Enemy types
The strategies seem quite simple, but I'll list them out just in case anybody is having any issues. And others can add their strategies if they've discovered things I haven't.
Infantryman
These are the most common type of guard and are found everywhere. They carry muskets with bayonets. They cannot parry your attacks nor counter-attack you, and they are susceptible to every type of counter as well as "opening attacks" ( 
). They make good fodder for the human shield move.
When two or more of them get together and are far enough away from the player (at least 5m away, I believe), they will usually stay back and fire their muskets. If you can see them, they will have a yellow triangle above their head, but they're often out of sight due to their distance. Your clue then is that you can hear shouts such as, "READY! AIM! FIRE!" The camera will also shift in the direction of the shooters. When this happens, that's your cue to find a human shield ASAP. You'll also usually see the other enemies in melee range start backing off to avoid getting in the line of fire. It takes them five or six seconds to reload, so you have time between bursts to blitz them. A firing squad will destroy you if you're not careful, so don't leave them for last. Take them out ASAP. At the very least, get within melee range and they will switch to melee attacks.
Officer
Officers are tall, often wearing hats and/or masks, and they carry a sword and pistol. They will parry all of your strikes unless you catch them off guard. They come in two ranks, Captains and Jagers. You cannot counter-attack them, and counter-throw only works on Captains. You can counter-tool and counter-disarm both. Captains are also susceptible to the opening attack ( ), whereas Jagers will punish you for trying this move.
Disarm is typically the best strategy since it guarantees a 100% success rate against both and they cannot block your subsequent combo until they've picked up a weapon. They can usually be killed by a short combo (typically 3-4 hits).
Officers will occasionally try to shoot you with a pistol. You see the typical yellow triangle when this happens. If there's another guard nearby you can use as fodder, do the human shield move against this. The other options are to quickly fire a tool (risky if it's not fast enough), use the opening attack ( ), or simply attack with your main weapon and they will parry with their sword.
Brute
Brutes carry a two-handed axe but wield it with a single hand. They are really big men and they always have a backpack. If you attack them, they will take a couple hits and then interrupt your combat with a counter attack. They cannot be counter-attacked but are completely susceptible to counter-disarm. Counter-tool works too. Like the Officers, Brutes can simply be disarmed and comboed for an easy kill.
When a Brute gets a yellow triangle above his head, he's going for a big wide swing with his axe. It's slow but very powerful, knocking you down and taking out a lot of health. You have only two options: press 
to roll out of the way, then attack them from behind, or use an opening attack to interrupt their swing. The window of opportunity for interrupting this attack is small, so I don't recommend this unless you can catch it early. If you choose to dodge and combo, don't carry on the combo too long or they will interrupt it with a counter attack. After dodging, I typically do two quick attacks, then stop and wait for the next opening.
Scout
These guys typically fight with daggers, but have been known to carry muskets on occasion. They will outrun you if you try to escape, but can often be avoided simply by zigzagging slightly while sprinting away. In combat, they can be counter-attacked for a very easy kill, but they cannot be counter-disarmed or counter-thrown. Counter-tool works too, but don't waste the ammo since a regular counter-attack kills them every time.
Scouts have quick combos, so they can really pile on the damage if you're not careful. They also tend to attack before most other enemy types do, so expect them to attack first.
They have a yellow-triangle move where they roll over your back and then follow up with an attack. This follow-up attack is just as susceptible to a counter as all their other attacks. I'm not sure if the yellow triangle roll-over move can be interrupted; it's very quick and the window of opportunity is incredibly short, but I imagine you could use an opening attack to interrupt it if you're fast enough.
Grenadier
These guys look like the the regular infantrymen but have backpacks. They behave exactly like the same too, except when they line up and fire their weapons, they cause large areas of splash damage that are difficult to avoid. Human shield won't help you for this one.
Don't give them a chance to fire. If you do, you'll have to get away from the general vicinity as the splash damage tends to have a radius of approximately 3m (per grenade).
General Strategies
All enemies can be killed with a single attack if you line them up perfectly from behind. They have to be "stunned", so this means that you have to have just disarmed them or used an opening attack or catch them while still in the final part of their attack animation. The window of opportunity is very shot and your positioning is very important. Attacking from behind like this prompts a special animation, usually the same as if you walked up to them from behind and killed them outside of combat. This is especially effective on Officers and Brutes because it's a quick easy kill compared to most other methods of dealing with them. The timing and positioning can be difficult, so this is something you'll want to practice. When the opportunity presents itself, don't pass it up.
Something that works on all enemy types is hitting them while they're down. Knock them down by throwing them or throwing another enemy into them, then run over to them for an easy kill. This is great for quickly taking out the tougher enemies when you have a time limit.
Another universal strategy is to get your enemy between you and a wall, rail, object or the end of a ledge. If you successfully attack them when they are just a meter or so in front of one of those things, it's an instant kill. I don't know why, but it seems that in the AC universe, tripping backward over a small box is just as deadly as being knocked off cliff.
Counter-tool can be very effective for quickly taking out groups of enemies when you're fighting a timer. Counter-tool with poison darts is an instant kill on any enemy and the animation is very quick. You can take out three guys back to back in just several seconds. Counter-tool with trip mines is effective due to its splash damage. You can somewhat manipulate the angle in which you throw the enemy, so try to direct him into a group of his buddies to take out several enemies at once. You never take damage from using trip mines as a counter, however the area of effect is smaller than when you simply set them on the ground. Counter-tool with the pistol, bow and rope dart are guaranteed kills as well, however, the bow animation is slow and the pistol requires reloading afterward. The rope darts are great as counters, but I prefer to save them for a chase gone wrong.
Due to the limited ammo, I typically stick with regular counter-attacks and counter-disarms and save the counter-tools for when I'm up against a timer or chase a target. I hate stopping to loot to replenish ammo, so I only use tools sparingly.
Something that makes combat child's play is the Rope Dart; Every single enemy type in the game is susceptible, without fail. Dart someone, pull them flat on their face, when they're still on the ground, stab them.
Something that makes combat child's play is the Rope Dart; Every single enemy type in the game is susceptible, without fail. Dart someone, pull them flat on their face, when they're still on the ground, stab them.
Good strategy!
I've also learned that you can use the 'opening attack' when they are disarmed to knock them down. Same as the rope dart, free kill. 
Can I just say that Notoriety level 3 is ridiculous? The elite guards that come out then (I believe they're called Hessians if they're in a red-coat controlled city, and Jagers in a Colonist controlled one) WILL kill you if you stay and fight, and the fact that they spawn EVERYWHERE makes running very very hard. Plus the instant full detection thing makes being at all stealthy so very difficult. Their mines: RIDICULOUS.
(Side note: they're the coolest looking enemy in the game.)
I used all my assassin recruits when I tried to stay and fight, and all of them were eventually driven away except for two, so I tried to run and got shot. You want difficulty settings? Notoriety 3 is all the hard mode you need.
It's really not as hard as you make it seem. I've never had trouble killing everyone at Notoriety 3. However, I do have trouble not getting caught, so what I usually do is just Sprint to a Notoriety Marker (an NPC/action that reduces Notoriety) and just kill everyone. Hessians and Jagers are easily killed with the following strategy;
Disarm and Combo every time one attacks you. If you're not being attacked, Rope Dart any enemy and stab them when they're on the ground. Usually an enemy will attack you during your stabbing animation, counter them and disarm them, then just keep hitting them.
Yeah, but they just keep coming and coming. Eventually your ropedarts will run dry and your ammo will be gone, and there will still be reinforcements. Preventing getting to Notoriety 3 is easy, and so is getting out of it, but honestly, Hessains have to be counter disarmed, there's nothing else for them but ropedarts and projectiles, AND they throw mines with huge damage. If you're fighting at an expert level you can survive, yeah, but it's a heck of a lot harder than any combat in any other AC game, IMO.
You only use up a rope dart when you hang someone from a tree.
You only use up a rope dart when you hang someone from a tree.
Wrong. Anytime I use a rope dart in combat it decreases my amount. (xbox)
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
One of us has a glitched copy, it seems.
It seems to be split... some people lose them, some retain them... it doesn't make sense to lose it, if you ask me...
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
I do not lose my Rope Dart if I hold the button down and use it to pull someone towards me in combat. I thought this was fact. Hmm..
Regardless, rope darts don't help against bombs or firing lines.
I do not lose my Rope Dart if I hold the button down and use it to pull someone towards me in combat. I thought this was fact. Hmm..
I'll look into this... maybe I'm tapping it and Connor throws it at the person but holding it down will let him keep it. I know the animation is him keeping it (like the trip animation), but the inventory decreases. But like I said... I usually TAP the button.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
The only time you don't 'use up' rope darts is when you're using them on fleeing targets. If you use them in combat or to initiate combat by hanging a guy, it will use them up.
Regarding the toughest enemies, they're really not that tough once you are practiced at the combat system. Like mentioned, the sword wielders go down to a counter-disarm and combo follow-up. If you use a weapon like the Assassin Tomahawk, it's just a single combo to kill them. Just time your hits the same way the combos worked in AC1 and you'll take them out in 3-4 hits of the combo.
It can seem overwhelming when you have all the enemy archetypes after you at once in a big open street. Firing squads, grenades, and lots of guys surrounding you who cannot be counter-attacked... But as mentioned, you just go with what works because every enemy has a simple strategy. Counter-attack the regular guys and dagger wielders, counter-disarm and combo the heavies and jagers. Just stand around and wait for someone to attack you to save ammo and use human shield when people try to shoot you. If you see grenades, try to run out of the way. Follow that and the only time you'll ever take damage is when you're not paying close enough attention.
I never use tools during combat. IMO it's just a waste of time because I hate having to loot or shop afterwards. I just wait for people to attack me; it never takes more than a second or two.
The combat is a little overwhelming at first but i think i'm getting the hang of it. I found out about the rope dart vulnerability early on and it makes heavies seem like push overs. I think the rope dart only gets used up if you use it as part of a combo(like with a counter kill). I can pull enemies down as much as i want and i don't use it up, the aggressive attackers sometimes make it difficult.
i haven't spent much time at notoriety 3 but at level 2 the the guards detect you pretty fast unless your blending. With the new blending system you can slowly move a group of civilians to a poster/herald using money(it's not just for getting rid of annoying beggars anymore ).
The only time you don't 'use up' rope darts is when you're using them on fleeing targets. If you use them in combat or to initiate combat by hanging a guy, it will use them up.
Yep. Did some tests yesterday. Actually, if you use them in combat, I think it's fine too... unless it's a counter. If you initiate with the rope dart, or straight up attack, it's fine.
If you use a predator move -- rope dart gone.
If you use a rope dart as part of a counter move (block --> tool) -- rope dart gone.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
If you use a predator move -- rope dart gone.
If you use a rope dart as part of a counter move (block --> tool) -- rope dart gone.
I believe you don't loose it if you do the silent predator kill(don't drop down).
I wish you could use the rope dart to pull people off of horses and drag em behind you Red Dead style. 
Double McStab with Cheese wrote:
If you use a predator move -- rope dart gone.
If you use a rope dart as part of a counter move (block --> tool) -- rope dart gone.I believe you don't loose it if you do the silent predator kill(don't drop down).
I wish you could use the rope dart to pull people off of horses and drag em behind you Red Dead style.
Correct.
I called the predator move the one where you DO drop down... If you don't drop down, I don't think you lose it either.
So don't drop down with the predator, and don't counter with it, and you keep it.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Some awesome info in this thread.
I forgot how not to do the predator move. What's the difference in teh input? Can someone please remind me?
And I think this hasn't been said:
If you're using a Club or an Axe, you cannot fire your pistol(s). Instead, you can hold the tool button to throw your big weapon. If you can't find it afterwards, don't worry... if you have bought it, there will always be a 'copy' available at the Homestead or General Stores.
And if you don't have a big weapon with you, you can take one from an enemy and sheath it.
The only type of melee weapon I'd reccomend buying is a Club, cause there aren't enemies with clubs (to my knowledge). Swords and Axes you can simply steal
To NOT do the predator move... just don't push down on 
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Thanks.
Anyone know where to find (high res) screenshots of each of the enemy character types/models?
In game, or stand alone character models?
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
A couple discrepancies, just to clear things up:
It seems that http://www.ign.com/wikis/assassins-creed-3/Regular_Captains says captains cannot be counter-thrown without weakening first. Asaic, in your OP you mention that Captains can be counter-thrown.
Also, IGN mentions that grenadiers are a variant of the Brute enemy class, and here you say they act as Infantrymen. Are we defining the grenadiers differently?
I'm pretty sure there are several looks to the grenadier. In the database, they mention pointy hats. In that one mission on the ships and you have to air assassinate one, it's the guy in the kilt (which i thought was just a brute). I dunno.
-----
The other combos that are missing from this post (for completion sake) are opening attacks 
on brutes. and 
, on scouts.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Also, what are the drummer / tattle-tales called? Granted, they're susceptible to everything, but I'm just interested.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
IGN's wiki has a lot of errors. Playing the game for yourself is proof enough of that. 
I didn't bother with the guys who run away since they don't actually fight you, they just run away.
Also, IGN mentions that grenadiers are a variant of the Brute enemy class, and here you say they act as Infantrymen. Are we defining the grenadiers differently?
IGN's wiki has a lot of errors. Playing the game for yourself is proof enough of that.
This may be the case. I just replayed Memory 7-3 (Conflict Looms) to look at Grenadier combat. This is the mission where "air assassinate a grenadier" is an optional objective. I air assassinated the guy in the kilt and confirmed that he was a grenadier by completing the optional objective. I then restarted the mission to test his responses to combat and found that he behaved just like a brute. This is likely where IGN got their data about what a grenadier is... as it's the only way to confirm the enemy class.
So either:
1 - the game is glitched and THINKS this enemy type is a grenadier for this mission only (and he should be classified as a brute).
2 - the game is wrong in the database when it says to look for pointed hats, and we should be looking for kilts to identify grenadiers.
I didn't bother with the guys who run away since they don't actually fight you, they just run away.
Figured it out. They're snitches. But you're right - it doesn't matter as they don't fight you.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
So either:
1 - the game is glitched and THINKS this enemy type is a grenadier for this mission only (and he should be classified as a brute).
2 - the game is wrong in the database when it says to look for pointed hats, and we should be looking for kilts to identify grenadiers.
I'm sure that the person designing the mission wasn't the one designing the enemies. Changes are they got their wires crossed, as it's a high-pressure environment with lots of unreasonable deadlines. Stuff like that happens all the time in games.
To me, grenadiers are the guys who throw grenades. I've seen the brute types do it, but only when standing alongside the smaller infantrymen with backpacks. Three brutes together will not gather and toss grenades, whereas three backpacked infantrymen will; or two infantrymen and one brute. So without the infantrymen with backpacks, no grenades are thrown. They are the grenadiers, as far as I'm concerned. Just because the brutes carry grenades too doesn't make them grenadiers, since they rarely use grenades and already have an entirely different set of fighting mechanics.
If you want to get technical, all brutes are grenadiers, but not all grenadiers are brutes. There's no way I'm going to try to explain that in the original post.
I was in a fight today with about 6 BRUTES and ONLY brutes ... bigger guys with axes in combat. They threw grenades at me. 
Oh well... here's the thing, regardless of who is right or wrong.
EITHER grenadiers act as infantrymen... OR grenadiers act as brutes... OR both!...
so... Is there really a grenadier enemy class when there is no independent combat for them? or is grenadier just an extra title to be applied to any enemy class?
Regardless of what the database says, as far as combat is concerned, grenadiers aren't really a class, in my experience.
note: i'm not trying to attack anyone... i'm just trying to clear up any ambiguities with my own experiences.
also - another thing I noticed this morning with the "scouts." I WAS able to counter-throw them at will, which is opposite of your OP. Also, scouts are the only ones that can block a counter-disarm... unless you are bare-handed. Without a weapon you CAN disarm a scout. (as per my experiences this morning). I don't know if other enemy classes can block a bare-handed counter-disarm or not... i didn't try.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
I was in a fight today with about 6 BRUTES and ONLY brutes ... bigger guys with axes in combat. They threw grenades at me.
Wow, I've never had that happen. And I've stood around with brutes a lot, working out combat quirks while making videos.
Mind you, I've never even seen six at a time. Ever. The most was three, possibly four. Interesting.
Regardless of what the database says, as far as combat is concerned, grenadiers aren't really a class, in my experience.
Well, if the brutes will throw grenades without infantrymen, then you're right. At this point though, I'm not going to bother updating the original post anymore. It was never originally intended to be a guide.
also - another thing I noticed this morning with the "scouts." I WAS able to counter-throw them at will, which is opposite of your OP. Also, scouts are the only ones that can block a counter-disarm... unless you are bare-handed. Without a weapon you CAN disarm a scout. (as per my experiences this morning). I don't know if other enemy classes can block a bare-handed counter-disarm or not... i didn't try.
As for the counter-throw, they must come in ranks as well. I definitely was thwarted when attempting it myself.
In terms of the unarmed counter-disarm, I believe this works for every enemy and every rank. It definitely works on every enemy type presented while running around in New York post-story with full notoriety. I don't like to do it because it's so overpowered and eliminates what little challenge there was.
So it appears that as far as trying to make it simple... it's not... especially if each enemy class has ranks.
I'll try to figure out where I was with all those brutes. It was post-game and a group of only brutes. Might have been near the docks in NY, but I'll try to find it again to double check the grenade thing... hmm...
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Thanks to Asaic's info in this thread, I put together a combat cheatsheet in case you don't want to wade through the info yourself.
I got most of the info from his OP and double checked it all myself. (click to enlarge).
Ideally I was going to try to get screenshots of the different enemy types (colonial and redcoat) to put as watermarks behind the class names... but I decided I didn't have the capabilities and didn't want to go through the effort of finding images online... that and so many enemy models fall into these 5 basic combat classes, that it would have taken a lot of images and effort to do right.
Enjoy!
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
^ That's some pretty nice organized info, Mcstab. You must teach us how to create things like that.
Great chart!
Jagers can punish you for counter-tool. Not sure if it's tied to a specific tool, but I've had it happen many times. I want to say that brutes can too, but I can't specifically remember them doing it...
I'm starting to think there are variables we haven't considered yet.
alright... i'll look into counter tools... i just assumed that tools and counter tools were all powerful and didn't actually check them, but i will now 
it will be easily updatable if any info is wrong... hopefully tools behave the same as eachother though
as for creating that... photoshop 
lots and lots of layers in photoshop will make it easy to switch one check to an x, and vice versa (156 layers in 27 or so different groups... not the most efficient use of layers or my time... but having each image on a different layer will certainly make it easy to fix mistakes or oversights... like counter-tools)
if people want to test certain counter-tools on enemy types, let me know the results via pm/email/post... and i'll update it sunday, when i can confirm everything!
Asaic - this is why I had so many questions the last week or so... trying to compile accurate data is all! thanks for being a good sport!
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Played some tonight for confirmations.
Counter-tool works on all 5 enemy classes I listed (regular, captain, brute, scout, jager) for trip mine, gun, arrows, rope dart and poison. In addition, even combinations that take two shots normally (eg, killing a brute takes two arrows) are one shot kills with counter-tools.
Also confirmed brutes (on their own) throw grenades. There are a couple spots in Boston I tried this in: one in north boston and one near the harbor. There are groups of brutes with no other soldiers (4 in north, 4+2 by harbor). After engaging and running around for a while, they threw grenades. They all had black pointed hats.
Another thing I wanted to confirm tonight was the one shot - multiple kills (without using a duckfoot pistol). I had seen this by accident with hunting with the bow. I shot once and killed two deer. I also did it once through my gameplay with soldiers in New York, and another time in the Frontier. I wanted to make sure these weren't accidents. I fast traveled to the frontier and found a patrolling group of 9 guards in two lines... lined up about 5m behind them, used the lock to aim lining up one of the lines directly in front of me, held the button to shoot my arrow, and BAM! 
THREE guards killed with one arrow.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Now the real question is, is it the furthest guy's corpse that lets you loot the arrow back?
I don't know what to say about the counter-tool thing. It happened to me for sure, and on more than one occasion. I even have it on video. Mind you, you can't tell what buttons are being pressed so that doesn't really prove anything. 
Now the real question is, is it the furthest guy's corpse that lets you loot the arrow back?
Yes.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
It also happened to me, a guard countering counter tool. Whenever it happened it was a high level guard.
not sure if anyone knew this since i had seen no mention of it, but you can counter-tool with the snares which at 10 has a reasonable amount of ammo and no reload time and if you are like me, you only used them to hunt in the one hunting tutorial, so you can use them as your counter tool for the same reasons i said above and because you get 15 of them when you upgrade the pouch, and i have yet to see an enemy that can counter them, the only downside being they can only be used to couter-tool
the only downside being they can only be used to couter-tool
Any weapon on the right of the weapon menu is only used as a counter-tool (except things like Throw Money), so that's not a downside.
not sure if anyone knew this since i had seen no mention of it, but you can counter-tool with the snares which at 10 has a reasonable amount of ammo and no reload time and if you are like me, you only used them to hunt in the one hunting tutorial, so you can use them as your counter tool for the same reasons i said above and because you get 15 of them when you upgrade the pouch, and i have yet to see an enemy that can counter them, the only downside being they can only be used to couter-tool
I mentioned that here a few weeks ago. But getting the info out there via multiple sources is not a bad thing. I love the counter-snare.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
I've bought a new gamepad, a Razer Sabertooth. The old XBox controller for PC wasn't even working any more. Now this one has two programmable rocker switches at the back, so I can use all four face buttons while turning the camera continuously around the battle. I'll be able to use all three combat face buttons in AC1, won't need to stop the camera movement for grab and throw, haven't tried it yet.
So anyway, now, that I have a proper gamepad, I started to learn the combat. Thank you Asaic, and thank you McStab for the chart. That's exactly what I was looking for.
Let me add something to it, I don't know if it's been researched in another topic already:
Let me call it chain disarm. You can continue your kill chain with a , followed by an . Normally, following a break defense or a counter-disarm, you need a combo chain to kill a guy. But this one is a one-move kill.
I expected the archetype-immunity to be identical to either the break defense column, or the counter-disarm column. But, unless I'm mistaken, it is as follows:
Chain attack:
Captain: immune
Jäger: immune
Brute: immune
Scout: works
Chain disarm:
Captain: works
Jäger: immune
Brute: works
Scout: immune
So it's the same as counter-kill and counter-disarm, except that you can't chain-kill a Jäger, not even with a chain disarm.