Venice
Assassinating Carlo Grimaldi, Total Elimination
Wed, 10/04/2023 - 09:59 — Broox Maximus
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
[ACII] Flow and Kill | Assassinating Carlo Grimaldi
The goal of this video is to eliminate every guard inside the palazzo while remaining undetected. My playstyle for this mission doesn't focus on completing it as fast as possible. I take out everyone in a different way while prioritising variety, roleplaying, style and the showcase of advanced mechanics and lesser known features.
The video also includes a few seconds of real life footage of Venice which was recorded by myself a few months ago, showcasing "real" history merging with animus sequences.
After Ezio lands on the rooftop I start by taking out the archer furthest away at the opposite end of the palazzo by using two unlocked throwing knives. Instead of relying on the lock on feature which is unavailable at that distance I use the 1st person camera to aim. AC2 doesn't have a cross hair but whatever is in the middle of the screen during the 1st person perspective will get hit. This is a useful trick to prevent auto-detection when using throwing knives and drastically increases the range but requires precise aiming. I move on and kill the next guard by starting a wallrun and immediately cancelling it with an air assassination which is a cool way to quickly expand the range of assassinations (especially useful for archers who have better hearing and detect you more easily). Another option to move faster without making any noise is to use manual jumps. I do this to approach the third archer from behind and eliminate him with a dagger.
After the cutscenes I use a back eject to quickly descend and catch a railing below to perform a low profile ledge assassination. Then I jump down into the courtyard and immediately low profile assassinate the guard who starts investigating the corpse that just dropped to the ground. After eliminating the next guard with a sword I hide behind a pillar and wait for the two patrolling guards to get close enough to a third guard in the left corner. Once they are in reach I stun all of them with a smoke bomb. This allows me to grab someone without being detected so I quickly kill both with a sword, followed by a high profile assassination on the last one. I decide to pickpocket a corpse to steal money that I use as a distraction for the next guard. Looting the body is not necessary but a nice roleplaying moment. The guard is lured behind a corner by coins without knowing that only a few moments ago these coins belonged to his colleague. The distraction effects of throwing money actually have a pretty far reach and are useful to keep in mind for manipulating guard positions. After that I assassinate the last two guards with poison and a high profile assassination after a quick drop from a beam. I like the thought that the guard closest to the Doge who's supposed to protect his life has been poisoned just like the Doge himself, but by a different kind of assassin. It's ironic. The doge only realises too late, maybe he should've listened when he had the chance.
For the assassination of Carlo I chose to showcase a very rare glitch, something that I've only seen in 3 other situations during 750 hours of playtime: triggering a hidden blade combat finisher outside of combat. In this case it seems to be connected to a railing blocking the direct path between Ezio and his target. However, he is still in assassination range so pressing armed hand consistently triggers combat finishers instead of regular assassination animations. Not necessarily useful but still a very stylish trick, probably one of my favourites. To be able to grab Carlo you first need to make sure he's not at full health anymore, a throwing knife tends to work best here.
Suicidal Assassinations
Sat, 11/05/2016 - 21:30 — aurllcooljay
https://youtu.be/OD1eihs0akI
[Front-paged. -JoeyFogey]
One character AI flaw in the early AC games is that enemies can't do anything if they are crouching on a railing/beam/other climbable object while you are hanging below. This was changed later in the series by giving them the ability to stomp down on you in that situation, but in the meanwhile enemies jumped to their deaths as a result. Here are some examples in AC2.
Carnevale Fun and Games: Marco Barbarigo
Wed, 09/04/2013 - 21:00 — stabguy
Highlights from Sequence 9 of Assassin's Creed II, set in Dorsoduro during Carnevale. THB regulars may want to skip And They're Off and CTF as these are merely FAQs for beginners who have difficulty completing these missions. There's a "Click here to skip FAQs" button for your convenience.
Nun the Wiser
Five well-placed gun shots are enough to essentially clear the square for Carnevale. The host must be embarrassed to address an audience of four people.
Rodrigo Borgia's Early Death in Sequence 11
Thu, 09/27/2012 - 15:16 — aurllcooljayhttp://youtu.be/t-4r5NUuLAc
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Setup
When you fight Rodrigo in sequence 11 there are barriers to prevent you from leaving the area. You can get past them by dropping down on a certain roof, allowing you to move past the barrier. However this causes you to be past a memory wall, draining your health and preventing you from getting too far away (better stock up on medicine and armor). Now for killing Rodrigo by drowning him. There are invisible barriers that prevent npcs from falling into the water. Here's how to get the target past these barriers: Go to the roof shown on the video and wait for Rodrigo to arrive. Then get him to go on a rope connecting two buildings and get to ground level. When the target gets to ground level he will be on the other side of the barrier. Climb back up and go to the higher roof. There are two paths Rodrigo will take to get to you. One leads him the way he came on the rope connecting the buildings. This won't work because it leads him back to your side of the barrier. The other path, however, will work because he stays on the other side. After drowning him the cutscene starts. But there's something different. Rodrigo isn't in the scene! For the next scene to start simply kill the guards who appear. After that scene more guards appear, along with some allies. The next scene can't start because Rodrigo needs to have his health taken down, and he's already dead. If you wait till then to drown Rodrigo the scene will start, with him missing of course, and you can progress through the game.
Messing Around Earlier in the Memory
After being disguised as a guard you can roam around freely. When you get within a certain distance of the lead guard he starts walking, and there's a distance restriction. Here's how to get around that. Throw at least one knife at him to move him away. Now you don't have to worry about getting so close that he starts walking. You can now go to Rodrigo without activating the scene. Rodrigo is invincible, and if you try using grab move he walks back to his spot. Plus there's a distance restriction to the box you're carrying, so an early death at this particular part of the memory doesn't look possible. But one thing you can do is remove the two guards from the scene. The game desynchronizes you if you kill any characters at this part of the memory, so you have to kill them in a way that the game doesn't recognize as you killing them. In this case push them into water.
Carlo Grimaldi's Slightly Early Death
Mon, 08/27/2012 - 23:31 — aurllcooljayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Gl1We46gs
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Setup
Starting from the checkpoint when you reach the Palazzo Ducale, head left to quickly reach the scene location without being seen. Hang above the scene starter while getting a guard's attention. Make sure he walks onto the ledge leading into the room. Drop down to the corner of the awning (far enough away from the center that you don't start the scene but not so much that you stumble off the awning) in the way shown in the video. Immediately throw a smoke bomb to avoid detection. Now throw a knife at the guard to move him into the room. If he isn't positioned correctly, the guard won't fall into the room, and you will have to start over. After that climb up the wall and air assassinate the guard. You will jump over the scene starter without activating the scene. Now that you're in the room you can assassinate Carlo before the scene. One of the only ways to kill him at this point is with a melee weapon. There's also another glitch: Carry his body when you activate the scene (gotta love how the Doge turns his head to look at me carrying the body) 
. Carlo won't appear in the scene. However he "comes back to life" and runs away as usual. The reanimation happens whether you carry Carlo or not. Since Carlo is already dead and immune to any kind of attacks there is no way to progress through the game without quitting.
A Few Other Things
Just a couple more stuff worth mentioning when trying to pre kill Carlo. Air assassinations fail; grabbing and attacks with fists as well as most weapons don't affect him; you can steal from him, but it doesn't really do anything; he can be air tackled, but teleports back into the chair; the hidden blade can't be used to kill him unless you tackled him to the ground. And it also shows how Carlo is still in the scene if you're not carrying him when you start the scene.
There is no Palazzo della Seta
Wed, 07/18/2012 - 14:19 — aurllcooljayhttp://youtu.be/MUKxGZyNnWc
[Front-paged. -stabguy]
Time for Emilio's house of cards to literally start crumbling!
Setup
Watch the original video to see how to remove the front door of the palazzo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPCx2sIYRg
After that, go to the herald to the west of the place. Move him by getting in a fight with a civilian. After you get him through the front door, the herald won't walk back to his original location.
There is no Spoon Assassination
This has to be done a certain way because of how different surfaces are modeled. The stairs in the palazzo disappear sooner than the flat surfaces (the floor at ground level doesn't disappear at all), plus Emilio disappears when you are about a hundred meters away. So the ideal time to TINS Emilio is when he is at the highest stairs (in other words, he dies from falling the height). Here is where the herald you previously moved comes in handy. Bribe him at the right time to teleport to his location. Since it's a little over ninety meters away, the stairs disappear instantly, and Emilio is TINSed. Keep in mind that if it weren't for the herald you wouldn't be able to get past the invisible memory walls surrounding the palazzo.
Failed Attempts
I originally thought this wouldn't be possible because of failed attempts. I moved the herald outside the palazzo, but then the scene wouldn't start! 
After finding a way to remove the front door, I tried moving the herald inside the palazzo, and now it works. 
Emilio Leaves the Front Door Open
Wed, 07/11/2012 - 16:50 — aurllcooljayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZvPCx2sIYRg
[Front-paged by stabguy]
Look at the title picture and guess what will happen.
Setup
When you start from the last checkpoint in the Emilio mission desynchronize a good distance away from where the map marker is (in the video it's nearly 160 meters away). When you spawn back there aren't any posted guards around the palazzo, and the front door is open. This is related to There is no Spoon type missions, with an object no longer being modeled in the game. Now you can just waltz in there instead of having to infiltrate from the roof.
Emilio Outside the Palazzo
After the cutscene stealthily kill all the guards in there (I also hide their dead bodies). Wait for the boat to arrive before going after Emilio. With the door missing you can drag him outside. Wait, doesn't that contradict what was later said about how Emilio died?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PhFRmuNjx-o#t=45s
Anyway, Emilio's AI is to escape on the boat, but there's a problem. The AI of characters still thinks the door is there, so he is turkey shooted. Now for a stylish assassination. Place Emilio by the well outside and jump from the highest point in the palazzo, one of the chimneys. This is A Hole in One, one of the most recent assassination styles (a deadly fall landing safely into a well). Afterwards there is the scene with the thieves, and of course Rosa opens the front door, despite it not being there.
Eagle Strike from San Marco Campanile
Thu, 04/05/2012 - 10:11 — Altair92
[Front-paged. stabguy]
The Eagle Strike at San Marco Campanile was missed, so i found a way to remedy it 
The Assassination Contract i used there is "Zero Tolerance", it seems the only one where you're free to move around the target, and it's the closest to San Marco (still 250+ meters).
There isn't much to explain there, i just grabbed the target without being detected, and moved him near the San Marco Campanile, at the west side. A smoke bomb to freeze him was not needed, the target was already unresponsive because of the waypoint separation.
This Eagle Strike required a manual aim, otherwise Ezio would automatically jump in one of the 3 haystacks.
There is no Dante and Silvio (preassassinations)
Mon, 08/29/2011 - 16:20 — aurllcooljayhttp://youtu.be/ctlVm6C3m9c
[Front-paged by stabguy]
Both Dante and Silvio appear in Cheaters Never Prosper memory. This is where you fight to win the golden mask. Preassassinating either of them has a different result. The first step in all this is to avoid teleporting into the fight ring by jumping into the water after accepting the challenge. This was originally discovered by Vanitas (LadiciusFMU on YouTube). Now for the preassassination part.
Dante Moro: Grab the guard you're fighting and move him at Dante to move him around. This is basically the exploit of moving characters who normally couldn't be moved in the game. When you move him near the edge of the nearby dock be careful that the guard doesn't fall in the water which would instantly fail the mission. After Dante has fallen in the water continue to fight the guards. When the cutscene happens Dante isn't there. This causes a glitch where the scene doesn't end and the mission has to be restarted to continue.
Silvio Barbarigo: Do basically the same thing with moving him to the water. I also did that to the guy heralding the fights. This time the scene ends and you are able to progress through the game. But even more hilarity occurs without those characters in the game. In the next scene the camera stays on Ezio (it seems the camera is focused on the herald during that scene). And in the final scene Ezio is on stage alone and Dante is handed an invisible mask.
Improved Superfast Blitz on Silvio Barbarico and Dante Moro
Sun, 12/05/2010 - 05:04 — aurllcooljayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVTAFUSHZ4
[From the forums -stabguy]
Here is my fastest blitz for Silvio and Dante:
Setup Dante: I run up to Dante and engage him in combat. Then I climb into La Arsenale, making sure Dante is still after me. I run far into La Arsenale so that the door and walls at the entrance will not be modeled in the game. This gives Dante a chance to get though. Go back, and if Dante is there grab him. Do not engage him in combat or he will fight you.
I place Dante at the edge of the docks and knock him off with a throwing knife. His drowning will start the scene, and if you are currently in water you won't get teleported to the checkpoint during the scene. The best time to climb up the docks is during the second scene. Where you move depends which way the camera is facing, so the best time to start moving is right after Silvio says "they're going to leave without us" 
. Move forward left until the screen turns white to grab onto the docks, then move forward to up climb the docks. Now comes the blitz. The two targets are far apart when they start running, but they get close enough for a double air assassination when they get in place. A few times I've gotten it a bit faster, but only gotten Sylvio since he's so close to the wall-running platform. Theoretically it might be possible to get a faster blitz, though. 
