The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

Hello guys, after many months without making AC videos i finally made a new one... i hope you'll enjoy it

In this video i show an Eagle Strike and a Stunt Assassination on the Borgia Captain. He will have two guards guarding the entryway to where he is located. Get on a roof from the opposite side and take them out using some throwing knives. Then climb the Borgia Tower and get on the wooden platform (0:42). Once the two guards are dead, the target will go out few times to inspect the area.

[UPDATE 4/26/2011: Added links through the end of the game. -stabguy]
Sequence 1 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 2 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 3 - part 1, part 2, part 3
Sequence 4 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 5 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 6 - single part
Present 2 - single part
Sequence 7 - part 1, part 2, part 3
Sequence 8 - part 1, part 2, part 3
Sequence 9 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 10 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 11 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 12 - part 1, part 2
Sequence 13 - part 1, part 2, part 3
Sequence 14 - part 1, part 2, part 3

I thought to do this run in November 2010. The first segment was finished on 2011-02-27 and the last one on 2011-03-26.

I wish to thank firstly my girlfriend for her support during the attempts. I also wish to thank SDA team, especially for the technical problems I had. I thank people on the forum too, for giving me many tips. I also took some tips on several websites: TheHiddenBlade, The Assassin's Creed Wiki, and other things like walkthroughs on YouTube.

The game settings were all at the minimum, including the resolution.

The only rules I fixed were no save warping and no death abuse. Originally the run was planned to be a single-segment run but I finally did it in 18 segments because a single-segment would have been too difficult and too long. As a general comment, I would say that I tried to run as fast as possible but I had sometimes to slow down in order to dodge people in the streets, for instance. Also, I know that in a few moments I could have done quicker but I prefer to be sure, rather than use a random method. For the time, I think that we can trust the in-game timer even though it does not count the time spent outside the Animus. Each segment adds about 5 seconds to the time.

This is my favorite Lair because it has a little of everything: a fight, a chase, an underground jubilee(?), and horses that actually gallop!

At 1:45 I break my own rule and use a Throwing Knife. If instead you approach the man seated in the chair, Ezio reaches for his shoulder causing him to jump up swinging a knife and tossing the chair aside. He then joins five others in the subsequent fight against Ezio. I wanted to demonstrate that using a ranged weapon skips this cutscene and that the seated man remains dead during the fight. That was an epic battle right there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-vYBX8cngs
[Front-paged by stabguy]

This video demonstrates a superfast blitz on Maria in memory block six Jerusalem. When you get within the area for the scene you are unable to do any high profile actions. Jump from the fence to the railing which leads you to where you can get in the huddle of the scene. Just go along the railing until you cannot move further because of an invisible wall. To get past the barrier drop down and hang from the side of the railing. Then move further, climb up and drop off the railing past the invisible barrier. You are now in the scene. For the blitz just stand behind Maria and start tapping the button while the scene ends (remember to equip the hidden blade before starting the scene).

Blitzes: For the first blitz the camera view changes in .07 seconds, but Altair is just standing there. The kill animation starts in .14 seconds. For the second blitz the camera view also changes in .07 seconds, but I'm not sure if that's when the kill animation starts (also Altair's health bar appears a frame before the white flash). So I'm not really sure what the correct times are.

This video is rather short because all three flags come early in the Lair - before entering the basilica. You get 100% Sync for not losing more than one health square. There's nobody to fight, so as long as you don't suffer a fall of more than 8 meters (or 12 meters with the Break-Fall move) you're golden.

The sequence I want to talk about begins at 2:38. There are two uneven bars to your left from which Ezio can swing. Players who are worried about losing health may use them to gently reach the ballroom floor. I bypassed them and jumped down from the balcony rail. As long as you use Break-Fall (hold while landing) you won't sustain any damage.

From here there are several ways to reach flag #94. The path I chose was direct but has this spot where Ezio gets stuck at 2:51. You can either wiggle out of it (run upstairs then across the top stair) or jump forward as shown in the video.

There are three Borgia Flags inside each Lair. If you are looking for a specific Flag refer to this index:
Flag 93 - 1:48
Flag 94 - 2:51
Flag 95 - 3:48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI-eowZVzGM
[Front-paged - stabguy]

This is a continuation of a video where I prevent a scene from happening in Calling All Stand-ins memory. In this video I preassassinate Cesare and Micheletto.

Cesare: His AI is programmed to back away from you (because of the mercenaries fighting and you probably have to get in open conflict). Use this to lead him to where there is water. When you get there you can't make him back into the water so you have to grab someone and move that person at Cesare to push him into the water. You can probably also use a horse to push Cesare.

It's no joke that The Hidden Blade's featured member for April is al-Assas. In the interview below he shares his thoughts about Assassin's Creed. Personally, I can't wait to find out which of the games in the series is his favorite. *grabs popcorn*

Tell me about the first time you played AC.

My first impression was surreal. I remember it like I remember a dream or a childhood memory. I don't remember how I got to Damascus, I just remember standing at the entrance of the river street, completely lost, the intimidating height of the first minaret was towering above me, and I didn't understand the purpose of the strangely exaggerated third dimension. I didn't understand the game. I walked to the main street and back, trying to find back to the source of the guards' voice, but the whole scenario felt pale. I felt small, closed in between high walls, which separated me from the voices I heard. And then of course I discovered what it means to conquer the third dimension. I climbed up the minaret, and then I understood that it's about a third dimension of freedom, it's about seeing the big picture, and the height wasn't intimidating any more. I'm afraid of heights, and I have a very poor sense of direction. This game tickles my brain just right at some oversensitive parts.

This is another Lair where you get 100% Sync for completing it in under 8 minutes. The key observation for doing a speed run is that the shortest path is illuminated by torches. Whenever you come to a fork in the road, remember to "follow the light".

Once again it's possible to collect all three Borgia flags and get full sync on the same run. When I collected flag #92 there was over three and a half minutes remaining on the clock. That's plenty of time to climb the cross, fight the followers of Romulus, and enter the shrine. When it comes to the fight scene, I recommend (quickly) fighting everyone. You can ignore them and make a mad dash for the shrine but you risk getting hit and falling back down to the floor. Better to play it safe and kill them all.

The first major shortcut I took in this video is at 2:24. I manually lined up the jump and proceeded directly to the exit. If you do it right, Ezio actually rolls out the door. If you're off the mark, try doing a Catch Ledge. There's a safer and obvious free running route but it's kind of slow. My other shortcut starts at 4:02. Most players climb the barrels on the right and parkour across all the platforms in this L-shaped room. None of that is necessary.

There are three Borgia Flags inside each Lair. If you are looking for a specific Flag refer to this index:
Flag 90 - 2:19
Flag 91 - 4:22
Flag 92 - 5:51

Finding this Lair of Romulus for the first time can be a challenge. The icon on your map leads to a tent in a campground. The entrance is actually underground, directly below this tent. This video shows two ways to reach the entrance. The first is based on a procedure outlined by morninglord. At 0:25 I do a regular left jump. If you have the climbing gloves then you can also do a Climb Leap + Catch Ledge Left here.

We believe the game designers intended you to reach the entrance by repairing the aqueducts in two places. This brings water to Cloaca Maxima and allows Ezio to swim right up to the Lair of Romulus. The video shows where to make the two repairs. You may need to topple nearby Borgia towers in order to repair the aqueducts. I haven't determined the earliest time in the game when this approach becomes available.

Once inside Terme di Diocleziano there's plenty of chasing and fighting. The final fight is not shown but here's a tip: there are collapsible structures to Ezio's left and right. Draw the wolf men in by climbing on top of one. Then drop down and Grab/Throw one guy into the scaffold. You can take out a whole wave in one collapse. Repeat on the other side.

At the end of the video is a bonus segment suggested by Asaic.

There are three Borgia Flags inside each Lair. If you are looking for a specific Flag refer to this index:
Flag 87 - 3:49
Flag 88 - 6:01
Flag 89 - 7:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PErzbX05dQE
[From the forums - stabguy]

The horse exploit is a broken timeline exploit in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. You may have noticed some things in the game like how it keeps track of how much ammo your ranged weapons have, and also when you replay memories you seem to have a different weapon equipped. It's because the game keeps track of these things when it auto saves.

The horse exploit allows you to start the checkpoint of the mission on a horse. To do this get on a horse when you have to assassinate the Baron and have it auto save (it auto saves when you fail the five minute full synchronization). Then get detected to restart from the last checkpoint and you will appear on a horse! I show a blitz using the horse. This isn't the fastest possible assassination, just an example. It might be possible to do a super fast blitz by using a ranged weapon on the horse since you are able to aim above the stairs while riding it. However I haven't been able to kill the Baron like that, especially since it's hard to aim manually while on the horse. If it is possible the Baron can be killed in just a few seconds.

I also show something funny afterward. The hostage can have a heavy or long weapon in her during the scene after the assassination. First distract the Baron with a smoke bomb or money, then equip the weapon, hold down the button, call assassin recruits or arrow storm, then let go of the button right before the Baron dies. You'll likely hear the sound of the weapon hitting someone when this works. Make sure the hostage is between you two or you might accidentally throw the weapon at the Baron. Now enjoy the hilarity with a whole scene of an impaled character. Afterward the weapon falls to the ground when she disappears.