Unlock the following abilities by performing the corresponding tasks:
ABILITY - HOW TO UNLOCK
Climb Leap Ability - Complete Rosa's mission "Monkey See, Monkey Do" in Sequence 7. This allows you to jump further while climbing.
Disarm Combat Technique - Complete Mario's "Evasive Maneuvers" mission in Sequence 5. This allows you to counter heavier attacks.
Unlockable Equipment:
Unlock the following equipment by performing the corresponding tasks:
EQUIPMENT - HOW TO UNLOCK
Condottiero War Hammer - Collect 50 hidden feathers. It will become available in the blacksmith's shop in the Villa Monteriggioni.
Auditore Cape - Collect 100 hidden feathers and talk to Mario in the Villa Monteriggioni.
Feathers:
Feathers are usually found on rooftops. Walk around the rooftops and turn on eagle vision to spot them.
Medicine and throwing knives:
You can obtain free medicines and throwing knifes by looting bodies or pick-pocketing people.
Get axes/spears back:
To get your axe or spear back from a dead body, pick up the body and drop it.
Glyph locations and puzzle solutions:
Find the Glyphs in the following locations by using Eagle Vision. Solve them by performing the corresponding tasks:
The Truth File 1
Located on the roof's wall at Santa Croce. To solve the puzzle, choose the apple paintings.
The Truth File 2
Located on the roof's wall at Ospedale Degli Innocenti. To solve the puzzle, rotate the circular puzzle pieces from smallest to largest.
The Truth File 3
Located on the roof's wall at La Rosa Colta. To solve the puzzle, highlight the circular objects in the photos.
The Truth File 4
Located on a wall at Villa Auditore; hang from the roof to see it. To solve the puzzle, take the hints literally.
The Truth File 5
Located in the lower level of Santa Maria Assunta on a wall near some pillars. To solve the puzzle, choose the sword paintings.
The Truth File 6
Located on the roof's wall at Torri Dei Salvucci. To solve the puzzle, rotate the circular puzzle pieces from smallest to largest.
The Truth File 7
Located on the roof's wall at Torre Del Diavolo. To solve the puzzle, choose the red paintings.
The Truth File 8
Located on the roof's wall at San Lorenzo. To solve the puzzle, find the Pieces Of Eden and then put the flame over Joan on the world map. Lastly, move Rasputin's photo above Czar Nicholas II's photo.
The Truth File 9
Located on the roof's wall at Mercato Vecchio. To solve the puzzle, take the hints literally.
The Truth File 10
Located on the roof's wall at Monte Oliveto Maggiore. To solve the puzzle, don't look for the Eagle Apollo Lander on the moon. Rotate the puzzle layers from the inside out until they are aligned.
The Truth File 11
Located on the floor and under a stone arch at Antico Teatro Romano. To solve the puzzle, highlight the light bulbs, then highlight the middle of the photo above the doorway, and finally highlight Nikola Tesla's lap.
The Truth File 12
Located on the roof's wall at Abbazia Di San Mercuriale. To solve the puzzle, align the red 4 with gray 1 on the wheel and enter the corresponding code. Then, turn off the globe's lights. Select the orb in the middle of the photo. Line up the wheel as
1=II, 2=III, 3=I.
The Truth File 13Located on Avamposto Veneziano. Climb the base lookout tower and you will see it on the stone walling. To solve the puzzle align the wheel as
5=circle, square, square; 2=circle; 3=triangle. After that, press the red button. The final part you will find near the left-middle bottom of the letter.
The Truth File 14
Located on a wall near the edge of the water under the Pointe Di Rialto bridge. To solve the puzzle, choose the painting with Cupid, Europa, Jupiter, Swan, and Zeus.
The Truth File 15
Located on the roof of a taller wall and above a wooden hatch at Gilda Dei Ladri Di Venezia. To solve the puzzle, connect the layers as
1 to 6, middle two, and 4 to 5.
The Truth File 16
Located on the floor of the Campanile Di San Marco bell tower. To solve the puzzle, answer it as follows: Naples, Alaska, Greece, and Tunguska. Then, go to the staff, and stab the photo with it.
The Truth File 17
Located on the floor of the Torre Dell 'Orologio. To solve the puzzle, align the wheel as
7=broken square, 9=six-sided hourglass, 1=square with smaller square inside of it.
The Truth File 18
Located of the roof's wall at San Pietro Di Castello. To solve the puzzle, align the wheel as
6=M or YYY, 0=Chalice symbol, 3=<. Then, move the symbol over the blood vessels.
The Truth File 19
Located on one of the wall with a rounded top at Scuola Grande Di San Marco. To solve the puzzle, choose the Aztec Calendar, Easter Gate, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Nazca Textile, and Book Of The Dead paintings. Then, find the part of the sun photo with the most radiation and ID it.
The Truth File 20
Located on the roof with a fire nearby on a wall at the side of San Giacomo Di Rialto. To solve the puzzle, work from the inside out. The second inner layer and fifth outer layer are not connected. ID the sun. Line up the code wheel in any alignment to complete it. In this puzzle, you can change the skeleton from a monkey to a human by placing the cursor over the bones.
Shop renovations:
You will increase the Villa's value and receive special discounts by renovating any of the five shops located in the Villa. Each shop has three renovation levels. The blacksmith and doctor are available at the beginning of the game. The following is how much each of the three renovation levels cost for each shop.
SHOP - RENOVATION LEVELS
Ant Merchant - 1,000, 5,000, 8,000 Florins.
Bank - 1,500, 5,000, 9,000 Florins.
Blacksmith: First renovation already available, 7,000, 12,000 Florins.
Doctor - First renovation already available, 3,000, 5,000 Florins.
Tailor - 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 Florins.
Lower Notoriety:
If you're close to getting a "Notorious" rating, go visit Herald and bribe him. After bribing him, steal the money back.
Archers strategy:
Usually Archers are less than a threat and more of a nuisance, but in some areas there are quite a few of them scattered around. If you find yourself in a fight and at the same time there are archers shooting at you, try breaking off the fight and running to an archer. This makes them drop their bow and draw their sword. The funner approach is to position the soldiers in the archer's line of fire and have them do your dirty work and hurt the solders attacking you.
Brutes strategy:
Brutes are the big armored soldiers that wield two handed weapons, such as axes and claymores. The trick to Brutes is to disarm them. Trying to reverse their moves will just result in you getting hurt if you already have a weapon. You can take their weapons away from them and then kill them easily.
Seekers strategy:
Seekers are soldiers with spears. The trick to Seekers is to grab them first and kill them to remove that threat faster.
Rodrigo Borgia (The Spaniard) strategy:
There are a couple things you should get before you go to Rome: The Armor of Altair, The Sword of Altair (or whichever weapon you prefer), Notched Cinquedea, Metal Cestus, both knife belt upgrades (as many as possible), medium and large medicine pouches (purchase as much medicine as possible), and full smoke bombs. The battle is divided into three stages. The first stage involves assassinating him. Quietly go down the ladder, but do not jump down. Then start blending in with everyone immediately. Go to the front, choose your pistol, and lock on to Rodrigo. Hold [Action] until the thin beam appears and fire. In the second stage you must fight him. You sit back and wait for your four Dopplegangers to finish or at least weaken him, but you can also join in the fight--which is much more exciting. He attacks just like a brute; just tackle him as you would a normal villain. In the third stage you must complete the job. After the cinematic sequence, use Eagle Vision to find the switches to the vault. Follow the road down. Another cinematic starts, after which it is a fistfight from here on out. Continue attacking him. The Metal Cestus will stay equipped and will kill him faster. Follow the onscreen prompt to finish the fight
Groups of enemies strategy:
-When fighting big groups, keep moving about so they do not surround you and attack from more than one side at once. The trick to fighting the group then is to keep your guard up and wait for one of them to attack and counter it. If there are Brutes or Seekers in the group, it will be much tougher. Try to avoid Brutes or Seekers at first and focus on the others.
-Use the following trick when you are in a situation where there are multiple guards, attack with a group (thieves or mercenaries). While your friends are attacking someone, come from behind with your hidden blade and end them. Note: This also works with the final battle where many Ezios battle the final Boss, though instead of your hidden blade (because it is never successful), you will need to use your main weapon.
-Note: The Disarm move is required. Occasionally you will run into the big "Golden Knights", or the men who just fight better than normal soldiers. These opponents usually have unique weapons such as lances or big axes. They are also capable of deflecting attacks and countering more often, resulting in you being killed. To take them out more easily, simply disarm yourself. Put your weapon away by pressing Down. When they attack, press X to counter and disarm them. This usually works in one attempt. Immediately press press X again to kill the unarmed man.
Use the following trick when you are in a situation where you will have to take on multiple guards, attack with a group (thieves or mercenaries). While your friends are attacking someone, come from behind with your hidden blade and make the kill. Note: This also works with the final battle where many Ezios battle the final Boss, though instead of your hidden blade (because it is never successful), you will need to use your main weapon.
Blunt weapon broom:
When you knock into a person with a broom or mop, pick it up. The broom or mop will act as a mace, hammer, or other blunt weapon. It makes it seem as though you are cleaning up the trash. Note: This can also be done with farmer's garden hoes.
Notoriety hint:
Notoriety is essentially your wanted level; the higher it is, the closer to notorious you are. Notorious is where guards take one look at you and say "Get him!". You want to keep the symbol of a head inside the gauge white. Gaining notoriety is easy; simply do criminal activities, assassinate in front of people, kill guards in general, run across rooftops, and even just bumping into some guards by accident. Losing notoriety is also easy. The game tells you the three methods of losing it: bribe heralds, rip down posters, and kill officials. The posters is the easiest since they are everywhere. However, because of that, they also give the smallest returns (up to 25% of your notoriety bar per poster, or four posters if you are notorious). If you are that bad off, four posters can seem next to impossible. However, you will be jumping about a lot anyways andare bound to find a couple of them. The second method, heralds, is your middle ground, but it comes at a price: 500 Florins for up to 50% of the notoriety bar. The cost is 1,000 Florins if you are notorious. Do not be dismayed by the cost as that cost turns into a very slight profit. The last method, the officials, give the best return, but are also difficult. Like the thieves and couriers that you chase down for cash, they run everywhere once they see you (up buildings, across beams, through crowds, and most especially towards guards). The reward is 75% of the bar for an official, but the time spent could have been better used ripping down posters and bribing heralds.
Loyal steed hint:
Horses are very useful. Other than the obvious use for travel, they can be ridden into a potential fight and dismounted. Lure your enemy to the rear of the horse and it will kick them, inflicting decent damage. They will also follow you after you dismount them until you enter a city, making them easier to relocate.
Fast travel hint:
You will start the game with only the ability to go between cities or other locations via a horse. This becomes difficult once more locations are unlocked and you have to go back and forth between them often. You will be able to unlock and use fast travel stations in the game. These also appear on the map to make finding them easy. Using this option does have a cost of 100 Florins, but it is worth that amount to transport to your destination instead of a lengthy horse ride.
Giant squid in Santa Maria della Visitazione:
Go to the assassin's tomb and find the large water-filled room before the room where you get one of the seals required for the Armor of Altair. This room has an obstacle course. Activate the lever before going through the course and stand on the edge of the floor, then look at the water. Remain idle until a large shape swims across the water. Use the lever again after the timer resets and stand on at same location. After a moment, a giant tentacle will appear.
Guards killing civilians:
Poison a couple guards and throw coins around them. People will run up to pick up the coins, but the guards will hit them with their weapons. This works best with brutes.
Subject 16's Legacy:
Throughout the game there ar 20 symbols which Subject 16 had hacked and put on the Abstergo Memory Core stolen by Lucy. They remain in the same location throughout the game. It takes a lot of time to find all these symbols once you can see them with Eagle Vision. You must complete a series of mini-games for each symbol. Subject 16 says that after you find all twenty symbols and decipher them, you will see and understand the truth. Note: The symbols are not all on the ground level and are at random locations. Two are in Tuscan (one of which is on the third floor of a viewpoint). Another is on the top left of the Assassin Home. There is also one in a stone place where Rodrigo betrays his man that you kill. It is under a wall on the side.
Mario series easter egg:
When Sequence 3 starts and you are escorting Maria and Claudia to the villa, you will be ambushed by Pazzi and his men. You will be rescued by your Uncle Mario, whom will say "Don't you recognize me? Its-a me, Mario!" when you first talk to him.
Getting bribes back:
When you bribe a herald to lower your notoriety, simply steal the money back with interest by walking into them while holding A.
"Kleptomaniac" achievement hint:
-Find a herald to reduce your notoriety and bribe him for 500 florins. Once done, quickly steal from him. You will get the 500 florins back, plus 3 to 5 extra florins. Repeat this one more time, either with the same or different herald, and the trophy will unlock in seconds.
-Go to Florence and look for a big group of people.Your goal should be to have those people walking towards you. Hold A and walk through this group of oncoming people while pickpocketing them. Since that button also serves as the "fast-walk", you can quickly get florins from citizens if you keep it held.
Shovel glitch:
On the Red Handed Templar Agent mission, there is a shovel near Ezio. You can pick up this shovel and use it to attack. However, there is something wrong with the animation as Ezio will hold the shovel reverse handed.
Flying Ezio glitch:
In the final Assassin Tomb, after activating a switch, try to reach it. Then, grab the switch just before it goes back up. The switch will vanish and Ezio will look like he is floating.
Achievements:
ACHIEVEMENT - HOW TO UNLOCK
The Birth of an Assassin (20 points) - Be reborn as Ezio Auditore Da Firenze.
Arrivederci Abstergo (20 points) - Break out of Abstergo.
Welcome to the Animus 2.0 (20 points) - Enter the Animus 2.0.
The Pain of Betrayal (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 1.
Vengeance (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 2.
Exit the Son (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 3.
Bloody Sunday (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 4.
Undertaker (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the catacombs under Santa Maria Novella.
The Conspirators (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 5.
An Unexpected Journey (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 6.
Bleeding Effect (30 points) - Complete training and reenter the Animus.
The Merchant of Venice (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 7.
The Impenetrable Palazzo (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 8.
Masquerade (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 9.
Bianca's Man (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 10.
The Prophet (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 11.
The Vault (30 points) - Complete DNA Sequence 14.
An Old Friend Returns (100 points) - Escape the hideout.
Myth Maker (5 points) - Find the 8 statuettes in Monteriggioni.
Vitruvian Man (20 points) - Unlock all 20 pieces of Subject 16's video.
Street Cleaner (10 points) - Hide 5 dead bodies in a Bale of Hay.
Fly Swatter (5 points) - Kick a Guard while using the Flying Machine.
Messer Sandman (10 points) - Stun 4 guards at once by throwing sand in their face.
Doctor (20 points) - Perform an Air Assassination on a Poisoned NPC.
No-hitter (20 points) - Kill 10 enemies while remaining in conflict without being hit.
Kleptomaniac (10 points) - Pickpocket 1000 Florins.
Lightning Strike (10 points) - Sprint for 100 meters.
Sweeper (10 points) - Sweep 5 guards at once by using a Long Weapon.
Venetian Gladiator (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside Santa Maria della Visitazione.
I can see your house from here! (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Torre Grossa.
Hallowed be thy name (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Basilica di San Marco.
Prison Escape (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside the Rocca di Ravaldino fortress.
Choir Boy (20 points) - Discover the Assassin's Tomb inside Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo).
Assassin For Hire (10 points) - Finish your first assassination mission for Lorenzo Il Magnifico.
Macho Man (10 points) - Defend a woman's honor.
Steal Home (10 points) - Win a race against thieves!
Show your Colors (10 points) - Wear the Auditore cape in each city.
Handy Man (10 points) - Upgrade a building in the Stronghold.
I like the view (10 points) - Synchronize 10 View Points.
High Dive (10 points) - Perform a Leap of Faith from the Top of Florence's Giotto's Campanile.
Mailman (10 points) - Intercept a Borgia Courrier.
Tip of the Iceberg (10 points) - Use your Eagle Vision to scan a Glyph in the environment.
A Piece of the Puzzle (10 points) - Unlock a piece of Subject 16's video.
Art Connoisseur (10 points) - Buy a Painting from Florence and Venice.
Podestà of Monteriggioni (30 points) - Reach 80% of your stronghold's total value.
Perfect Harmony (10 points) - Tint your clothes with those colors - Wetland Ebony and Wetland Ivory.
In Memory of Petruccio (30 points) - Collect all the Feathers.
Red Light Addict (10 points) - Spend 5000 florins on Courtesans.
Man of the People (10 points) - Toss more than 300 florins on the ground.
Victory lies in preparation (10 points) - Collect all Hidden Blades, Item Pouches and Armor upgrades for Ezio.
Hero of Masyaf (20 points) - Protect Masyaf from the Templar invasion.
The Punishment for Treason (20 points) - Find the traitor in Masyaf and bring him before Al Mualim.
The Blood of a Corrupt Merchant (25 points) - Slay Tamir in Damascus.
The Blood of a Doctor (25 points) - Slay Garnier de Naplouse in Acre.
The Blood of a Slave Trader (25 points) - Slay Talal in Jerusalem.
The Blood of a Liege-Lord (25 points) - Slay William of Montferrat in Acre.
The Blood of the Merchant King (25 points) - Slay Abul Nuqoud in Damascus.
The Blood of a Regent (25 points) - Slay Majd Addin in Jerusalem.
The Blood of a Teutonic Leader (25 points) - Slay Sibrand in Acre.
The Blood of a Scribe (25 points) - Slay Jubair in Damascus.
The Blood of a Nemesis (25 points) - Slay Robert de Sable in front of King Richard.
Visions of the Future (50 points) - When available, Eagle Vision your bedroom wall.
