The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

I can't think of any other mission in the entire AC series more scripted than this one. I hope this video can bring a little more fun to this mission.

Air Assassinations
You can air assassinate from various places around the stage. You can also position the target beforehand, but keep in mind that you don't have much time.

Punching Bag
The game doesn't let you switch weapons, but you can grab and punch the target to death.

Pre-assassinations
When the countdown timer reaches 2:36, the play will come to a pause, and you will be able to kill Micheletto on the stage. You won't be able to reach him on stage without desynchronizing, but you can shoot him with the gun or crossbow, or throw a knife, spear (long weapon), or heavy weapon. The gun, poison dart, throwing knife, and crossbow will require manual aiming since you can't lock onto the target yet. The video shows the spear and heavy weapon, both of which can be "re-used" after the next checkpoint for the normal assassination mission.

Also shown is a trick to pre-assassinate from the back of the stage. Ordinarily, you don't have a clear shot to Micheletto from this location... but if you call your horse, it will sometimes push the actors around enough to clear the way.

Punching finishing move
When you meet the disguised Assassin recruits behind the stage, Micheletto will be resurrected, but the thrown weapon will be left behind. When you reach the stage, you can pick up the leftover weapon... In this case, a heavy weapon. If you have the heavy weapon sheath, the game will force you to sheath it when you pick it up. No matter... this allows you to use your fists for a finishing move, which cannot be done ordinarily since the game doesn't permit you to switch to fists.

(Not shown in video)
If you do not have the heavy weapon sheath, the game cannot force you to sheath a heavy weapon when you pick it up. You can thus use it as a primary weapon for the kill. You can throw the heavy weapon or use it in a finishing move (in a manner analogous to the spear, as described below).

Re-using the Spear
Long weapons cannot be sheathed, so when you pick up the leftover spear from the pre-assassination, you can use it as your primary weapon. I laugh at 7:14 every time.

Long Range Spear
It's not necessary to pre-assassinate if you want to use a spear or heavy weapon. Just leave the weapon behind in a convenient location before joining the disguised Assassin recruits.

Automatic free running (by holding down the legs button) will cause you to drop your spear. Tapping the legs button, on the other hand, allows you to make single jumps while maintaining your grip on the stolen weapon. I use this trick (7:45) to reach the desired location with the spear in hand.

A split second late
I thought this was hilarious, so I just had to share it. Unfortunately, this assassination did not count, as I desynchronized right after the cutscene.

Desynchronized Assassination
On that note, you can still assassinate the target as you desynchronize (due to elapsed time) and still get the cutscene. The assassination won't count... the mission reloads, and you have to try again.