PZ, once you've tossed Duccio into the nearby scaffolding he's gone for good. No more annoying red flag. I went back and double checked that to be sure. ;)
I'm close to the end of the game so I'm milking it for all the side tasks I can find. Last night I focused on driving some additional holdings in the Mediterranean Defense meta game and ticking off a good number of the UBI achievement awards. Trying to drop from a deployed parachute to a zip line was amusing as was the Spider Assassin challenge which entailed starting at ground level at the Hagia Sophia (close to the Sultan's palace grounds entrance) and sprinting to the top of the spire on the central dome in under 25 seconds. I had to hit that one from a few different angles before finding a short enough route to complete it.
There's also some UBI awards that deal with the bomb making utility in the game that turn out to be a lot easier than it initially appears to be. Since there's not a Tips and Tricks section for AC:R I'll post this here for now.
Ezio can carry three distinct classes of bombs at any one time but all bombs in inventory of each specific class will all be of an identical effect. (think 3 pouches each loaded with a unique bomb type)
The classes of bombs are Lethal, Tactical and Diversion.
A. Lethal Bombs
1. The Splinter Bomb - made with Shrapnel (pretty self explanatory)
2. The Datura Bomb - made with Datura Powder (creates a field of deadly gas)
3. The Thunder Bomb - made with Coal Dust (kills by concussion alone (though I personally don't find it as effective as the Splinter Bomb))
B. Tactical Bombs
1. Blood Bomb - made with Lamb's Blood (targets are stunned and temporarily believe they are badly injured)
2. Caltrop Bomb - made with Caltrops (temporarily cripples targets who take steps within the blast zone)
3. Smoke Screen - made with Phosphorous (Dense field of smoke requiring Eagle Vision to navigate)
4. Stink Bomb - made with Skunk Oil (repulses and sickens targets within effect zone)
C. Diversion Bombs
1. Cherry Bomb - made with Sulfur (creates a loud pop that causes distracted all guards within hearing range to leave their posts to investigate the point of detonation)
2. Smoke Decoy - made with Salt of Petra (creates a smoke marker that attracts only guards who are in line of sight)
3. Gold Bomb made with Pyrite coins (attracts citizens who think gold is scattered on the ground)
a. if detonated at posted guards feet they shove the citizens away angrily - citizens can become angry and try to shove the guards away
b. can be used to move citizens out of harms way
Any of the Bomb Effects and Gun Powders can be housed in any of the following Bomb Shells
A. Impact Shell - explodes on contact when thrown or dropped
B. Fuse Shell - when thrown or dropped there is a three second delay after contact before exploding
1. Targeting display graphic projects where the shell will stop after bouncing or ricocheting
C. Trip Wire Shell - acts like a landmine it detonates when a guard steps within critical proximity (Guards Will Detect your action when arming this Shell if you are line of sight)
1. Targeting display graphic will show 2 zones when arming this shell
a. inner zone displays proximity fuse
b. outer zone displays effective blast range
D. Sticky Pouch - when thrown it sticks on whatever it hits (ground, walls or guards) detonating after a 3 second delay
Any of the Effects or Bomb Shells can be powered by any of the Gun Powders
A. Indian Gun Powder - weakest with a small zone of effect
B. Arabic Gun Powder - medium blast zone
C. British Gun Powder - largest blast zone for wide range effect
In the Bomb Crafting Interface any combination of bomb can be tested against live enemies in a virtual w@&k space without drawing materials out of your supplies by using the "Test" option available at the bottom
End Notes:
The UBI Achievement awards focus only on the Effects not the shell type or gun powder used.
I would suggest that once you have been introduced through the story line to Retired Admiral Piri Reis in the Grand Market it is advantageous to take all of his advanced bomb training missions to have access to any of the bomb components you might find a need for through his shop. The missions are all fairly simple though they can be pricy if you've not socked away enough cash and might take you into some risky territories for a good thrill. :-X
Excellent topic, mandru, split it into a new topic so we can add to the list :-X
I've found that there are many obstacles that are relatively easy to overcome if you take the time to think it through, open world style. For instance, the coward Captain that always runs away - simply target him and call an assassin, then you can focus on the guards that are attacking you. Moments later, your assassin is successful and the mission is virtually accomplished minus a few housekeeping tasks. I feel rather foolish when I remember dreading these coward Captains now that I have the simple method of their dispatch.
I suspect that most of the hurdles you need to pass are somewhat like that - find the solution to the problem, much like the puzzles.
And a thumbs-up for that piece of w%&k. Thanks, mandru :) :-X
Thanks for the split off PZ. :-X I didn't want to jump ahead of things here but needed to get all that typed out while I could still read my notes. :-D
Thanks Art. :-X
Your post was spot on mandru - although I've played through the game (mostly), the things you mentioned will greatly help on my subsequent plays through. :-X
I noticed as I was running past a scaffolding the option "Pull Down" briefly appeared on my screen. With a bit of experimentation I determined that for the PC it is the action of running and the Shift button that perform this action. The Shift key for PC is the same key that is used for Hook and Run as well as the Hook and Throw or for grabbing a zip line.
I promptly put this to use by finding a scaffold that was on the route of four patrolling guards and hit them with a caltrop bomb to cripple and immobilize them briefly. Then I ran past and pulled the scaffolding down on them. Doing this twice earned me the UBI Mouse Trap achievement award. :-X
:-D :-X
I just started a second play through, and also discovered that scaffold feature. Have not had a chance to try it yet though.
LOL @ "Mouse Trap achievement" - great title :laugh:
Completing the five Desmond Journeys that are located on Animus Island (each accessed by collecting enough data fragments) will unlock a Desmond Miles outfit. You will still have the stats for whatever armor you are wearing but by equipping the Desmond suit your game character looks like him in his grey jersey hoodie, jeans and sneakers.
He is also wearing a contoured travel pouch across his back. It is a bit incongruous that he has all of the weapons you've selected slung about him as usual and the crossbow over his shoulder but hey it's an amusing unlockable outfit. 8)
The data fragments that are collected in the game are not quite the chore that finding all of the feathers in AC:2 was. As I started collecting the fragments early in the game an icon for a fragment would occasionally pop up in the parts of the map that I had unlocked by visiting and synchronizing the various viewpoints.
Even better after I'd collected enough fragments (50) to unlock all five of the Desmond Journey memory sequences all the remaining fragments locations were revealed in a flood with all those icons scattered across the entire map. Fortunately I'd completely unlocked all the map by that point and this was at a point in the game before the trip to Cappadocia where there are an additional 12 fragments.
If by chance someone doesn't get the fragment position icons unlocked before the trip to Cappadocia or realizes later after playing that sequence that they've missed any of the twelve fragments that are there in that part of the game there's a ferry at the extreme East of the Galata district's water front (after that sequence has been played) that is available to return you if it is needed.
Quote from: mandru on December 22, 2011, 10:07:52 PM
...If by chance someone doesn't get the fragment position icons unlocked before the trip to Cappadocia or realizes later after playing that sequence that they've missed any of the twelve fragments that are there in that part of the game there's a ferry at the extreme East of the Galata district's water front (after that sequence has been played) that is available to return you if it is needed.
:-X ;)
I'm a stickler for driving myself to get perfect sync on all of the activities in the game when I'm playing and a lot of the missions are an enjoyable walk through the park but I'm finding a few of that are pretty tough to meet the sync requirements.
One mission that was really kicking my backside was The Champion Part II. This is a Master Assassin completion to finish locking off a Den so that it will be safe from further Templar attacks. The story line is a printer who's works have fallen into disfavor with the Templar occupation and he needs to be escorted (The Champion Part I) to relocate him in a safer place and draw out his enemies so they could be eliminated. Part II of this mission takes a turn that involves protecting the printer's father who is a herald. Since his enemies can't get at the son they are going to punish him by going after his father.
Waves of the characters (I've come to recognize as Templar Stalkers) come charging in to attack the herald from three directions through busy streets full of citizens and to meet 100% sync you have to completely prevent the herald from receiving any injury. You do have the assassin you are trying to set as den master with you but he pretty much does his own thing and will take off down the street after a distant target instead of staying close and adding a little extra buffer between the attackers and their target. If the herald takes even one swipe of a dagger and it blows the 100% sync.
Since it's a herald that you have to protect he has his own ready made crowd of people gathered when the event starts so you can't just saturate the area of approach with shrapnel bombs to slow down at least the first wave of attackers and even with eagle vision a smoke bomb at the feet of the herald still obscures your vision too long to catch every incoming enemy who all seem to ignore the smoke anyway. Admittedly I haven't tried dropping a skunk oil bomb into the middle of the herald's audience to scatter them but in the two seconds seconds you have to set up a defense... ??? Things get "real busy real fast" and any edge here is a real help.
One of the guides I consulted stated that chain kills are a "Must" to receive full sync on this mission but that was a total fail for me. I don't know if it was because I was on PC instead of a console (maybe it works better on console) or if it's my sucky reaction times but invariably I would make one kill and try to chain the next and instead of locking onto the next closest target either to my right or left I lunge out of my defensive position and swing blindly at some as yet undisclosed enemy in an upcoming wave of attackers. :D
I wish anyone attempting this best of luck and you will want to attempt this a few times on your own to see if your skill level allows you to blow through this where I repeatedly failed but if you find yourself as frustrated as I have been by this I'll leave my most successful approach to this puzzle here:
Spoiler
As the action starts you are facing the herald which means the waves of enemies will only come from three directions. The right, the left and slightly to the left of straight ahead of the direction you are facing when your assassin companion informs you there is trouble. I try as well as I can to stay in this same spot through out the fight as it gives me the best view of the incoming enemies I've been able to find.
In the first instant you regain control of Ezio bring up your weapons and make sure they are set to the proper items. The PC always automatically resets my gear to hidden blade and poison darts which are ineffective so I equip the crossbow and throwing knives.
The groups coming from the right having further to travel so they are always the last to arrive during this first wave allowing the enemies left and slightly left of straight ahead to be the immediate focus.
The group from straight ahead will have to break through the herald's audience as they come in. Sometimes this will tangle them up but whoever gets closest first and gives you a clear line of sight let them have the one free shot you get with the crossbow (that will not require a reloading time) then as each additional enemy gets close use the throwing knives. Striving to keep a standard of 1 knife/1 kill is important and dependent on having a clear line of sight and measured release of blades as they approach.
Fortunately the first wave's incoming attackers tend to scatter the herald's audience out and away giving a somewhat better line of sight for those two directions. Your assassin companion tends to be more intent on intercepting attackers from the right but many still break through and will require your attention as they come up the street before rounding a slight corner of a building to get at the herald.
By using the crossbow at the start of each wave when you have an extra second to reload (sometimes even getting of a second crossbow shot but don't count on it) along with 1 knife/1 kill and the few attackers your assassin associate takes down allows you to conserve enough of your knives to get through. :-X
I got stressed out just reading about what you have to do there...
:-() @ fragger
That's why I stuck a tip in here to try to ease some of the frustration that someone might find getting full synchronization on this toughie. I had to think my way through it because every tip I could find elsewhere for this mission was hack and slash based which I couldn't get to w@&k for me.
I couldn't fight better so I had to figure out a way to fight smarter. ^-^
That is a very tough one - have you tried throwing the caltrops bombs? Sure slows them down a bit.
That 's true PZ. :) But I'm a bit worried that slowing one wave down gives me a little bit less of a breather space between the wave of attackers to set up for the next group. ;)
If I hold my ground keeping as clear of a line of sight as possible and a finger on the throwing knife button when they start coming in I've found through several repeats of that memory that I do pretty well. 8)
One of the Challenge requirements to unlock the Mercenaries' Guild weapon and abilities is to kill 25 Templar Almogavars. Big heavily armored double bladed axe wielding goons (you gotta love 'em :-D ) but on my first time through the game I was pretty hard pressed to find enough of them to reach that goal until I hit the part of the game where you take the trip to Cappadocia. I've now found a hot spot available as soon as you are ready to find more of them than you can rattle a sabre at. ;)
The Master Assassin mission "The Guardian Part 1" used to secure the Arcadius district assassin's den (South Western most corner of the map) has at least eight Almogavars present for that mission. The point of the infiltration part of this mission is to not be detected which means if you are playing to reach full sync you stick to the rooftops and might not even see any of them except for the two that you have to drop down behind to reach the rich merchant you need to speak to. There are a total of six Almogavars within line of sight of that rich merchant. :-X
Once the mission has been completed going back through it a few more times replaying the memory to harvest these tough to find buggers will be well worth your time towards unlocking the Merc guild achievements.
Good one - I did not know that replaying memories would allow you to rack up additional kills. :-X
Here's another thing that I'm currently doing - walking around mostly without a weapon in hand (open fist only). I've found that it is easier for me to disarm and then chain kill groups of thugs rather than attack then outright. If it becomes too hairy, then I'll summon assassins, or throw either a caltrops or smoke bomb to take care of the rest.
Using caltrops is funny - the way they stumble about complaining about their feet :-()
Quote from: PZ on January 03, 2012, 12:43:22 PM
Good one - I did not know that replaying memories would allow you to rack up additional kills. :-X
Yeah, I've been using memory 4:3 over and over to get my chain kill requirements and even as I'm playing through
if I can see that there's no chance of getting another chain kill I can restart the memory for another attempt without losing any progress towards my goal. :-X
Quote from: PZ on January 03, 2012, 12:45:43 PM
Using caltrops is funny - the way they stumble about complaining about their feet :-()
Killing guards crippled by a bomb exactly as you've described also helps complete one of the other sets of guild achievements as well as being fun. :)
I like the combination of a cherry bomb to attract as many guards from overlapping patrols as possible followed by a caltrop bomb with British gunpowder for a wide spread and a coup de grâce of a datura or shrapnel bomb also powered by British gun powder.
My giggles from one such encounter with the guards earned me a "
You're such a boy. ::) " from my wife who was sitting at the desk next to mine playing Freecell Solitaire and of course my response was "
Well yeah!"
Quote from: mandru on January 03, 2012, 05:22:58 PM
...My giggles from one such encounter with the guards earned me a "You're such a boy. ::) " from my wife who was sitting at the desk next to mine playing Freecell Solitaire and of course my response was "Well yeah!"
My wife is quite similar - likes the solitaire games on her phone - the funny thing is that she can no more understand how I like to play my video games than I can understand how she could possibly get any satisfaction from playing a boring game of solitaire. :-()
Vive la différence? ????
YOU can't be a descendant of British origin. :-D
:laugh:
:laugh:
When I collect the 5th Altiar key and escape back to the ship completing the trip to Cappidocia the story line sets it up to make you want to rush straight into running to protecting Sophia at the bookshop but because I've bought armor and weapons that are only available during that side trip I want to switch back to one of the two sets of armor that give full stats and never take damage along with my preferred weapons. I always hightail it straight to the assassin hideout to re-equip as soon as I arrive back in Constantinople.
Both times I've played through this part of the game there is a nice little cut scene of Sophia paying a visit to the hideout giving Ezio the perfect opportunity to further impress the lovely bibliophile with the massive size of his uh... literary collection. ;)
I don't know if this cut scene is available later in the game if you rush straight to the bookshop as I haven't tried that but with this cut scene occurring right at this point in the story line it did strike me as odd that Ezio didn't take her into protective custody. I guess that obvious intervention would have fouled up the rest of that sequence. :-D
Something I noticed of interest right after my last visit from Sophia while there at the hideout is that apparently as each of the faction challenges are completed (including the bomb challenge) there is a banner or coat of arms added to the walls of the library in various locations to show your accomplishments at those efforts. I thought it was a nice touch once I'd slowed down enough on this play through to catch that detail. :-X
The Thieves' faction banner did strike me as being a little on the weak side but I guess that's because they haven't had the chance yet to steal a better one. ^-^
Quote from: mandru on January 06, 2012, 08:31:44 AM
The Thieves' faction banner did strike me as being a little on the weak side but I guess that's because they haven't had the chance yet to steal a better one. ^-^
:laugh: :-X
That's interesting about returning to the hideout before continuing with the sequence; you're correct - the immediate inclination is to return quickly to find Sophia. I've noticed throughout the series that you can take as much time as you want to get to the next step (unless it is a timed challenge). I've not experienced the cut scene you mentioned, but will during this play through (3rd).
Speaking of which, I have all my dens locked, 8/12 assassins are master assassins, am using the master assassin armor, and just now completed the Galata tower mission to retrieve the second Masayef key. Ezio's combat skills, bomb crafting, and judicious use of the factions makes it a pleasure to roam the streets in search of a good brawl.
I wish I could save the game at this point so I could return to it as a starting point in the future.
It is too bad about the way UBI has decided to lock up the ability to make saves so that different approaches towards the end game can be experimented with but they have included a feature unlocked by completing the various memories at 100% sync that allows you through the Options Menu to engage a variety of cheats when replaying memories.
Memories replayed with the cheats enabled are not valid towards the completion of challenges etc. But still some of tougher memories are amusing to revisit with "Buns of Steel" (no damage) or infinite ammo. :)
I've yet to complete most things on 100% except the master assassination missions (those are easy :-())
One thing that is a bit disappointing to me is the time element to achieve 100% in the hidden areas like the Galata tower. Those places are cool to look through, but you have to rush toward the end goal to meet the deadline unless you want to revisit the area a second time. Because these are "secret areas", it would have been nicer to need to find some kind of hidden object, or solve puzzles rather than the rush job.
The Janissaries are the most challenging of the adversaries, and although not perfect, the best method I have come up with so far is to battle them with whatever primary weapon you like, and have your throwing knives set for your secondary weapon. Then, when the Janissary backs up to fire his pistol, a quick throw of one or more knives will dispatch him.
A good tactic PZ. :-X
A poison dart is a guaranteed kill but you have a limited number of those on hand and if he's deliriously swinging a sword around in an area where you need to continue to fight it can really be problematic.
If you are holding a defensive posture and a Janissary does pull his pistol on you if you strike quickly with your primary weapon sometimes that hit will slip through on him but I like the quick thrown knife method you've suggested and will be trying that out. :)
Thanks mandru - yes, the poison dart and pistol are both good, but require that you take aim while the knives are instant-throw weapons. The precious few milliseconds are enough to make the difference when battling the Janissaries.
Another thing I forgot to mention - if you chain kill the other three guys (that are present with the single Janissary) in the group of four, then it is relatively easy to dispatch him because you have fewer distractions. I've tried this method recently, and have found it quite effective.
If you have a shrapnel or datura bomb equipped in the secondary slot and do a quick tap to drop the bomb (instead of aiming it) it will kill them a lot more than it does you. >:D
You'll take some damage from the shrapnel bomb but that's easily healed. With the datura I've not seen where Ezio takes any damage but the guards are poisoned.
Acclimated immunity? Hmm... ????
Interesting - I wonder how it would w@&k with a caltrops bomb - might be really funny. :laugh:
Self piloted boats!
I've not seen any mention of this in the story line and they are completely lacking anything beyond some small amusement value but there are several boats on each side along both the North and South piers of the channel that separates Galatia and the southern districts. They are controlled exactly the same as the Venetian canal boats from AC:2. Though they differ in appearance from the canal boats they can be easily spotted once you're aware of their presence but they make it possible for you to pilot yourself back and forth across the channel.
I had always assumed that the program had to load a new area anytime that body of water was crossed by ferry or a tunnel but that's not the case. I think you could swim the channel if you really wanted to.
I will have to check to see if these boats are available in the very early part of the game where you have free roam time to collect cash, gear and explore Galata. If so this would make the acquisition of Vlad's sword possible even earlier in the game providing Sophia's shop is unlocked to give you the clue for it's location.
I pulled off a really embarrassing belly flop from the top of Galata tower last night forcing me to focus on just why all my parachutes keep disappearing. :angry-new: I always try to keep an eye on my parachutes but that huge swan dive into the cobbles really ticked me off.
Not looking forward to the mandatory hours of pickpocketing that is required to start another trip through the game I've been stretching this play through out and had been revisiting the memories to the Fathi Sophia where the cool masked armor is awarded as well as some of the memory locations trying to memorize routes and agility requirements to shave extra time off my Masayaf Key collection efforts. That's what set me up for the fall.
It looks like anytime you go into one of the hidden locations or any other activity that will not allow parachutes to be used instead of just disabling them it takes them all away from you. This has been pretty annoying as I've noticed that there are times where they just gone and I've gotten in the habit of only carrying three or four of them even though I keep getting the pouch upgrades to have more carry capacity through the tailor shops.
Sometimes as in the tutorial missions where a specific weapon is the only one allowed the game will block all other weapons briefly but it always gives them back to you at the end of the exercise. You don't find all of your arrows, bombs and throwing knives mysteriously missing.
For some reason UBI totally missed the bus on this one and I would like to see them issue a patch for this foul up. ::)
The larger pouches for parachutes? Pointless! \:/
Quote from: mandru on January 10, 2012, 10:54:23 PM
Self piloted boats!
I've not seen any mention of this in the story line and they are completely lacking anything beyond some small amusement value but there are several boats on each side along both the North and South piers of the channel that separates Galatia and the southern districts. They are controlled exactly the same as the Venetian canal boats from AC:2. Though they differ in appearance from the canal boats they can be easily spotted once you're aware of their presence but they make it possible for you to pilot yourself back and forth across the channel.
I had always assumed that the program had to load a new area anytime that body of water was crossed by ferry or a tunnel but that's not the case. I think you could swim the channel if you really wanted to.
I will have to check to see if these boats are available in the very early part of the game where you have free roam time to collect cash, gear and explore Galata. If so this would make the acquisition of Vlad's sword possible even earlier in the game providing Sophia's shop is unlocked to give you the clue for it's location.
That's really cool! I did not realize you could use any of the boats - will certainly give it a try. One question though - how will using a boat change the Vlad acquisition?
Quote from: mandru on January 11, 2012, 09:27:59 AM
Not looking forward to the mandatory hours of pickpocketing that is required to start another trip through the game I've been stretching this play through out and had been revisiting the memories to the Fathi Sophia where the cool masked armor is awarded as well as some of the memory locations trying to memorize routes and agility requirements to shave extra time off my Masayaf Key collection efforts. That's what set me up for the fall.
It looks like anytime you go into one of the hidden locations or any other activity that will not allow parachutes to be used instead of just disabling them it takes them all away from you. This has been pretty annoying as I've noticed that there are times where they just gone and I've gotten in the habit of only carrying three or four of them even though I keep getting the pouch upgrades to have more carry capacity through the tailor shops.
Sometimes as in the tutorial missions where a specific weapon is the only one allowed the game will block all other weapons briefly but it always gives them back to you at the end of the exercise. You don't find all of your arrows, bombs and throwing knives mysteriously missing.
For some reason UBI totally missed the bus on this one and I would like to see them issue a patch for this foul up. ::)
The larger pouches for parachutes? Pointless! \:/
That's really bad news about the parachutes - I noticed mine had disappeared and did not make the connection to the hidden areas.
As to the pick-pocketing I used to do, my focus now is to get my thief faction ability going and then roam the streets - they will do all the stealing you need, and even beat up the citizens when you join in on their fun. :-()
Quote from: PZ on January 11, 2012, 09:49:36 AM
- how will using a boat change the Vlad acquisition?
After meeting the Assassins in Galata you are sent out to get better gear and funds if necessary. That is where I build up my cash by pickpocketing because it's before any significant missions that will cause that kind of funds gathering to start counting against my notoriety.
If I could use one of these boats to get across the channel this early in the game (because the ferries are not available until needed to go meet Yosef for the first Templar lair take over) and if I can get into Sofia's bookshop during this time period then I would also be able to wander over to Vlad's crypt and pick up his sword. :-D
*EDIT additional* Rethinking this... I would need to wait until after the hook blade is given to me (would need hook blade in Vlad's crypt ???? ) which is still before the ferries become available and then I would try to get across the channel to the bookshop etc...
Ah yes... now I see. I forgot that the ferries were not available. It might be interesting to go to the big island anyway just to see how things w@&k. I remember in AC2 that I was able to pick pocket thousands of Florins and not gain any notoriety because that trigger had not occurred in the game yet.
It is fun to divert from the intended course to see what happens - in many cases, the developers might not even have thought that the gamers would go that way.
Turns out that if you use the boat to go to the mainland before the ferries are available, you will desynchronize. :D
On yet another play through, I have all dens locked, have completed all of the bomb missions, and just did the mission for the first Masayf key. To achieve 100% synch, you need to remain undetected, which was quite the challenge the first time I went through. However on this play through, I used only throwing knives and datura (poison gas) bombs while I stayed high in the rafters. Using the gas bombs made the mission as easy as pie.
On another note, the master assassin mission where you need to keep the herald from any harm was much easier using the pyrite coins bomb - quite funny actually, as the Templars rushed at us, Ezio threw down the coin bomb, and the citizens held the bad guys long enough to do them in.
Too bad about the boat idea being scuttled. :-\\
With the bomb making stations and resource chests located all the way through that area, yeah I can see it. If you round the guards up with a cherry bomb then hit them with a Datura that would be a great approach. :-X
I'll also have to give the pyrite bomb a try on that protection mission.
Here's a tip on the Vlad Sword that I came across. While looking cool and having very good stats it is not the most powerful sword in the game but there are a couple positives to using it.
1. There is a 15% chance that it will panic a guard and cause him to attempt to flee. A good thing in general but can be a nuisance if your working on getting chain kills.
2. There are animations for Kill Moves that are not available on any of the other swords. More blood, more gore and more "Oh Yeeeaaaahhhh!" >:D
I do recall seeing a video that demonstrated some of the extra animation scenes. However, as you stated, it is not as useful as some of the other weapons, for instance Mehmet's (sp?) dagger, which I am now using as my current favorite.
I also like to disarm the guards wielding the long spear-like weapon, then throw it at another guard. The animation scenes for the different weapons are fun to watch.
Invasion of The Janissary encampment immediately to the North of Fatih Camii (one of the tunnel exits) is an intimidating proposition. There is even one mission that requires infiltration and assassination of their leader.
I've found however that the period of time the infiltration mission is taking place has the entire area under alert but this condition is not always the case.
The two Janissary guards covering the entrance to the area will always defend their post but in non-mission times I've been able to skirt around to the North of the barracks and use a nearby building's rooftop to hop onto the wall gaining access with no interference from the rest of the Janissaries scattered through the encampment. As long as you stay away from the two guards at the entrance all of the others will either ignore you or (if you are climbing around on things really standing out) make a comment like "I may have to deal with that one. Oh well, not my problem."
Knowing this the two gold chests in that area that are marked when you buy the area's treasure chest maps are a simple matter of hop the North wall and collect them. ;)
Quote from: mandru on January 22, 2012, 07:10:23 AM
Invasion of The Janissary encampment immediately to the North of Fatih Camii (one of the tunnel exits) is an intimidating proposition. There is even one mission that requires infiltration and assassination of their leader...
I just did this mission - assassination of Tarek Barleit (full sync = air assassination). This is the third time I have done this mission, and Ezio is wearing Ishak Pasha's armor. After Ezio assassinated from the tall scaffold and the Janissaries descended on him, he fought valiantly until they were all dead. Ezio then encouraged others to attack as he went through the front of the encampment killing everyone along the way. Then casually walking through town, he was periodically assaulted by groups of Janissaries, all of which he dispatched with a variety of techniques, including the pyrite bomb that one is always hilarious - to see the citizens effectively holding down the enemy. :-() Coincidentally, this method comes out of the first AC, in which citizens automatically held the guards when you helped them.
There are some of the secret locations and Masayaf key locations that will take away my parachutes when I replay them as a DNA memory and then return to normal game play but I found that the mission to acquire Vlad's sword did not take them from me. If you don't know that they are gone and take a huge leap reaching into your empty pouch it can lead to (let's say) a real awkward situation. ???
I wanted to go back over some of those locations through the DNA memories including the one that gives the Ishak Pasha's armor at Haggia Sophia. That one for sure steals the parachutes.
It occurred to me after I had lost my parachutes banging around in the memories and as I was ready to go back into the game proper that the Vlad mission never takes my chutes so what would happen if I went back into a run through of that memory last. When I had started playing memories I had 10 chutes in my pouch which were then gone but when I completed replaying the Vlad mission all 10 of them had been returned to me!
My pouch will hold 15 chutes but because of losing them repeatedly to memories I never fill it completely. The same number I'd had originally were restored it didn't just refill the pouch. :-X
lol, I know how you feel - especially the first time I lept off a building and tried to deploy a nonexistent parachute!
It is good that there are circumstances that cause the return of the parachutes - good find :-X