is the last stand before the story moves on to Act 4 and the push toward Prospect Bay, and it is the toughest sustained fight the campaign has thrown at Bravo so far.

Official campaign footage from the Gears of War YouTube channel.

Clearing the Golden Quarter Rooftops

The chapter opens with the Gut-Puncher, the Prototype Lancer, grenades and the Snub already in hand. Keep that loadout exactly as it is: the Gut-Puncher is for anything large, the Lancer is for Drones at range. Thin out the first rooftop from behind the half-walls and AC units, then take the wooden stairs up to the walkway. Inside the dark apartment that follows, Wretches tear through a wall in the hallway. Don't chase them into the opening. Back up a step and let them close the distance into your fire instead, which keeps you out of their lunge range.

The antenna roof after that is the first real spike. A hovering Locust unit starts dropping explosives on a squad of trapped Gears below, which flips the objective to protecting them. Dump the Gut-Puncher into it first, finish it with the Lancer, and stay tucked behind the roof's low walls while it tracks you. Drones and a Gnasher-carrying Locust climb onto the roof right after, so don't relax the moment the flier goes down.

Past the hotel corridor, a string-lit terrace puts heavy Locust in the doorway to the bar and reception hall. Stone pillars line that approach for a reason — use them, and lob Gut-Puncher rounds between their burst-fire windows rather than trading shots in the open. A Reaver lands on the pergola outside shortly after; back behind the balustrade and keep feeding it grenades until it drops, which takes about twenty seconds if you don't break cover.

Down to the Street and Across the Bridge

The causeway that follows has a detachable mounted machine gun on a broken balcony. Pull it off the mount before you move on — you'll want its full belt for the clock tower fight just ahead, where Scorched Snipers and a fire-throwing Grenadier have to be cleared before the civilians can move again. If you didn't grab the gun, the Prototype Lancer and Gut-Puncher still do the job from behind the stone planters, it just takes longer.

At the top of the tower there's a Torque Bow worth picking up before heading back down to the street-level crossroads, where a Reaver lands almost immediately and a second one shows up near a shopfront shortly after. Shelter under the arcade pillars and sandbags rather than the open pavement. Once that intersection is clear, follow Garner and the civilians through the blast gate onto the bridge to Fort Vigil. Reavers strafe the bridge from both sides through the wrecked cars on it — keep moving along one line of wreckage and don't stop to return fire. Stopping on that bridge is how runs end early.

Holding the Fort Vigil Wall

Desperate Measures opens on the wall overlooking the bridge you just crossed. Mount the parapet gun and fire in short bursts — there's no ammo counter, only a heat gauge, so let it cool rather than holding the trigger down through infantry and Drones pushing between the stalled trucks below. A Grinder and a pair of Boomers follow on the road, and Wretches start climbing the rubble slope on the flank, so keep sweeping that side even while the gun is still hot.

A Reaver lands directly on the wall partway through. Dismount and fall back rather than trying to out-trade it at that range; the first Vulcan, 147 rounds in an ammo crate at the base of the stone stairs, finishes it off at close range far faster than the Lancer will. Climb the stairs after that and you'll run into more Drones, including one that throws grenades — use the tall COG metal plates on the upper platform as cover rather than the low wall, since the plates block grenade fragments the wall doesn't. A second 147-round Vulcan and an extra ammo box sit on that same platform, and behind the tall barrier plates past it there's an Incendiary Grenade worth grabbing before you finish the last Grenders and Boomers from the parapet. When the wall finally clears, the squad pulls back on its own and Captain Grey's cutscene sends you up toward the Quartermaster.

The Armored Brumak: Two Phases and a Chase Through the Gift Shop

You cannot kill the Brumak from the wall, so don't burn resources trying. Use the parapet, lamp posts and crate stacks for cover, popping out to hit the arm-mounted guns and glowing weak points with Lancer fire, and save Gut-Puncher grenades for whenever it's facing you head-on — body shots elsewhere barely register. This phase ends on its own once the Brumak charges the gate, not when its health bar empties.

The chase that follows through the fort's gift shop is the only quiet stretch in the chapter, and it matters more than it looks. There's a yellow Hard Case by the shop entrance worth a detour, but the real priority is the Supply Cache in the back room — it's the only full resupply before the courtyard fight, so top off the Gut-Puncher completely before stepping through the broken wall at the far end.

Beating the Armored Brumak in the Courtyard

The second phase plays out in a fixed order, and skipping ahead just wastes ammo on parts that aren't the current target:

1. Back launcher — hit the upper back with Gut-Puncher grenades until it's destroyed.
2. Arm machine guns — take out one, then the other.
3. Head — target the eyes and exposed pipes with more grenades.
4. Helmet — once the Gut-Puncher reads empty, switch to the Prototype Lancer and shoot the helmet itself from behind a pillar.
5. Face — with the helmet gone, dump everything into the exposed face until it drops.

Stay behind one of the square courtyard pillars at all times and rotate to the next one as the Brumak circles around — standing in the open here is the single fastest way to lose the fight. Watch the ground too: any patch that gets a red outline is about to be hit, so clear it immediately rather than finishing your current burst. Tai finishes the Brumak off with a fort cannon round once its health is gone, closing Act 3 and cutting straight to the Act 4 title card.

Quick Chapter 13 Checklist

• Detach the balcony machine gun on the causeway before the clock tower fight.
• Clear the clock tower snipers from the balcony rail, where height keeps most incoming fire off you.
• Don't stop moving on the bridge into Fort Vigil — the Reavers strafing it will punish any pause.
• Grab both 147-round Vulcans on the Fort Vigil wall before the Grinder and Boomers close in.
• Fully refill at the gift shop's Supply Cache before the courtyard Brumak phase.
• Work the Brumak in order: back launcher, arm guns, head, helmet, then face.

For how Bravo got to this point, see our walkthrough of Chapter 12: Last Foothold and the Convoy to Fort Vigil. Gears of War: E-Day is developed by The Coalition and is out now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, with details on the launch on Xbox Wire, the official Gears of War site, and on Steam. The game carries an ESRB Mature rating, and background on the prequel's place in the series is on Wikipedia.