The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

This is a little guide for the Guild Challenges you can do in this game. If you finish 10 of them, you get the "Show Off" Achievement/Trophy. There's a list of every challenge, and if you want to know how to do it, just click on the green link to go to it. Thanks to Asaic for the format style.

Assassin Guild

• Apprentices signaled during a fight - 25 Times
• Arrow Storms. - 15 Times
• Assassin Recruits signaled to kill a target. - 20 Times
• Assassin Recruits signaled within a core memory. - 5 Times
• Recruits raised to the rank of Assassino. - 5 Times

Courtesan Guild

• Courtesan groups sent to distract guards. - 10 Times
• Enemies evaded using the crowd and other hide spots. - 10 Times
• Enemies stationed at Guard Posts killed using the crossbow without being detected. - 20 Times
• Horses belonging to guards commandeered without killing the rider. - 10 Times
• Dead bodies hidden in wells or haystacks. - 5 Times
• Guards poisoned. - 15 Times
• Guards killed during a smoke bomb attack. - 20 Times
• Guards assassinated from behind. - 10 Times
• Guards assassinated from blend spots. - 5 Times

Mercenary Guild

• Mercenary groups sent to attack guards. - 10 Times
• Scaffolds destroyed by thrown guards. - 5 Times
• Brutes killed. - 25 Times
• Papal Guards killed. - 25 Times
• Guards killed while on horseback. - 25 Times
• Guards air assassinated while on horseback. - 10 Times
• Double Assassinations. - 10 Times
• Guards disarmed and killed with their own weapons. - 5 Times
• Kill 5 guards in 10 seconds. - 1 Time
• Streak of at least 5 kills. - 10 Times

Thieves Guild

• Thief groups sent to lure guards. - 10 Times
• Sprint uninterrupted for 300 meters. - 1 Time
• Jump from a horse to a beam. - 20 Times
• Leaps of faith. - 40 Times
• Perform a dive from a height of 25 meters. - 1 Time
• 250 f pick-pocketed. - 1 Time
• Glide a cumulative total of 500 meters with the parachute. - 1 Time
• Guards killed with a ranged weapon. - 25 Times
• Guards air assassinated from a beam. - 5 Times

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Assassin Guild

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Assassin Guild Challenges are unlocked once you recruit your first Apprentices. Upon reaching Rank 1 in the Assassin Guild, you will unlock Altair's Sword at Ezio's Hideout, as well as the Assassin Guild Crest.

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Apprentices signaled during a fight
Times Needed: 25
For all of the Assassin Guild Challenges, it's really good to have as many Assassins as you can get. As for signaling Apprentices during a fight, make sure Guards have detected you, and you're in Open Conflict. Then press the [Call Assassins/Context Sensitive] button. I'm pretty sure it's on the PS3, and [LB] on the Xbox 360. PC Version's not out yet, so I have no guesses as to what that would be. Anyway. Do that 25 times, and you should get the Challenge.

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Arrow Storms
Times Needed: 15
In order to gain access to Arrow Storm, you need to have rescued at least 6 Assassin Recruits/Apprentices. That, of course, means that you're going to need to burn down at least 6 Borgia Towers. Once you have 6 Apprentices that are not currently out on a contract, just highlight a group of guards, and hold down the [Call Assassins] button. This takes a while to recharge, but according to Assassin's Creed Wiki, there's something you can do to make it recharge faster. Calling down 15 Arrow Storms will get you the Challenge.

"A tactic to increase the speed of the Arrow Storm recharge meter is to send 6 Assassins out on missions with similar time limits, then use Arrow Storm right before they're due to come back. When all 6 return near-simultaneously, the meter will recharge fully."
~ Assassin's Creed Wiki

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Assassin Recruits signaled to kill a target.
Times Needed: 20
Signaling Apprentices to kill targets must be done when Ezio himself is Anonymous. Select a guard, or group of guards, and press the [Call Assassins] button.

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Assassin Recruits signaled within a core memory.
Times Needed: 5
Go to a "!" Memory, and call Assassin recruits within the Memory. If it doesn't have a time limit, or you don't have to worry too much about going anywhere quickly, you can call them one after the other, and then wait for the BAM meter to recharge. If you don't want to wait, just make sure you use Assassin Recruits within Core Memories until you get the Challenge.

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Recruits raised to the rank of Assassino.
Times Needed: 5
In order to level up your Assassins, you need to send them on Contracts. Go to any pigeon coop or the door of an Assassin Tower (a burnt down Borgia Tower) and interact with it. Whenever you add an Assassin to a contract, the percent chance of that contract being successful is displayed in a bar around the top of the screen. To be safe, always make sure the bar goes to 100%. Otherwise, there is still a chance your Assassins might die, and we don't want that. When your Assassins come back, they will have earned Experience Points, which can be distributed amongst them. Once an Apprentice reaches level 10, you will have to go to Ezio's Hideout on Tiber Island/Isla Tiberina and attend a Brotherhood ceremony. This will turn the Recruit into a full Assassin. Do that 5 times, and you'll get the challenge. Assassins also have a lot of health.

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Courtesan Guild

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Courtesan Guild challenges are unlocked once you renovate the Rosa In Fiore, which is the Courtesans' Headquarters. Upon reaching Rank 1 in the Courtesan Guild, you will unlock Maria's Dagger at Ezio's Hideout.

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Courtesan groups sent to distract guards.
Times Needed: 10
An easy way to do this is to renovate every Faction building you come across for the Courtesans. Then, just hire them, Lock onto a guard and press the button to send the Courtesans over. They don't need to finish the animation, they just need to start it, and it'll be counted as 1. Alternatively, you could just run around, and if you see a group of Courtesans, hire them.

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Enemies evaded using the crowd and other hide spots.
Times Needed: 10
Punch a Guard or something, and get him to start chasing you. Run away until your minimap turns Yellow, and then hide in/on a haystack, bench, roof garden or group of people. Hiding using the crowd is really easy, just get out of your Last Known Position (the solid yellow circle on the minimap) and enter a group of people. If Ezio glows for a second, and the game makes a wooshing sound, you did it right. Look on the ground to make sure there are white lines. Wait until you become Anonymous. Do that 10 times.

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Enemies stationed at Guard Posts killed using the crossbow without being detected.
Times Needed: 20
Those guards, who stand in line with their arms crossed are considered guard posts. Kill any of them with a crossbow, 20 times. You will see them around Borgia Towers a lot.

~ Jack-Reacher

The easiest way to do the Guard Post Courtesan Challenge if you have already destroyed the Borgia Towers is during the mission in Sequence 6 where you have to kill 20 French guards. However, instead of going to one of the designated areas, go Northwest to the French fortress. At the gate there is a guard post. Kill one of them with the crossbow. However, instead of waiting for them to come back, run back along the road to the intersection without looking at the guards, and they will all reset, inlcuding the one you killed.
~ Icefire

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Horses belonging to guards commandeered without killing the rider.
Times Needed: 10
You can't kill the guard on the horse, otherwise it won't count. So get beside the horse, and press the [Empty Hand] button. Ezio should toss the guard to the ground. Then, move towards the horse and press the [Empty Hand] button again to mount it. Run away. Repeat.

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Dead bodies hidden in wells or haystacks.
Times Needed: 5
This is kind of like the Street Cleaner Achievement/Trophy from Assassin's Creed II. Once you kill a Guard, walk up to his body, pick it up by tapping the [Empty Hand] button once, and carry him over to a haystack or well. If you get into battle with more Guards on the way, just kill them too. They'll just serve as more haystack/well fodder. Dump 5 dead guards in wells or haystacks in total.

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Guards poisoned.
Times Needed: 15
This isn't hard, it just takes a while. You start the game with Poison available to you. Just select it from the Weapon Wheel, and press the [Armed Hand] button while next to an unaware Guard to poison him. This is also less detectable than Assassinating using The Hidden Blade. To make this easier/faster, get the Poison Vial upgrade from the Tailor. It gives you a maximum of 15. To make it even easier, get the Poison Darts upgrade from Leonardo da Vinci. To fire Poison Darts, select Poison, then hold down the [Armed Hand] button until a solid line forms towards the enemy. Release the button to launch the dart. This is the stealthiest weapon in the whole game, in my opinion.

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Guards killed during a smoke bomb attack.
Times Needed: 20
To be able to buy Smoke Bombs, you need to buy the Smoke Bomb pouch from a Tailor. After that, fill up on Smoke Bombs at a Blacksmith. Attract a bunch of guards to start chasing you, and when you think you have a good amount, toss a Smoke Bomb in the middle of them. Switch to your Hidden Blades and try to kill as many as you can. You need to kill a total of 20 guards this way.

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Guards assassinated from behind.
Times Needed: 10
This is pretty easy. You'll probably get this over the course of the game. Just select Hidden Blade(s), get behind a guard, and press the [Armed Hand] button to Assassinate him. Do this with 10 times.

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Guards assassinated from blend spots.
Times Needed: 5
This is kind of a pain, but it's alright, because you only need to do it 5 times. Sometimes you'll see guards patrolling around a haystack or a bench. Equip Hidden Blades, get into the haystack; or sit on the bench, and wait. When one of them comes near you, press the [Armed Hand] button. Alternatively, you can look for guards on rooftops that have roof gardens near them. When the guard's back is turned, get into the roof garden, and wait for him to come by, then stab him. Another way would be to run away from guards during Open Conflict, and get in a rooftop hutch/garden/any other hiding spot. When the guard comes to investigate (if he comes to investigate) just stab him. Do that 5 times.

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Mercenary Guild

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Mercenary Guild challenges are unlocked when you renovate the Barracks. Once you reach Rank 1 in the Mercenary Guild, you unlock Bartolomeo's Axe at Ezio's Hideout.

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Mercenary groups sent to attack guards.
Times Needed: 10
An easy way to do this is to renovate every Faction building you come across for the Mercenaries. Then, just hire them, Lock onto a guard and press the button to send the Mercenaries over. They don't need to finish the animation, they just need to start it, and it'll be counted as 1. Alternatively, you could just run around, and if you see a group of Mercenaries, hire them.

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Scaffolds destroyed by thrown guards.
Times Needed: 5
Whenever you see a wooden scaffold, with guards around it, just Grab one of them and toss it into the Scaffolding to break it.

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Brutes killed.
Times Needed: 25
Whenever you see a Brute, or a group of Brutes, attack and kill them. An easy way to kill Brutes is to Counter them with the Hidden Blade, or to kill them using an Execution Streak from a previous enemy. Example: There's a brute and a regular Militia soldier. You do an execution (previously known as a Combo Kill) on the Militia, then you quickly aim towards the Brute and press the [Armed Hand] button. Insta-Killed. Finding 25 of these guys is the slow part.

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Papal Guards killed.
Times Needed: 25
There's only one very reliable place to find Papal Guards, and that's around Castel Sant'Angelo, in the Vatican District. There should be four of them, at the entrance to the district. These guys are pretty tough to kill, so use Assassin Recruits, or you can Kick, Attack, Kick, Attack to kill them very quickly. If you tap each only ONCE, and you alternate between Kick and Attack, Ezio will do an instant kill animation on the guard. No matter what weapon you have equipped, except for ranged weapons. Smoke Bombs are also a viable option.

"I find countering to be the easiest option. With the hidden blades, that is. Just run up to them and they'll attack you (given that they are standing in a restricted zone). They rarely pull the guns out early, so just wait for the first attack and hidden blade counter him, then kill the other three via kill streak. It's so easy it should be illegal.
By the way, if one of them does pull out a gun, just attack or kick him to cancel his shot. Another one will almost always attack you at this point, so go ahead and do the hidden blade counter and kill streak the rest."
~ Asaic

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Guards killed while on horseback.
Times Needed: 25
This title is somewhat misleading. It doesn't mean kill Guards while YOU are on horseback. It means, kill Guards when THEY are on Horses. Just use the Pistol or the Crossbow to quickly kill them. If you are riding a horse, you can Assassinate from Horse to Horse. I'm not sure if Assassinating from ground to horse counts at all. Just do that 25 times, and you should get it. I don't think guards that were previously on foot, but mount a horse during the battle count. Only guards that have SPAWNED on horses will count. This one is kind of annoying.

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Guards air assassinated while on horseback
Times Needed: 10
Essentially the same thing as the previous one, and you will get 10 points towards the previous one while working on this one. You need to see a guard riding a horse, and you need to either Air Assassinate him from a taller building, or do a Horse-to-Horse Assassination. Do that 10 times.

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Double Assassinations.
Times Needed: 10
Get nice and cozy, inside a group of guards. Make sure you have Double Hidden Blades from Leonardo. Lock on to some guards, press the [Armed Hand] button. Easier would be to Air Assassinate them, as Double Assassinations seem to happen more frequently that way. Make sure it's at least two guards walking (obviously).

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Guards disarmed and killed with their own weapons.
Times Needed: 5
This is easiest with Brutes, Seekers and regular Militia. That's because they're the easiest guards to disarm. Make sure you have Fists selected and are in Open Conflict. Lock onto the guard you wish to disarm, and do a counter. If the guard is weak enough/the correct rank, Ezio will take his weapon. After Ezio takes his weapon, essentially mash the [Armed Hand] button and aim at the guard you just disarmed. Then drop the weapon. Repeat 5 times.

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Kill 5 guards in 10 seconds.
Times Needed: 1
The way I did this one was to have a regular Sword selected, and to get a kill on one guard. When you're in an execution streak, and you have sword selected, holding the [Armed Hand] button as you are about to insta-kill another guard will kill the guard you aimed at, but also another guard, with the Pistol. (Stab, bang). That's 2 kills in less than a second, combined with the one that you used to start. Now just do the same thing again, hold the button in the direction of another enemy. Stab, bang. Done. Make sure you have at least 2 Bullets.

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Streak of at least 5 kills.
Times Needed: 10
Attract a large group of guards, and use the same method as above. Try not to get hit, if you see someone about to attack you, COUNTER them in the middle of your own attack animation. Alternatively, you could do the mission where Ezio has to stay behind to distract some guards while Caterina runs away from the Castello.

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Thieves Guild

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Thieves Guild challenges are unlocked once you renovate the Thieves Guild. Upon reaching Rank 1 in the Thieves Guild, you will unlock La Volpe's Bite at Ezio's Hideout.

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Thief groups sent to lure guards.
Times Needed: 10
An easy way to do this is to renovate every Faction building you come across for the Thieves. Then, just hire them, Lock onto a guard and press the button to send the Thieves over. They don't need to finish the animation, they just need to start it, and it'll be counted as 1. Alternatively, you could just run around, and if you see a group of Thieves, hire them.

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Sprint uninterrupted for 300 meters.
Times Needed: 1
A good place to do this is around the Thieves Guild building in the bottom left of the map. Just make sure Ezio does NOTHING but Sprint. Hold the [High Profile] and buttons at the same time. Make sure he doesn't hit an NPC, touch a climbable object, do any free-running, or anything except for Sprint. You only need to do this once.

"For the challenge to Sprint uninterrupted for 300 meters, I'd recommend using the aqueducts rather than the ground. First make sure to renovate all the aqueducts, then climb up on one and run."
~ ROB_88

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Jump from a horse to a beam.
Times Needed: 20
The horse-to-beam thing gave me a bit of grief at first too. What I found worked was to do the following:

• Get up to full speed on the horse and continue to hold [High Profile] (throughout this entire process)
• Tap (and release) to make Ezio "stand"
• Make sure to get your path as close to perpendicular (to the beam) as possible
• When just about to pass under the beam, rapidly tap a bunch of times until you see Ezio swing around the beam (but stop before you make him jump off the beam)

Doing it exactly like that is what made it count for me.
An easy spot to do this over and over is near the south border of Antico towards to the east end. There's a narrow path at one point with several beams in a row and plenty of room to pick up speed on either side.
~ Asaic

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Leaps of faith.
Times Needed: 40
This one can be grinded (ground?). Meaning, you can just do it over and over again at a specific spot. Around the Colloseum, there is a little building with a haystack under it. Basically, it's the haystack that you land in after doing a Leap of Faith after you Sync with the Colloseum's viewpoint. Climb the little beam next to it, and just jump off over and over and over. You'll get it. Or you can just play through the game and do random leaps of faith. You'll have a bit over half of the necessary Leaps of Faith if you get every Viewpoint.

Another easy location to get it is here:

~ Asaic

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Perform a dive from a height of 25 meters.
Times Needed: 1
Go to the Tiber Island hideout, and climb onto the very top of Ezio's hideout. There should be a little Leap of Faith beam, facing a body of water. However, jumping off of that will only put you in the water, it won't actually do a Leap of Faith or a dive. So once you jump off of it, press the button like a madman to enter the diving animation. You should get the challenge.

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250 f pick-pocketed.
Times Needed: 1
Get some notoriety, and bribe a Herald. After he starts speaking again, walk into him while holding the button in Low Profile and you should get the challenge. If you don't, just walk around pickpocketing civilians.

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Glide a cumulative total of 500 meters with the parachute.
Times Needed: 1
In order to get the Parachute, you need to destroy every single one of Leonardo's 4 War Machines. Once you do that, he'll give you the Parachute. You will NOT get this challenge in one shot. Climb to the top of Castel Sant'Angelo, and activate the parachute on the way down. Make sure to NOT deactivate it for as long as possible. From there, just climb tall buildings or View Points and jump down using the Parachute until you get it.

You can also do it this way:
"You just have to play the Thief mission "For the Fans" (the last one in the DNA section of Thief), you start all the way on the top of the Colloseo, just jump down, open the 'chute and restart the mission when you hit the ground."

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Guards killed with a ranged weapon.
Times Needed: 25
Buy the Crossbow from the Blacksmith, and get as many Quiver upgrades as you can. Wander around Rome, and just shoot enemies with it until you get the challenge. If you run out of Crossbow bolts, either use the Pistol, or the Throwing Knives. Then restock at a Blacksmith. Pretty easy with the Crossbow.

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Guards air assassinated from a beam.
Times Needed: 5
A beam is one of those very thin pieces of terrain that Ezio can climb on. You can only move on a straight line on those, and you can generally jump off in any direction. If there are any beams where guards will cross under, just get on top of them, wait for the guards and Air Assassinate them with the Hidden Blade. Repeat until you get it.

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Thanks a lot guys, that was pretty much all I've got. If any of you have any questions that you want me to add to this, go ahead and ask them, and I'll try to answer. If I can't answer them, surely someone in the community will be able to. This site is chock full of intelligent people.

Sources: Assassin's Creed Wiki