The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

A Carriage Strike from the highest tower in the game as suggested by DAZ. James Brudenell was the natural choice of target since he's in the adjacent Parliament building. However, it's difficult to get Brudenell into position for a Carriage Strike because he doesn't stand still.

Kill the Policemen in the garden

The main reason I do this is because policemen will kill Brudenell if they witness him in Open Conflict. Another reason is to clear a path to kidnap Brudenell and walk him over to Big Ben. I also clear one of the front gates in order to remove a carriage later. You don't have to kill all the policemen. Just the ones that may interfere.

Aggravate the Earl

The goal here is to make Brudenell run but then lose track of him. If you lose him inside the building, there's a game mechanic that moves him into the front hallway surrounded by four new Templars. From there he's more manageable to kidnap. You just have to locate him again.

Note that I use an undocumented Entry Point. Each of the three eastern courtyards has one door with a lock that may be picked. From there it's a short distance to Brudenell's office. If you use Eagle Vision and time it right, you can pick the lock and enter the hallway with stealth.

Instead, I intentionally enter Open Conflict in the first hallway. Sometimes this causes Brudenell to immediately flee, even though you haven't approached his door yet. It has happened to me many times but not while recording this video. I haven't characterized exactly what conditions cause him to flee early. So I had to go manually open his door. His bodyguards drop a smoke bomb and I go out the same way I came in.

Move his Getaway Carriage

There are three carriages parked near the front gates. If Brudenell is allowed to flee the building, he jumps in one of these carriages and speeds away. Losing track of him outside causes Desynchronization. I borrow one of his getaway vehicles and park it in front of Big Ben to set up the Carriage Strike.

Kidnap Brudenell

When you step in the front door, Brudenell will either be in a fleeing mood or a fighting mood. Again, I haven't figured out what factors affect his mood. Maybe it's just random.

Either way you can kidnap him, but he will retain his mood once released. I prefer the fighting mood because it means he will stick around while I'm scaling Big Ben. Fleeing mode can be funny because he runs directly toward Jacob for an easy assassination at the front door.

Carriage Strike from gargoyle

Release Brudenell inside the small garden at the western base of Big Ben. Immediately Rope Launch up to the clock face. In this video he successfully shot me. I think that actually worked to my advantage because it kept him engaged a little longer. Once Jacob is out of range, Brudenell gives up and starts walking off. You don't have much time to pull off the Carriage Strike.

I don't climb all the way to the tippy top of Big Ben because there's nowhere to Rope Launch to from up there (at least not over a Carriage). Rather, I climb onto one of the upper gargoyles above the clock face. It can be challenging to climb onto the gargoyle and then to activate a Rope Launch point, especially while hurrying.

Even from this height, the Carriage does "suck you in" on the fall. I've sometimes landed on other passing carriages but I've never fallen to my death.

Earl Clones

Besides fleeing and fighting, Brudenell has one other mode: Zombie! This can happen when he walks off and puts a great distance on Jacob. What really happens is that the Earl has already respawned inside Parliament. This Earl has become a clone, much like Templar Cloning in AC1.

Clones can be kidnapped or shot but they cannot be stealth assassinated with the Hidden Blade. Carriage Strikes look impressive except the target does not go down. He just keeps on walking. Clones no longer have the energy to fight or flee.

The video closes with a scene where I kidnap a clone and walk him back to meet the respawned Earl.