The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

Because those guys are assassins who control a separate faction. And to do so effectively, it must not be known that they are Assassins. So, no hood. Also, after Altair killed Al Mualim, he decided that to blend in, all assassins need not always wear their iconic robes, so as to be more sneaky and increase survivability of the order.

Yeah, if every Assassin had to wear a hood everywhere they went in public, they wouldn't have lasted as long as they did. lol

Which brings up another question: Did Ezio ever wear civilian clothes? We never see him take it easy and just have dinner with Machiavelli or his mother since before he was sent by his father to find the outfit. Is he that dedicated that he only wears Assassin garb?

I know it's probably for gameplay reasons, but no one can just wear that stuff for decades.

yeah wtf is with that?

Ezio pretty much lives in it, but his robes aren't exactly totally formal and uncomfortable. And I'm sure he washes them every now and then, or changes entirely: if assassin recruits can get new master assassin robes, so can he.

Only when Caterina Sforza is in town.

Lol !

This is another thing i get annoyed ... If Ezio is the only one in the game that wears that specific outfit, how the guards didn't notice him ? He is the only one with a hood and with alot of weapons.

Example - If you run into a guard and then start walking away from him, you can see that he is just going to follow your for a certain period of time and sometimes he will say: "Hey you, with the hood. Stop! "

That kinda annoys me, because i'm the only one wearing a freaking hood and Ezio is really "famous" aroudn the world because of his actions, the people he killed and stuff like that. How can the guards don't realise that it's Ezio ?

So why Ezio still wears it ?
Why he is the only one that wears it ?

At this point, it would seem odd to play an Assassin that doesn't wear a hood. It's tradition. And it links the main characters (besides them belonging to the same genetic line).

There are people who wear hoods other than him. Just not too many usual crowd members. And Ezio is famous, but his face is not so much, mainly because anyone who sees his face and connects it with his identity is usually dead within a week. Everyone else just gets a glimpse as he disappears from the scene. Guards only stop everyone who has a hood when Ezio's notorious, and it takes three disturbances of the peace for a guard to remember where he knows you from when he's not.

Maybe if notoriety were better represented in the game, it would make more sense at a glance.

Maybe because Ezio's hood makes a "shadow" in his face, covering his identity ?

But i still think that even the guards do not knowing Ezio's face, they should recognize him since he is the only one in the crowd wearing a hood... If Ezio is so famous why don't the guards recognize him by his iconic outfit (Hood, weapons, the assassin symbol in his clothes) ?

When your not notorious, if you run into a guards, they will start to follow you saying: "Hey you, with the hood, stop! ".
ANYWAY, you said "it takes three disturbances of the peace for a guard to remember where he knows you from when he's not.". Can you explain better for me ?

Good point, but i still think that the guards should recognize you by your iconic outfit. If Ezio is so famous he should be highly notorious all the time. Also he is the only one in the crowd that wears a hood, so it's kinda unrealistic IMO. It kinda annoys me.

His outfit is not that unusual for that time period. As was discussed in another thread, people usually carried lots of weapons or had a bodyguard with them, since Renaissance cities were so dangerous, and it was quite common for nobles to wear outlandish clothing. Wearing a hood and cape was not as unusual as it may seem from just looking at the normal crowd NPCs. Guards are used to seeing isolated individuals that look different from everybody else. When memory of the Assassins has almost totally faded, (incognito) it takes three "guard gets an arrow over his head and harrasses you" things for them to remember where they see you from.

While notorious, you have to remember that when people look at a crowd, unless you have a clear and definate image of who you're looking for (guards don't, they've either seen him escape from the distance, or been killed by him. Hardly any normal guards come face to face with him and live), and unless you're still totally alert about it (Guards might have started off their shift watching the crowds every second, but now they've been standing there or patrolling for hours, and they might have seen any number of hooded men) you won't instantly pick them out.

I agree that there should be more hooded NPCs, but quite honestly, Ezio's outfits have been ostentatious because it was quite normal to dress ostentatiously, in the places he's been.

Thanks.

I still think the Assassin symbol should be removed from all future Assassin clothing. You don't want to advertise your alliance in Templar-controlled areas!!!

Yeah, expecially since images can be shared in seconds. I like the kind of stuff Desmond has, subtle stuff, like the eagle embossing on his back, and the eagle t-shirt.

The guards don't recognize Ezio because he kills every person who recognizes him and the people who he doe's not kill are to scared to recognize him...
This is kinda true don't you think ?

But about the weapons: No one have weapons, just Ezio and the guards (and the templar agents), so i'm kinda annoyed because if they can't recognize Ezio by his iconic outfit (what IMO it's pretty unrealistic), why they can't recognize Ezio in the crowd, since he is the only "citizen" with weapons ?

EDIT: I know i'm starting to annoy all of you, but another thing i remembered... Yusuf (the master assassin of constantinople) HAS A HOOD, but he don't use it..

And again Revelations will commit the same "Hiding in plain sight" problem, the crowds will not have any similarity to Ezio. He'll be able to blend in the crowd, and the guards won't notice him, even being Notorious.
And when i say that the crowd will not have any similarity to Ezio, i say none at all ! Ezio is the only one that wears a hood, alot of weapons, armor, and have the Assassin Symbol on his clothes...

Ubi really needs to add Hooded NPC's into Revelations, and also Armed NPC's.
The rich men should have a sword and a cape.. or just a sword.
Some men and women should use a hood

And for Ezio, Ubi need to put remove armor & remove weapon options !
I don't want to Ezio to use any armor at all. And for the weapons i'll make him use just the ones that the guards cannot see, such as the Hidden blades, Hook blade, poison, hidden gun, throwing knives, bombs (Explosive, smoke, flash etc). PS: At most a sword. (If some NPC's have it too)
And last thing, If their Creed says that they must hide in plain sight, HOW IT WILL BE POSSIBLE since Ezio have the Assassin Symbol all over his robes ?!?!?!

The assassin symbols are hidden in plain sight.

that armor and weapon idea is smart an an nice challenge but you also could not buy armor.Else maybe armor under your clothes

Ezio's outfit alone is a gamble. He doesn't want to be noticed, but he wears a bright white hood, is the only one in the game with armor and weapons in groups of unarmed civilians, and has the Assassin symbol as a belt buckle and little hints of it in the seams of his robes. It doesn't help any more that he's well known for being an Assassin, either.

but maybe because the guards know that he is an assassin they won´t attack so fast because they know the will die

Maybe that's why the games are so damn easy anymore. I can sprint and hit a guard, tumble to the ground, shove them 1 more time and he'll just get an angry face.

would you attack someone if you know he can kill you so easy that it is insane

They seem to, don't they? If you keep pushing them, they'll attack. Or if you're in a restricted area, they shoot/pull out their weapons on sight.

Yeah, i tried to say that..

They really need to fix this major problems, i get so anoyed.
Example: I'm notorious, i'm walking near a guard and then i point my crossbow at his head. He just don't do anything, he'll just keep looking to me thinking: Who is that guy ? And the "arrows over his head" will slowly start to fill up to yello than red.
Not to mention that soem parts of the streets, they are so "empty", they have almost no crowd, how Ezio can blend in with a crowd with just 4 people ?! He is the only one wearing a hood (i dyed his clothes to black so it looks more camouflaged), armor, weapons and a cape!
Don't you all agree with me that hey NEED to add Armed NPC's and Hooded NPC's ?
Walk on the street armed on that century was common, but it is really uncommon to have a noble (Ezio) armed to the teeth walking in a crowd of peasants...
So.... some men and women should use a hood, and the Noble NPC's should have at least a sword.

*I took a few pictures and i would like to add them here, how do i do that?*

I was just trying to explain your idea a little more.

They should either give NPCs more options, make the Assassin outfit more incognito, or equal it all out by doing both.

Haha i know you was just trying to explain a little more.. Relax..

I took some pictures and edited, putting stuff i think that should be added.
How do i add them to my comment ?

Why does everyone think I'm typing angrily?!? Lol

Lol.... Don't know...

You need to use a URL to post them so they need to be hosted on a website. TinyPic is the easiest site to use - just upload the picture, enter the Captcha and copy and paste the code provided.

To display as an image the URL needs to be between [img] [/img] tags but TinyPic adds these to the URL already

Thanks.. should i post the images here or create a new topic for them ?
PS: There are 6 pics.

EDIT: Nevermind, i'll psot here.

Well... first of all the benches.
Take a look.

You can notice that i'm notorious and i'm really close to a group of guards.
How the hell they didn't see me ? If i'm notorious, they should recognize me by just looking at the ONLY guy in the bench wearing a hood, armor and weapons.

Same here.

Now for the Crowd.

I'm blending into a group of 4 peasants and the guards didn't notice the only guy with a hood, black robes, weapons and armor.
Note: The peasants are wearing Brown clothes. and I'm notorious.

As you can see, i'm really close to the guards and they didn't notice me...
I'm blending into a crowd that have just women ! And they are wearing Red/Yellow clothes.
How the hell the guards didn't notice the only MAN into this crowd ? How didn't they notice a hooded man, with weapons and armor ??

Now for my "Crowd Prototypes".
This is how i think the crowds should appear in certain streets..

There is just a few citizens walking into this street. How am i supposed to blend and be stealthy if i can't even blend in the crowd ? Technically.
It's so unrealsitic that i can walk near 3 citizens and i am technically blended... Even knowing that i'm the only one with weapons, armor, cape, hood and the Assassin Symbol on my "belt".

Same as the last one.

In these 2 Prototypes, my main preocupation was the "density" of the street, in terms of crowd.
- I think that into some parts, the "street" should have heralds with a BIG crowd listening to him.
- It should have a big crowd moving togheter at the same direction, also, maybe another crowd (doesn't need to be big) going to the opposite direction, so the guards will really don't find me walking into it.
Note: i hate how when you destroy the Borgia Towers, the amount of guards low down ALOT. I love to see lots of guards into the street.. So Ubi should add more of these things i said in this comment into Revelations, and also they should fix this crowd problems.
- Why the guards don't go after me if i'm pointing a crossbow at one of them ?!?!

So what do you think guys ?

The problem is that blending is intitiated by just a few citizens or any bench, no matter how close a group of guards are.

I like how the guards can now actively search hiding spots while you're trying to escape combat but, as you've shown, the way they don't notice you while out of combat does seem a bit stupid. I'm not usre how they could make the blending system more realistic and complex so that sometimes nearby guards would spot you but it would certainly make the game more realistic.

I think Ezio's flamboyant outfit and lack of subtlety (hood, weapons etc.) is mostly to allow us as the players to identify with him. Anyone can play the game and see that, "that guy right there, with the hood and multitude of weapons is the Assassin." It obviously creates issues with how he is perceived by guards in-game but I think it's mainly an external thing to allow us to connect with each ancestor, as they always look pretty similar and are clearly different to just any old citizen.

It is possible to make.. Ubi just need to add "random spotting". If you get to close to the guards and you are sitting on a bench or blending into a small group, some of the guards should spot you, but not like: IT'S THE ASSASSIN ! They should spot you and think: Who is that guy? Then when they come closer they recognize you..

Ubi need to make big crowd groups and small crowd group. By doing it the game will be much more realistic, because as i said, the guards should spot you if you are close to them and in a small crowd group.

Note: As i said a million times, Ubisoft NEED to add Armed NPC's and some Hooded NPC's.

The only thing with random spotting would be that it could cause some major frustration, especially during a mission. The hiding spots are designed to allow you to tactically escape the guards, at least for a while, and if they randomly spotted you during a climatic part of a mission I for one would want to smash the controller

If it was implemented properly it might work but otherwise it could end up going the opposite way and the hiding/blending methods would become useless.

Yeah... but Ubisoft can to it properly.

Also, you won't get noticed in a mission if you are blending into a big crowd, or blending at a distance of the guards.

And the hiding spots won't become useless, just harder to escape.
They can do that OR add Armed and Hooded NPC's.
As it was common to carry weapons on that century, the nobles should carry a sword.
And it was kinda common to use big hats, hoods, coifs etc, in that century, so they should keep with the hat citizens and add hooded citizens too.

I think I'd prefer the hooded and armed NPCs really. Constantinople was a pretty diverse city (east meets west) so hopefully there'll be all sorts of weird and wonderful characters strolling around

I prefer the Hooded and Armed NPC's too, it will give more diversity to the crowd and also will be more realistic to blend.
And yeah, you're right about Constantinople. If you watch the commentary demo, you will notice that the guy that is talking says: Constantinople will have an incredible diversity never before seen in an Assassin's Creed game.
So hopefully they have added some Hooded and mayeb armed NPC's.

they should make some Hooded and maybe armed NPC's and if you leave a hiddingspot while a guard is standing next to you but nothing more sure it would be fun for more experience players but what with newcomers or People ho aren't stealthy, you wouldn't play a game that´s to hard. Maybe they could do it as a difficulty level

Difficulty level FTW !

Also as i said, they NEED to add Hooded and Armed NPC's

sorry ubisoft NEEDS to to add Hooded and Armed NPC's

or i will go ballistic

better

Hahaha

Ezio's outfit isn't a diguise; it's not meant to hide his identity. It's supposed to allow him to blend with the crowd. And when the crowd is Renaissance Italy, the outfit is gunna have to be flamboyant and classical. Those screenshots were using Drachen armor in Rome, right? Ezio would've worn his usual robe, which reflected the fashion of the time. The only difference was the hood. Now a hood would out him since he's the only one with it, but it doesn't draw attention in the first place. The drachen armor will most likely fit in more in Constantinople and the npcs there.

The emphasis on social stealth is what I loved about the first game. The label's of high-profile and low-profile actions implied so much. You are hidden not by actions taken in advance, such as disguising yourself, but actions not taken, i.e. anything that would draw attention to you. Let's take running as an example: Running isn't a crime. But in a crowd of walking people, a guard is likely to notice the person running and pay attention to them only. That's when a guard would recognize Ezio, not because he was undisguised but because he drew attention to himself.

A hood doesn't draw much attention. Weapons were very common then, but flailing them was not, obviously. That being said, more npcs should resemble these commonalities. And Ezio's robes shouldn't always be clean and shiny. I would like to see guards react more quickly to high-profile actions as well. But there's no need to take away the hood we're so attached to .

I know Waltonruler5, i know, but for example: If weapons were very common, why the NPC's doesn't have one ?
Also, i know that his outfit isn't a disguise, but a full white and shiny clothes shouldn't help him blend in the crowd, and the weapons such as the crossbow, sword etc, will just make things worse since he is the only one wielding it.
There isn't any NPC that wears White/Red clothes..

I agree with you about the fashion, since in Italian Renaissance it was common to use clothes like this, gloves, hats, and sometimes hoods. But then the crowd should use some of this characteristics.. The citizens don't use a full white clothes and they don't have weapons.
About the Revelations outfit, i liked it alot !!
1st - Ezio ain't wearing that stupid glove !
2nd - No cape
3rd - The belt.
4th - The colour of the outfit. (Much more realistic to blend in the crowd, since the colour don't draw so much attention as the white one)
5th - The outfit was well "characterized" with the fashion of constantinople

Nope, this was his Standard Outfit but dyed into Wetlands Ebony.

I never said that they need to take the hood away. I LOVE the hood. I'm saying that more of Ezio's allies should use a hood.
Example: Yusuf from Revelations have a hood, but he doesn't use it !

EDIT: Look at my "Crowd Prototypes".
As you said that the outfit is to help him to blend in the crowd. How am i supposed to blend in the crowd since there is almost no crowd ?!

yeah that annoy ´s me to he kills people the hole day he ware´s white BUT NO BLOOD STAIN `S WTF if you would kill someone you would have some blood on you if you kill 50 you be dammed sure you would have some blood on you or at least your clothes would be torned after combat.

You do get a blood stain on you, but it fades. This can be explained as the animus reverting his clothing back to the way Ezio normally maintained it.

It's creepy when you just stab someone and use medicine. Ezio gets this vampire look with blood all over his face and dead people all around him.

Your lack of in game and hostorical knowledge disappoint me, first off (The game): if you pay attention to what the guards say sometimes when you are anonymous and you walk by, they will be talking about you, and the last sentence is "its just another mercenary" so they could thing you are a mercenary taking a break or looking for hire, and also you could be a rooftop theif, they cant attack a theif if it has not been confirmed to have commited crimes himself, next thing, the assassins symbols dont mean anything, the guards wont recognize it because not all of them know about the templars and there plan to eliminate assassins, those guards just protect the cities and im pretty sure noone could get a long enough look at you while in combat or running away. Next about the crossbow thing, because back then unusable (toy) weapons were a thing, they cant attack you for it if you dont shoot because they might thing your a teenager, but after you shoot they can attack any time but not immediately they have to identify you as a threat and the bolt didnt hit them, tell me would you be able to pull out a sword after someone almost shot you in the hea with a crossbow you thought was fake, no, you would be in shock for at a maximum of at least 2 seconds then you would get pissed and attack. Now to the crowds and back to the mercenaries, when walking in a group thy could think your a hired mercenary acting as a body guard from theives that will try to steal from that group, next there are hooded citizens, those in a "cult" im guessing, not all cults have the same colors and maybe your out getting ready to sell weapons and armor for funds for the group to purchase property from the city, and to get a higher value your putting them on display on yourself so its more visibally pleasing to supposedly the blacksmith your selling to, now to the mercenaries again, so realistically your more likley to be spotted in a big group because one man cant guard all of it, to the group of women, you could be a guy flirting with some "dancers", and if they arent those type of women you could ESPECIALLY be a body guard because a woman, defending herself or running was very improper unless there was danger. You with the peasants, very strange (im switching to history on this one and the rest of the comment) there were people who would let peasants stay with them or just walk with them so they dont get kicked to the ground and spit on, but that was very rare because even being near a peasant was a thing to avoid for citizens, but once again they think you are a mercenary so you could just be taking them to training camps to make mercenaries of them. Next few history facts, capes werent that uncommon during that time because they usually symbolized connections with royalty or a city official to get by places like guarded areas that are owned by officials or you personally if your place is guarded. and if you are rich enough to hire a guard from the military, you must be special. Next hoods were common by wealthy people and citizens to hide there identity from pickpockets that know you have money. Next armor was usually worn as more of an intimidation aspect rather than to be used to also, keep pickpockets away, and you might be armed for literally the exact same reason as the armor, just take armor sentence and replace "armor" with weapons. AND PLEASE use this information well, i took me 30 minutes to recover all that stuff from my memory an write it, and i didnt even have an account here until i saw all the the comments that ignore all these facts.

I think you missed the point of the entire thread. The basic ideas are that a grown man with tons of murderous equipment strapped to him, has "cult"-like symbols on his garb, and looks suspicious as it is isn't some punk kid with toys. Even back in the Renaissance, he'd strike up some odd looks. Arno's basic outfit in Unity is probably the only civilian-ish type of Assassin robes we've seen so far. It doesn't cause suspicion besides the hood, and it's subtle enough to cause indifference among its audience.

Even today, people get shot for holding fake/toy guns at people, usually cops. I doubt crazy "upholders of the law" have just sprung up out of nowhere. Everything starts from something.

You can try and brag all you want about your supposed "intimate knowledge" of past citizens from ancient cities, but using a know-it-all tone on a site dedicated to the intricacies of the Assassin's Creed series probably isn't a good move when you just sign up. I don't feel like you actually read everything on here, otherwise you wouldn't have wasted 30 minutes of your life. So please, let this thread rest in peace like it had been.

and I thought Calvar was the one with text walls... at least he breaks his comments into coherent thoughts and paragraphs...

With correct grammar, too!

Not gonna lie, thought it was a spambot at first glance.