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Carlo Grimaldi: Assassinate the assassin

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhFRmuNjx-o

Ezio's exploits in the San Marco district, Sequence 8.

Get in the huddle

During the Birds of a Feather memory, the Templars pause three times to talk. It's possible to insert Ezio into each cutscene. Your aim and timing both need to be precise in order to jump into the group. Ezio's horizontal momentum abruptly ends when the cutscene begins, causing him to fall straight down (usually outside of the huddle). You want to time it so he hits the ground just as the cutscene begins. Any earlier and he is detected. Hat tip to our own Vanitas (LadiciusFMU on YouTube) for discovering this.

An easier way to get in the huddle is to hire a group of Courtesans and simply stand on your mark. This enables precise placement and eliminates the timing requirement, all while avoiding detection by the Templars. The third conversation takes place in a circle around the exact center point of the Rialto Bridge. I set myself up a little to the northeast in order to stand at Rodrigo's left shoulder. Ezio can only turn in place during the cutscenes.

Penetrate the Palazzo

Here are all four known ways (to date) to enter the Palazzo Ducale without Leonardo's Flying Machine.

First up is aurllcooljay's superjump. It works from practically any lamppost along the west or south wall of the palazzo. The first step is to place an ally such as a thief on the covered walkway opposite a lamp. Here I use Antonio himself. Use the Head button button to tell him to wait there. Climb the lamppost and turn toward your ally. You may need to target lock him if there are guards nearby. Press High profile trigger + Empty hand button to initiate a flying tackle. Quickly hold Empty hand button again to catch the side of the palazzo.

This next method was originally documented by Thmoore18 and brought to The Hidden Blade by oOo_MuZZa_oOo. Start out in low profile and walk up onto the knob on the rail next to the canal. Now hold High profile trigger and aim for the column. This step is tricky and may take a few tries. You'll know it's working when Ezio pulls himself up. Then hold High profile trigger + Legs button to climb up to the balcony.

The hardest part about airwalking nowadays is avoiding all references to the patch of December 10, 2009. To uninstall the patch on Xbox, go to System Settings > Memory > Hard Drive > (Y) Device Options > Clear Cache. On PS3 I understand that the steps are Game > Game Data, find the update file and delete it. The next problem is that any savegame that has been saved since the patch will refuse to load. For most players this means starting a new game. I was able to load up an old savegame from November 2009 to make this video.

The back kick off the dome onto the wrought-iron fence is harder than it looks. Two times I've been lucky and hit it on my first try upon reaching the roof. It usually takes more like 40 tries. Sad See the video by MrUnleadeDiesiel for a more typical result. Start your wall run between the two windows but closer to the one on your left. Square up your view and aim your back kick at about 6:30. I've never been able to make it work with an unaimed kick. Ezio can't walk on top of the fence. He can only jump into the palazzo.

When Antonio is unable to follow Ezio, the pathfinding AI will eventually give up and teleport him to a closer seed point. It won't do this while you're looking at Antonio, so turn your back and give him some privacy. Watch the Mini-Map to see the exact moment of the teleport.

Unpowered flight

Ezio can fly for nearly a minute without fires. The main trick is to turn left and get out over the Grand Canal. Pull back on the left thumbstick and the glider will repeatedly pull up and stall. I tried releasing the thumbstick after each stall but didn't find any combination that worked better than simply holding it back.

Stunt assassination

I pre-assassinated all the guards inside the palazzo (not shown) so that Carlo would stand still at the bottom of the staircase - a sitting duck for a stunt assassination.

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Awesome smileys for game console buttons and controls! And I do have to admit this is one of the more entertaining videos because of the compilation of exploits and stuff. So Xbox right trigger + Xbox B button = air tackle superjump.

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"He could be here RIGHT NOW, and we wouldn't even KNOW."
You can not BELIEVE how hard I laughed there.

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Thanks, DAZ. Are you just seeing this video for the first time? It moved to the top of the Recent Posts list today because I updated it to use smileys like Legs button.

By the way, Asaic has contributed console-specific smileys.
Xbox 360: Xbox Y button Xbox X button Xbox B button Xbox A button Xbox left trigger Xbox left bumper Xbox right bumper Xbox right trigger Xbox back button Xbox start button
Playstation 3: PS3 triangle button PS3 square button PS3 circle button PS3 cross button PS3 L1 button PS3 L2 button PS3 R2 button PS3 R1 button PS3 select button PS3 start button

I've organized all of the controller smileys into a new category called "Assassin".

You won't even feel the blade.

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Yes Stabby, I'm seeing this just now, and I was thoroughly impressed.
I've been playing Final Fantasy, StarCraft and League of Legends recently, and singing in a band, so I haven't come to the site in a while, but I never forget this place.

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Hilarious! One of my most favorite vids on THB. Smile

Best thing to do in AC2? Plummeting out of the sky and landing on someone. Then shoving your blade in their neck.

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Great video! I always knew there had to be some way to climb the palace but i wasn't savvy enough to figure it out myself. Also, the way you insert Ezio into those cutscenes is hilarious! You placed him perfectly next to Rodrigo!

One question, once your in the palace during the scouting mission, can you see Carlo and the Doge standing the hallway or do they only spawn when you trigger the cutscene?

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Jedted wrote:
Also, the way you insert Ezio into those cutscenes is hilarious! You placed him perfectly next to Rodrigo!

Thanks. Laughing out loud You can put Ezio right on the center point of the bridge and have the Templars form a circle around him but then his head blocks most of the shots. It's also possible to get the camera inside Ezio's head and see his teeth, etc. I've been meaning to get a screen capture of that so we can compare it to Evil Face from AC1. Many people believe that to be the inside of Desmond's face.

One question, once your in the palace during the scouting mission, can you see Carlo and the Doge standing the hallway or do they only spawn when you trigger the cutscene?

They don't appear until the cutscene when Antonio steps into the light on the roof of the Basilica di San Marco. Now, what you can do is position Antonio on the far side of this trigger point and tell him to wait there. Then back kick onto the rail and tell him to follow you. Ezio is technically inside the Palazzo when the cutscene begins. You could try to insert Ezio into the Doge's cutscene this way. I didn't check if he's still in range to command Antonio to move from that position.

You won't even feel the blade.

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stabguy wrote:
You could try to insert Ezio into the Doge's cutscene this way. I didn't check if he's still in range to command Antonio to move from that position.

Okay, I checked this out. The far hallway where the cutscene takes place is on the edge of Ezio's range to command Antonio to follow. I tried fudging a few things but it always ended the same way: as soon as I pressed the Head button button Antonio teleported immediately, failing to trigger the cutscene. He even teleported when I was looking straight at him, so now I'm questioning what I said about needing to turn away.

You won't even feel the blade.

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stabguy wrote:

Laughing out loud You can put Ezio right on the center point of the bridge and have the Templars form a circle around him but then his head blocks most of the shots. It's also possible to get the camera inside Ezio's head and see his teeth, etc. I've been meaning to get a screen capture of that so we can compare it to Evil Face from AC1. Many people believe that to be the inside of Desmond's face.

So you want to see inside Ezio's head? I remember a way to see inside Altair's head in ac1. If your interested I could make a video about that.

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Really clever. Shame you can't do more while inside Tongue

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v Check it out, everyone. Comments from two guys in the credits. Cool

You won't even feel the blade.

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haha brilliant man i gotta try that superjump but i returned my ac2 game to the video shop about 6 weeks overdue XD so ill have to buy it again :]


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Vanitas wrote:
haha brilliant man i gotta try that superjump but i returned my ac2 game to the video shop about 6 weeks overdue XD so ill have to buy it again :]

He likes the superjump! I guess it is a fast easy way to get in there. Ianxofour said it was his favorite way to get in the palace, and I'm not sure which way is Stabguy36's favorite.

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Sweet, you made the video! I would never have thought to use Antonio himself to get in the palace (I usually lure regular people or sometimes hire a group, but your way is pure genius). Also with teleporting him I remember doing the same thing to a gondolier in a video I made about a glitched contract (thicker than water), but never knew that it could be done with any important ally. So now you don't have to fight alone inside the Doge's palace.