Eagle Strike on Francesco de' Pazzi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLqq3pQDQ94
-front paged by Ian-
Why bother chasing after Francesco when you can eagle strike him? 
But for some reason he can't be air assassinated, even though Ezio just learned that skill, so I'll have to settle with an air tackle immediately followed by a prone assassination.
EDIT: An improved method.
Here is an improved way of successfully performing the Francesco de Pazzi eagle strike.
Setup
At the assassination climb up the tower and crouch on the northeast corner. Check to see that there are no other characters near Francesco that can mess this up. The spot you want to aim at is where the wall is two separate shades of color on both sides. Aim from Ezio's left shoulder, just a little to the right of the tip.
If done right you will grasp the side of the free run platform. Don't forget Francesco can't be air assassinated, so an air tackle will have to suffice.
The thing is, aiming the jump is no where as easy as it looks. I've had one time where I was able to grasp the structure a few times in a row, but most of the time I fail, either by missing it or bumping into/falling on it. There probably is a better way of aiming the jump, but I've spent enough time on this as it is. For now the chances of getting it right on one try is probably about 10%-50%.
This topic has been updated with an improved way to jump for the eagle strike (read the description for more details).
FYI this video was edited completely on Youtube using the Youtube video editor. For those of you who don't know you can use that to trim videos, add effects, titles, transitions, even slow clips down.
Cool never knew about that horse, is it only there in that mission?
I'm not sure. The only time I went under the map to that place was during that mission. I'm wondering if you can ride the horse if you can get to it.
It appears that the horse is just under the ground. That's why you can't see it from above. I've seen other instances where they pre-stage characters off camera until it's time for their cutscene.
It appears that the horse is just under the ground. That's why you can't see it from above. I've seen other instances where they pre-stage characters off camera until it's time for their cutscene.
Yes, the horse is under the ground. So in what other instances were there pre-staged characters?
So in what other instances were there pre-staged characters?
Well, one example that's visible on THB occurs at 0:21 of this video. As Ezio shoulder rolls note that Carlo and Dante spawn in front of him, next to the execution stage. Then the cutscene starts and the two walk in from a different direction.
Yeah, they appear right before the scene. There are scenes in both games where characters enter areas through doorways in certain scenes, so they might be off camera. It would be worth it to reach them somehow.
grt job! i recall not being able to air assassinate him, too. like in ulberto, the air tackle is a nice workaround for the lack of air assassinate ability.
Yeah, I hate the fact that Ezio can't do assassination techniques on him even though he just learned them. This is probably because the target is close to a haystack and roof, but it's still messed up.
Great job, Aurllcooljay! This is great! I've tried numerous times to get an eagle strike on Francesco, but I couldn't seem to, as Ezio kept doing a leap of faith. After about 5 tries I gave up lol
When you jump diagonally from that spot the haystack is out of your reach so that you won't do a leap of faith. But there were a few times when I've jumped a little farther and landed in the haystack without doing a leap of faith.