Taking the Forts with perfect stealth - pure pacifism and no detection meters
[Adapted for the front page by stabguy]
I've created a video series I think many people on this forum might like.
I've been playing the Assassin's Creed series since 2010, going through all the main entries, and I've always been interested in the design of their stealth gameplay. AC3 offers what I think are the best opportunities for exploring its possibilities yet in the Forts, but even still most people will end up killing their way through them. I wasn't satisfied with this, so I decided to do the opposite.
I challenged myself to take every Fort without killing or incapacitating any enemies outside of the Captains, which are required, even going so far as to make sure no guards or civilians were ever killed in powder reserve explosions, while keeping interactions with them to a minimum. I would also remain totally unseen; you won't spot any detection meters in this series ever, unless I'm trying to demonstrate something afterward.
Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJBVSEVpEwtPwL51tqC80rEpJTdQGNlmo
I'd be happy to answer any questions people here might have, and I also hope someone can answer a couple of questions I have after going through this challenge.
Particularly, I'm curious about the strange enemy behavior when whistling and smoke bombs are combined at Fort Monmouth (check "Fort Monmouth Revisited" to see what I mean; the "obsolete" Fort Monmouth video only serves as a record of my progress now). Why does entering that hay bale and only that hay bale nullify it?
I'm also curious about how detection after using a pistol works; I've tried replicating the strategy done by MA GLX (A wonderful AC player) at 6:40 in this video, again of Fort Monmouth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7HQ0FvLkf4&list=PLA3iqqdrFfuLuhcplmqbEIA... with no success, instead every guard in the vicinity will approach my position with an empty red detection meter over them regardless of whether I was in their line of sight when I shot, as if they'd "heard" the shot, and their detection meters remain empty until I enter their line of sight. That seems to be the normal reaction to an unseen pistol shot, so I wonder how MA GLX was able to pull that off, and I also wonder exactly why my tree shot at Fort St-Mathieu worked.
If these questions have obvious answers, forgive me; I did these videos with no outside help, and I only discovered this site recently. I'm really happy to see people delving deep into this series, I've seen so many things here I'd never even conceived of before. I hope you'll enjoy these videos.
Thought I was done, did you? At last, here's the final Barehanded perfect stealth video: Fort St-Mathieu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Alt_dJ9xck&feature=youtu.be
It wasn't as insane as I thought it might be, but it definitely had its twists and turns. Now the fists only pacifism challenge is complete.
Also, something interesting popped up in my recommended videos, and I thought I'd share it here. It's an hour long compilation of all the Forts being taken stealthily, some (Independence and St-Mathieu) are nearly Silent Exterminations. The video quality isn't great but it's all enhanced by a well chosen and smartly edited soundtrack. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muo73e9yokc
I'm not sure if I'll be making any more AC3 videos after this; I'll toy around with Silent Exterminations and if I think any are interesting I'll put them up. Thanks for watching.
The next and possibly last barehanded video: Fort Independence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1sKqqHabcQ
This one was pretty crazy, read my comments to find out why. This run can be improved upon, but it would take someone with patience even greater than mine.
Thanks for taking the time to make these vids. We really need a name for fist kills. 
We really need a name for fist kills.
fist kills
Well, there you go.
Two new barehanded videos, Fort Washington and Fort Division, have been added to my growing playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJBVSEVpEwtPNOQmiyQiSn6FFmdCP_nky
Only two left now, maybe just one because Fort St-Mathieu seems so crazy. After that I'd like to try some silent exterminations, but I don't really want to go through all the Homestead missions again to get all the crafting items I want for those. Is it possible to get a save that has all the Homestead missions complete, but none of the Forts?
A fists only (barehanded? PaciFIST?) perfect stealth run of Fort Duquesne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCUmIGa2Mbs
A fists only stealth run should work in Fort Division. You just need to get the target off the horse (if you try to air assassinate him off his horse with your fists you just knock him off the horse. The animation for a normal kill off his horse with your fists is basically the same as with the hidden blade). You can either hide in a corner and whistle to get him off, or throw a smoke bomb and knock him off. And speaking of Fort Division, I noticed in your vid it's in a restricted area. Is the console version glitched? 
A fists only (barehanded? PaciFIST?) perfect stealth run of Fort Duquesne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCUmIGa2Mbs
We don't exactly have a name for a fists only stealth run. Two mentioned ideas were PaciFist and Zero fatality. In AC1 the term Eagles Bruise was used for playing through the entire game with just your fists equipped. Something similar is Minimal Kill Competition, killing the least possible amount of characters in the entire game (knocking characters out helps since the game doesn't count that as a kill).
Is it somehow possible to replay the forts? I want to experiment with taking them but I can't start new games every time. Is it possible to blow up the gunpowder reserve and kill the captain, but NOT lower the flag and just leave so the fort resets itself? Or is there another way?
Don't lower the flag, and the fort resets itself, I think that's right. In my second playthrough, this is my plan.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Is it somehow possible to replay the forts? I want to experiment with taking them but I can't start new games every time. Is it possible to blow up the gunpowder reserve and kill the captain, but NOT lower the flag and just leave so the fort resets itself? Or is there another way?
You can copy savefiles to a USB drive. Tutorials! Those are for AC1 and AC2, but they'll probably work for AC3 too.
This is absolutely beautiful to watch. After I finish my completion of LA Noire, I'm going to replay AC3 just for these.
Just an update, fists only is definitely possible at Fort Independence, and involves less waiting around than my original strategy, though it's riskier. The only real change is that instead of going to that corner to hide after leaping into the hay bale at the southern corner of the fort, I climb the rooftops to the west and dive into the hay bale the Captain patrols by. After that it's just a matter of timing the exit right so I can get to that ladder. From there on everything's the same.
I see my playlist is on the front page. Wow, cool! Thank you!
Question. Can you use your fists on the captains and not kill ANYONE in the forts at all? I bet you can.
The only ones where this would be easy are Fort Hill and Fort Monmouth. Fort Independence might be possible with the use of that hay bale the Captain patrols around, Fort Division might also be possible with the use of a smoke bomb first (I wish I'd thought of that sooner), Fort Washington would only be possible at night I'm pretty sure, if at all, and Fort Duquesne should be possible if I can find a way to distract that annoying guard at the flagpole. Fort St-Mathieu I have no idea about. I had a hard enough time getting those two guards next to the powder reserve to survive in the first place.
In any case, poison darts don't technically kill enemies you use them on, since they writhe and moan after collapsing (though guards that investigate often say that they're dead, how embarrassing), so you could say that any Fort I only used a poison dart in was fully pacifist, if a little cheap.
Does that mean you've done things in the previous games as well?
Nothing this crazy. I tried doing stuff like this in Brotherhood's Borgia Towers, but I think the goals in the Forts are more interesting and demanding.
Have you ever considered doing a silent extermination in the forts?
The thought crossed my mind, but I can imagine many of them involving repetitive use of a single tactic, like whistling to lure guards to a corner, stalking zone or hide spot, or using poison darts. It might also be a lot of fun. Your new video of the Braddock Expedition is inspiring. I'll definitely try at least once.
Come on, stabguy... should have used Fort St-Mathieu... Making the Captain blow up his own powder reserves... classic.
EDIT: Also, when I watched all of them I was happy that someone still took the Assassin's Creed seriously in the later "Assassin's Creed" games, rather than just become a tank the whole time.
Truly great and inspiring work. Thanks for sharing.
EDIT 2: Also, stabguy, technically this includes Boston and New York in addition to the Frontier, as far as classification of the video goes.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Just watched the first one... Fort Independence... wow. Can't wait to watch the rest.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Dang, you're good! I tried stealth on some forts, but they proved too tedious at the time (don't have so much time on my hands). You should make a separate post just for the videos; they should be guaranteed a frontpage. Anyway, hope you like it here. 
I've been playing the Assassin's Creed series since 2010, going through all the main entries, and I've always been interested in the design of their stealth gameplay.
Does that mean you've done things in the previous games as well?
By the way, we have names for the types of stealth used. In Assassins Creed 1, killing just the target without being detected was called "completely stealthy mission". Killing all guards in the area anonymously was known as "silent extermination". When they introduced poison in Assassins Creed 2, a completely stealthy mission with that is a "mysterious death". Just a while ago we were discussing possible names for other stealth techniques, such as using just your fists. "Perfect Stealth" is a good name by the way. Have you ever considered doing a silent extermination in the forts?
I haven't looked at the videos yet, but this is EXACTLY the type of thing that belongs on this site, in my opinion. Several places in these forums the idea of pure stealth in the forts has come up. I was only able to accomplish it twice, I think, through my first playthrough of the game. Adding in the "don't kill anyone, even by explosions," ... I can't wait to watch.
Question. Can you use your fists on the captains and not kill ANYONE in the forts at all? I bet you can.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus