The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

Assassin's Creed 1

The problem with the stealth in AC1 is that the SSI indicator is somewhat unpredictable. Unspoken rules like not running within about 10 metres of an alerted guard are the things that ultimately mess you up. There seem to be a lot of variables, especially in the Kingdom, that go into determining whether you are going to trigger combat or not. I won't talk about stealth in the kingdom though (unless someone wants me to) because stealth is totally unnecessary there. It is more or less the same as stealth in the cities, except there seem to be a few extra things that determine the degree of hostility.

So, let's talk about stealth in the cities. Rooftop gardens and benches are your best friend, scholars are too few and far between to be reliable. If you have to disappear quickly run in the path of vigilantes and quickly find a hiding spot. Guards in this game don't have a detection meter, and will only approach dead bodies (meaning they won't follow you unless you're in combat). Using dead bodies is definitely a very good way to get past barriers, the only issue is the guards will then be on high alert, even after going back to their posts, and if you go near the body again you'll usually be attacked on sight, regardless of whether you're blending or not. It’s something I personally don’t do because it’s easier to go around a barricade than risk being exposed. Most of the time scholars are nearby to help you out anyway.

When in missions, it’s best to use the rooftops when possible, because frankly the archers are idiots. They will attack fairly quickly though so you need to act fast (they will also notice you and attack immediately if they’re on high alert and you’re hanging underneath them). Don’t do low profile kills when facing an archer’s front because they’ll counter you most of the time. If combat hasn’t been initiated high profile kills work almost without fail. Even if other archers are nearby they likely won’t notice you just killed one of their buddies. If you’re in a tight spot throwing knives will usually kill archers in one hit (correct me if I'm wrong on this, I don't use throwing knives).

When on the streets it’s easy to remain detected as long as you don’t provoke the guards. Except for the groups patrolling that yell a lot. They’re on constant high alert and can catch you by surprise if you don’t know which areas they patrol. To make things extra convenient they’ll usually be patrolling in areas you need to kill someone during a mission. They're also commonly found near landmarks. Just to be safe, blend while moving past them because they sometimes aggro on you even if you’re just walking (this probably has to do with the proximity between you and the guards while you're walking).

After an assassination the whole city is on high alert so it goes without saying that it’s a lot more convenient to run on the rooftops rather than the streets teeming with guards. If you do choose to take to the streets, when walking through a guard post (like those small tunnels on the border of city districts) you'll be attacked on sight most of the time, even if you're blending. So maybe avoid that.

TLDR: The stealth in AC1 isn’t that complex and it’s more about avoidance than sneaking up on people and killing them.

A small sidenote I'm sure many of you know, despite there being no crouch button, holding down high profile and the A button allows you to crouch and remain undetected when behind things you would be seen behind if you were standing. I find this is most useful on rooftops.

Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations

The stealth in the Ezio trilogy is more or less the same in each game, except the AI seems to be a lot smarter in Brotherhood and Revelations. Detection meters have been introduced, which puts guards in various states of alertness based on notoriety level, whether you’re in high or low profile, and whether you are running or walking. This makes things more predictable than AC1 so once you know what triggers what, you can take more risks.

When I was talking about AC1 I didn’t really go into the types of assassinations too much because the variety mainly lies with the high profile assassinations. But with AC2 onward, there are a lot more options for low profile assassinations. You can kill while inside hiding spots, kill people while hanging from ledges, and kill two people at the same time (this can sometimes garner unwanted attention though and it doesn’t always work). Air assassinations are good options if your target is isolated, but if there is anyone nearby you can bet they’ll see it and aggro immediately. It’s worth noting that you can now pick up dead bodies, which makes hiding bodies and creating distractions much easier.

On the streets the stealth is pretty easy. You can hire courtesans to slip past guard barricades and use any group of people to blend with. Thieves can permanently get rid of barricades for you. Hiding spots like benches and haystacks are also plentiful. However guards now search these spots, meaning a quick escape may be foiled when they start searching the crowds and poking their swords in haystacks - I don't recommend hiding in haystacks while in a yellow search area because they are searched most often and frequently. This can be used to your advantage though. This method was mentioned by DAZ already but I thought I’d elaborate a bit. When the detection meter has filled to a certain point, guards will begin to recognize you and start to follow you. They’ll follow until the point where they last saw you, meaning if they see you go around a corner or hide in a haystack they’re going to check it out which gives the perfect opportunity for a nice clean kill. This is your most effective method for luring as whistling won’t show up until AC3. The tricky bit is leading them enough that they won’t give up and stop following, but not letting them get close enough to completely fill their meter. This means try not to run because that fills up their meter too quickly. Stay in low profile to keep the meter where you want it.

The rooftops are about equally as safe as the streets in these games. Archers are more intelligent and will chase you when alerted, and killing them often sends their bodies sliding towards the ground, letting all the guards know that someone on the roof is killing people. They are alerted more quickly and if you’re running they will hear you and turn around. They’ll usually warn you a few times and then aggro on you, depending on how close to the archer you are. The easiest way to get around them undetected is to low profile kill them (if you see them sliding pick them up and drop them somewhere else) or slip past by ledge hanging or crouching until they move away. If you’re running fast enough you may not give them enough time to detect you so sometimes running is a good strategy too.

Notoriety is an important factor in remaining undetected. It occurs in AC2 and Brotherhood, but not Revelations (the meter determines your vulnerability to attack in this game). For every impressive or socially unacceptable action you make, your notoriety meter will fill. When it’s full, all guards will be on high alert and their detection meters will fill very quickly, usually immediately becoming red (hostile) rather than starting off yellow (suspicious). Actions that fill this meter are high profile kills, pickpocketing, and some low profile kills like ledge kills. Notoriety is for the most part a non issue, because there are posters and heralds everywhere than can lower your notoriety at the press of a button. The only time it becomes a problem is if you’re doing many high profile kills in a row (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway if you’re trying to be stealthy).

When in missions, sometimes you’ll find yourself in a restricted area. This means while you’re in this area, you are permanently notorious. Luring becomes more difficult, there are usually more guards present, and sometimes the amount of hiding and blend spots are greatly reduced. This can actually make stealth very challenging. When facing situations like these it’s best to avoid guards because if there’s one patrolling, you can bet they’re going to cross paths with another guard at some point. Unless you can make a quick escape it’s risky to alert other guards with a dead body. However if there’s an opportunity to safely kill a guard (like from a hiding spot), do it because you never know if they’ll pose a threat later on. Anyway, like I was saying avoidance is best when you can’t hide, so take to higher ground when possible. Just watch out for archer’s extended range of detection and keep an eye on their rotations. And make sure any bodies don’t fall to the ground. Don’t let those bodies hit the floor (I had to slip that joke in sorry).

Another thing worth noting is that hard landings alert guards and civilians, drawing lots of attention towards you. If you can’t drop down from above quietly, move further down until you can. Air assassinations are useful to break a fall but again, they also attract attention.

Something often overlooked is the use of consumables for stealth kills. Throwing knives are useless for most enemy types but will insta-kill the basic types. The gun is a tool that alerts literally everybody to your presence so don’t use that. It’s useful for quick escapes though, point it at a low level enemy and he’ll flee. I believe it also insta kills everyone, including assassination targets so it may be a good option if you know you can flee immediately. The crossbow is a brilliant tool (it’s not in AC2 though). It has lots of ammo, insta kills most enemies, and it doesn’t alert other guards in most circumstances. The downsides to it are its slow reload speed and honestly it’s ugly as hell. Smoke bombs are mostly used for quick escapes but they’re also good for those ‘oh shit’ moments where you’re about to be detected by multiple guards and there’s nothing you can do. In Revelations there are non-lethal bombs you can craft that can be used as distractions.

In Brotherhood and Revelations, assassin recruits are introduced. They fight and kill on your command and are useful if you’re in a bind. However they trigger combat easily (which is a good distraction if they’re high level) and if they’re a low level they’ll die if you don’t help them out. Fun fact: When they die if you try to loot their bodies instead Ezio will tell them to rest in peace and it’s really sad. The downside to assassin recruits is they’re usually not available in areas where you really need them (eg the castello in the vaticano district) so don’t rely on them as your sole method of distraction and stealth. Assassin recruits are also extremely overpowered and in my opinion using them often is almost like cheating.

TLDR: Stealth is much better and more fleshed out in the Ezio trilogy and the concepts are easy to master after a bit of practice.