The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

We have seen a few of these topics lately, I thought I should share mine. I pretty much play Manhunt exclusively and I know what im talking about. I will go into depth each useful ability and strategy, so if you don't have time for a big read stop reading now.

-OFFENSE

People tend to think that being on offense makes it ok to be seen by the defensive team. You have to slip into a different mindset that it is best that the defensive team don't know who you are. Don't underestimate the defensive team, they have many options for attack such as charge, mute and smoke bomb and if you reveal yourself to early they will wipe you out before you can get too close. As soon as you get close to your target start walking. Only fast walk for a few steps or you will give yourself away. The reason for this is because if you want to use an ability like charge, you have to get really close to your target to maintain that incognito kill. A tip against people who use Decoy, if someone sprints out of the crowd and doesn't have L1 on top of their head, its not a real player

-Ability Setup

The best ability setup is one main ability used for finding your target, and one support ability should they run away. For instance your main ability should be something like Charge, Firecrackers or Templar Vision. I wouldn't use morph to smoke them out as you have to get really close and they can stun you. Your backup could be Mute (best with firecrackers, stops them using smoke bomb or stunning you) Throwing knives and Hidden Gun. I prefer throwing knives over the gun as you can still set up some good points if you use obstacles to get close to your target.

-Charge

In my opinion this is the best way to find your target. The key is getting close enough to use it so you can get incognito. If you use charge on a group, your character automatically attacks the right target, you don't even need to press square. One thing to note is before you use it, check the haystacks nearby first so you dont waste it. Make sure you dont fast walk too much or they will notice you. If there are more than one target in the group wait for a team mate to come and then strike, that way if you are stunned he can clean up the rest. If the other team is too good to let you get in close, swap your support ability for Disguise. It will let you stroll right up to them for that easy charge, but most randoms wont require you to do this

-Templar Vision

As crazy as this sounds, this requires a little more skill than charge if you want to earn more points. Charge simply earns you 400 points max, however with templar vision if used correctly you could get more. Say you have poison as well, make sure you pick a target where your team isnt nearby and then use templar vision from out of sight. Now mark your target and try to get as close as possible. Dont walk in directly towards them, change your path a bit. A team strategy is to get a team mate to mark them with templar vision, and then use disguise yourself so you can get right up to the group and poison them without them realizing it. If there are 2 of them the second one wont stun you either. This is shown in my vid The Mercenary a few times. If you dont want to use poison for fear someone will steal the kill, there are other ways to rack up more points using templar vision. The first is to observe their surroundings, are they close to a haystack? If so, get in the haystack and then use templar vision. Lock on to the right one and pull him in, you will get work towards the challenge and a hidden bonus, giving you 600 points

Another way is this. Use templar vision from a rooftop or from around a corner so that they cant see you. Now get on a rooftop right above them, lock on to them and then press circle to hand down on the ledge in an acrobatic position and wait for the focus to fill up around the attack prompt on their head. If they start running attack them instantly, but most of the time they wont move as they dont think you know who they are. This way you can get a focus and acrobatic bonus of 250 extra, so thats 650 points for that one kill.

-Firecrackers

Like templar vision, you can get some good acrobatic bonuses from above, but focus doesnt work as well. Firecrackers work from above, and I find it easier to target them from above. If you use from ground level, make sure you are well out of the smoke bomb range. Since they cant see, chances are they will pop the smoke bomb and try and stun you. They usually walk straight to you, giving you an easy kill. If they run, its good to position yourself to cover their exit, or use throwing knives to stop them. Mute also works well as you can stroll right into the group while their abilities are disabled, use both firecracker and mute at the same time and quickly pick out the right target.

-Hidden Gun

I dont have much love for this ability simply because I find it boring and it doesnt give out points. However it does come in handy if the whole team of defenders are in one group. If your team goes in to kill one, the rest will usually stun you, making it kinda dangerous. You can play the support role and stand back from a distance to kill anyone who flees, or anyone who tries to stun your team from a safe distance. One trick I started using is simply aiming it at a crowd while my charge was refilling. It freak one of them out and they bolted it, so I then switched targets to them and shot them instead. You should keep this in a different profile set and swap to that profile set once you realise the other team are restless and run around on the rooftops a lot.

-Morph/Smoke Bomb

I havent tried this much but in theory this should work really well against a group of multiple defenders. Normally when you kill one target, the other one will stun you, then a team mate kills him and so forth. However this little tactic allows you to get both kills if you are fast enough without them getting a single stun. Basically sneak into the group and use smoke and morph at the same time, using long lasting smoke. They targets will reveal themselves once you morph the group, and you should be able to kill both before they can stun you. You could also try morph and poison, where you morph the crowd and poison one, then quickly kill the other as the poison animation is so short.

-DEFENSIVE

Overall tip here is stick together! If a team mate starts getting stuns dont run away, instead help him out. If a team mate stuns someone, stand next to the guy who he stunned, you will always get the stun if you are locked on and are mashing circle. Also note that if all 4 of you are blend together, you get 60 points every few seconds, that means the whole team gets 240 points every few seconds. Also most map have key spots that are good for defending where NPCs dont go much, making it easier to identify your pursuer. This includes Rome by the pantheon, San Donato by the church, and each map has a blend spot isolated so you can see them coming. Never stay in a stationary group that isnt isolated, they will get an aerial kill on you easy and can plan their attack. Try to use moving crowds as much as possible, its simply harder for them to plan their attack

-Ability Setup

Personally I never use morph. Someone on your team almost always has it so no point both of you having it. Also if you use blender perk there will always be another NPC like you in the crowd. That means there is a 50/50 chance of the pursuer getting the wrong one, meaning they wont attack at all until they are certain.
Always have smoke bomb (preferably long lasting) and dont bother with rapid reload abilities as after 3 deaths your reset cooldowns will mean you always have abilities. What you want to do is have one ability for the first stun, and use smoke bomb just as they get up to get another stun on them, giving you a knock out bonus, totaling 500 points. For instance use charge/firecrackers/mute and then stun them, then use smokes to stun them again

-Mute

The problem with mute isn't the short period it works for, but the delay in which it takes into effect. Once you learn this you will love this ability. The key is to use it very early. Also note its range, it is far greater than the smoke bomb, so once you identify your pursuer as soon as he gets in range use it and run up to him for an easy stun, he wont know what hit him. Also if someone is above you using templar vision you know you are dead, but if you use mute you can give yourself some time to run out of there.

-Charge

Another really good defensive ability, but I still prefer mute over this. This is because charge needs momentum to get the stun, you cant use it in a tight space very well. Also if you miss them you just run off like an idiot, making it easy for them to kill you. Make sure you master the perfect distance to use it, use it early before they can charge your group or use templar vision.

-Decoy

Thanks to templar vision this is kinda worthless, but still useful. The key point here is to use it early before they use templar vision. This way they will think may as well save templar vision for later and get this easy kill. Once they kill the decoy you can then stun them. I personally like to use it will sitting on a bench, the NPC often barge through your group making a disturbance. You could also try using it in a haystack.

-Firecrackers

These are alright, not as good as mute or charge though on defence. What you want to do is use it early as it has a long range, and then run behind them. They will often just mash square as they know if you run towards them to stun them they will kill you anyway, but if you run around from the sides or behind you can get the stun on them. If you see about 2 or 3 pursuers coming you may want to pop firecracks and then use sprint boost to get out of there. You will usually get a chase triggered and if you planned your escape to a chase breaker you can get an escape bonus, and possibly a stun if they are nearby