Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities – What to expect
Like Battle of Forlì, the second DLC pack will pluck Ezio from any post Sequence 12 save and insert him right in front of the waypoint to begin the opening cutscene for Sequence 13 (which is in Florence). Step in and watch the cutscene, then find yourself standing outside Florence with a new mission waypoint just inside the city walls and forced full notoriety. This waypoint will put you on the first mission of the sequence, setting you off to meet Machiavelli in the southern district of Florence, Oltrarno. Oltrarno contains six new view points and two fast travel stations.
Upon escorting Machiavelli to a waypoint (and doing some fighting along the way), you're now set to take out 9 unnamed individuals. Basically, it's nine assassination contract missions which you can do in any order. The DNA menu provides an order, but just like Sequence 4, there is no story continuity between them so don't bother trying to do them in the specific order shown in the DNA menu. Instead, you can work your way around Florence in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction and clean them all up as you go, as they take place all over the city.
Some of these missions are a real pain in the ass, while others are mind-bogglingly simple. There's one, for example, where you start about 50m (~150 feet) from the target in a big open area and you can just sprint up to him and stab him. Done. Doesn't matter if you're seen or not. Did I hear you say "WTF"? Yeah, I said it too. Other missions will give you much more challenge, however. The one on the boat in particular took me numerous tries until I found a good order in which to take out 9 of the 11 guards.
Complete the nine assassination missions and you are given a very easy chase mission. A following waypoint wisks you off to an automatic mission (no accept/cancel prompt) where Ezio has 35 seconds to....wait for it....walk through a small crowd. Sequence 13 complete.
Yeah, I know.
Despite some of the odd mission designs, the wrap-up at the end was really fitting and really filled out and pieced together the overall story of the game. It just felt right. I really give kudos to this factor. This weekend I will be playing it again on my save file which is sitting at the end of Sequence 12, so I will be able to view it from a smooth story progression perspective. I'm betting it will flow extremely well.
For the record, it took me about two hours to complete Sequence 13. That includes multiple failed attempts on several missions. Especially that damned boat one. I'm eager to see Ian find a way to blitz that mission. That'll blow my mind. 
Replay?!?
Nvmind just saw the other topic
PS store still hasn't updated!
Just completed it, Definatly worth the 520 mp it cost. It may just be that I love assassination missions and hate bodyguard missions but I thought that it was better than the first dlc
Basically, it's nine assassination contract missions which you can do in any order.
So that means you can backup one savegame and use it to replay any of the nine assassinations? Sounds good to me!
Especially that damned boat one. I'm eager to see Ian find a way to blitz that mission. That'll blow my mind.
Asaic wrote:
Especially that damned boat one. I'm eager to see Ian find a way to blitz that mission. That'll blow my mind.Spoiler: Highlight to viewjump down to base of stairs that leads to the dock, dive in water, climb up starboard side of ship to the opening in the rail, jump to rail next to target, mini air assassinate. 18 secs from first movement to start of kill animation. 0 collateral damage.
Why am I not surprised 
I took out basically everybody on the boat except the two guards at the front. Used the gun to kill the guard on the dock while he was near the boarding ramp, that pulled the two fore guards, the Brutes, and the starboard (right) side forward patroller to go see. The two Brutes fell in 
leaving me with the starboard side forward patroller and the two aft guards. Didn't bother with the fore guards.
So that means you can backup one savegame and use it to replay any of the nine assassinations? Sounds good to me!
Sounds like Sequence 13 is AC1 in a nutshell
Spoiler: Highlight to viewjump down to base of stairs that leads to the dock, dive in water, climb up starboard side of ship to the opening in the rail, jump to rail next to target, mini air assassinate. 18 secs from first movement to start of kill animation. 0 collateral damage.
This absolutely doesn't work for me. Popping up over the outer rail at any point on the ship is instant detection due to the 8 onboard guards having every view direction covered, not to mention the dock guard.
The only way I can get onto the deck undetected is by taking out a minimum of three guards by pulling them over the rail, and even then that doesn't allow me to approach the target. Mad dashes don't work either because even if you get the air assassination triggered, it's still a desynchronization the very moment you're seen.
I'm really looking forward to the video to see how you got around all this. 
pls let me know if this link works. i dont usually use limited access urls for youtube vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_private?v=6-s7OKqvkoA&sharing_token=PLVZsw9...
Am I the only one that is starting to see extreme imagery in all of the targets in Sequence 13 with AC1? So far, with what I have played, we've encountered a Florentine Jubair and a Florentine Sibrand. I still have seven other targets to go, but so far I'm seeing some similarities that are a bit more than "coincidental," in my opinion.
pls let me know if this link works. i dont usually use limited access urls for youtube vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_private?v=6-s7OKqvkoA&sharing_token=PLVZsw9hfdFXn2Hqy_PanA
Wow, that's completely different from the way it works for me...
You get time to react when they see you; the SSI comes up and begins to fill. For me, the moment I'm seen, desynchronization. There's no delay time in there. And I always go in with zero notoriety.
I wonder if this is a PS3-vs-360 thing? Can any 360 players comment on their experience?
I can say that, while not instant, it's a lot quicker than what Ian has going on there. If I were to try that how he did it, the guard on the dock would cause me to desynchronize.
And yeah, I'm a 360 player.
Agreed about the the dock guard. But what's even more puzzling is being spotted by the Brutes at pointblank range. That would have instantly desynchronized me.
Come to think of it, this was a night mission for me. Most missions don't impose a time of day, but I'm pretty sure this one changed me from late afternoon to late night when I started it, and it remained night the entire time. I'll have to check into that.
one possibility is that the difficulty of the 9 missions may increase as you progress through them. i vaguely recall a similar effect in seq 4 (the "where is jacopo" missions), where my process for a blitz to antonio was no longer anonymous after changing the order of the kills. (tho this may also have been a difference in notoriety - im not sure.) i specifically choose this mission to do first because of asaic's comment.
asaic - you can test this out more easily than i. just restore your savegame and do port authority first. a video would be grt so that i can see what else may be going on.
other thoughts:
the rate at which the SSI bar fills up depends on how far you are from the guard. the archer on the dock is pretty far away.
the first set of beeps you hear when i climb on deck are from the guards over the target.
i think the brutes start to notice me because im sprinting/free running nearby, not because they see me. the brutes start to turn right, but since i am running behind them, they dont actually see me until im already flying into the assassination.
what other seq 13 missions are particularly challenging? where do you learn the spring leap?
UPDATE: most story assassination missions start at a set point in the day/night cycle. this one does not. the day/night cycle even progresses when you fail an assassination attempt. so if you fail enough attempts, you'll notice that the reloaded missions will begin at a different time of day. there may be a discrepancy in alertness between daytime guards and nighttime guards.
one possibility is that the difficulty of the 9 missions may increase as you progress through them. i vaguely recall a similar effect in seq 4 (the "where is jacopo" missions), where my process for a blitz to antonio was no longer anonymous after changing the order of the kills. (tho this may also have been a difference in notoriety - im not sure.) i specifically choose this mission to do first because of asaic's comment.asaic - you can test this out more easily than i. just restore your savegame and do port authority first. a video would be grt so that i can see what else may be going on.
Well, this was one of the last missions I did out of the nine.
I'll look into this when I get a chance. Might not be until next week though.
what other seq 13 missions are particularly challenging? where do you learn the spring leap?
Spring leap (actually called "Sprint Jump") isn't really a learned move. It's just that from the first mission of Sequence 13 onward you have access to Oltrarno, where will find these sort of horizontal flagpoles sticking out of the rooftops of buildings. If you free-run onto them, Ezio springs off of it and flails about like he's out of control. It looks pretty ridiculous and all it does is give him a forward boost on his jump. Half the time the spring pole doesn't lead anywhere, so using it will cause Ezio to plunge to the street below and take damage. Nobody would miss these poles if they weren't in the game. They are never necessary, or even time-saving from what I can tell.
There were a few missions that were a little challenging. One was a Talal-like mission where you fall into a trap of sorts, surrounded by four two-story walls. An archer walks to the roof ledge and taunts Ezio, then backs off as his men jump down to fight Ezio, while others remain on the rooftops and rain down arrows. It's very much like the Talal assassination from AC1 save for two things – this target doesn't flee once you get up to him, and there are two or three times as many men for you to fight.
It's only challenging in the fact that there are so many guys on the ground with you and so many archers raining down arrows that it's difficult to just ignore the fighters and go right after the target. Certainly not impossible, but luck factors into it. It's very easy to be hit with several arrows in quick succession while trying to climb. Even sticking around to fight is a pain because of all the arrows.
There were a couple missions that made me retry a couple times. Nothing truly difficult, but more challenging than many of the named target assassinations throughout the game.
UPDATE: most story assassination missions start at a set point in the day/night cycle. this one does not. the day/night cycle even progresses when you fail an assassination attempt. so if you fail enough attempts, you'll notice that the reloaded missions will begin at a different time of day.
Definitely not my experience. It was night the entire time I played this mission, and after many failed attempts I began to really take my time to avoid being spotted (and still failed several times). It never progressed past night the entire time.
At best, each retry began back at the same time of night that it started. I'll have to see what happens the next time I play it.
I've enjoyed the nine assassinations. The dissapointments are: No Mission Reply function and..
I wonder if this is a PS3-vs-360 thing? Can any 360 players comment on their experience?
I can confirm that this blitz works exactly the same way on Xbox 360. I've been avoiding Bonfire of the Vanities spoilers and independently discovered an approximation of this blitz (climbing over the rail aft of the rigging). It's definitely faster to go through the gap in the rail, though.
I always go in with zero notoriety.
Is that even an option? I thought this mission forced full notoriety.
Is that even an option? I thought this mission forced full notoriety.
Oddly enough, the Medici cape seems to still be effective most of the time - I'm not sure exactly how it works under these circumstances.
Also, did anybody else notice that you don't get a database entry for Santo Spirito? It's the dark grey-mapped church to the west of Palazzo Pitti, where you do one of the missions.
Asaic wrote:
I wonder if this is a PS3-vs-360 thing? Can any 360 players comment on their experience?I can confirm that this blitz works exactly the same way on Xbox 360. I've been avoiding Bonfire of the Vanities spoilers and independently discovered an approximation of this blitz (climbing over the rail aft of the rigging). It's definitely faster to go through the gap in the rail, though.
I can also confirm this, but something that greatly helps is to swim underwater once you turn the corner facing the guard after diving into the water, that gives you some more time to work with when climbing the hull of the ship. Then immediately head for the stairs, lock target, and air-assassinate. The blitz differs in no way from 360 to PS3. Swimming underwater will add an additional 2 seconds to the time Ian recorded (18 seconds I believe), but it's not that big of a difference and will ensure that you stay anonymous.
I'm not sure why my experiences were different, but they definitely were. I spent nearly 25 minutes redoing this mission over and over because any time I was seen by the dock guard or anyone on the boat, it was over immediately. It was very frustrating. And it was definitely night the entire time.
If this mission had been as easy for me as it seems to have been for you guys, I wouldn't have had any reason at all to complain about it.
Asaic wrote:
I always go in with zero notoriety.Is that even an option? I thought this mission forced full notoriety.
It does, but Ian has suggested in prior threads that your starting notoriety may factor into various things. I just mentioned it up front to save him from asking.
stab and flae,
thx for the xbox confirmations. 18 seconds was a "worst-case" estimate based on the timer on my dvd player. the actual time is a few seconds shorter. my first time doing this blitz was underwater, just like flae said. i later optimized it by swimming at the water surface.
asaic,
many missions are easy only after you know what to do. i rly dont think your mission was any different from mine, stab's, or flae's. its more plausible that your interpretation of the mission was different. dont worry; it happens to everyone, including me:
http://www.thehiddenblade.com/non-assassination-francesco-salviati
I'm not sure why my experiences were different, but they definitely were. I spent nearly 25 minutes redoing this mission over and over because any time I was seen by the dock guard or anyone on the boat, it was over immediately. It was very frustrating. And it was definitely night the entire time.If this mission had been as easy for me as it seems to have been for you guys, I wouldn't have had any reason at all to complain about it.
Hey, we all have that one mission that just infuriates us for hours on end. For me, it was Garnier in AC1. Don't beat yourself up about it.
Thanks guys, but I'm pretty sure I had full control over my mental faculties. I wasn't having an off day or anything. And I'm far from the only person who had serious issues with this mission. I'll investigate further when I get a chance.
I'm also going to investigate some other things, like the pistol. I've read posts about people using the pistol in some situations where it instantly desynchronized me. I want to get to the bottom of stuff like that too.