This article is a walkthrough of Assassin's Creed II. It contains spoilers about the game's plot.

Introduction - Outside the Animus (September 8th 2012)

Start by following Lucy to the Animus and sit inside. After this you are presented with a cut scene, which requires you to push a few buttons to make baby Ezio kick and punch. Not much time is spent in the Animus as Lucy quickly pulls you out and demands that you follow her. Use the run button to follow Lucy around the compound. You will encounter some enemies, but Lucy takes care of them for you. After awhile, you will come across a room with narrow cubicle walkways.

Follow right behind Lucy and make sure to stop when she does. Most likely, by following these steps, you will get through undetected. But, if a guard does catch up to them, just let Lucy fight them. Once you've passed the locked door by using your eagle vision, you will be in a garage filled with guards. Repeatedly use the punch button to knock all of the guards out one by one. But if a guard happens to throw a punch at you it's better to counterattack then to try and dodge.

Another cut scene begins which takes you to the hideout. Once there, follow her upstairs to the room with other people in it. You have the option to explore the compound and talk to the other team members, Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, but ultimately you need to sit in the Animus to start the first mission.

DNA Sequence 01: Ignorance is Bliss

(Repubblica Fiorentina - 1476)

Boys Will Be Boys - Florence

A fist fight: you and your 'supporters' versus Vieri de' Pazzi's henchmen while he stands out of reach to watch. Throughout the fight, make sure to lock on; this allows you to guard and block incoming attacks. To attack, lock on the guard and press the attack button at an enemy. After a cutscene, it's time for another round of fist fighting. To end the fight, defeat all your enemies or lose four squares of health. The end result is the same, you need to get 200 florins for the doctor. Hold the empty hand button while standing over a body long enough for the hand symbol to fill completely with color to loot them

You Should See the Other Guy - Florence

This is a brief introduction to free-running. Lock onto Federico and follow his lead as he heads for the nearest doctor (note: future doctor visits are significantly less expensive; each time they give you medical attention, they will only charge you 50 florins, not 200).

Sibling Rivalry - Florence

Beat Federico to the roof of the nearby church. Simply run up the face of the building, moving towards hand holds along the way. Federico chooses to take a scenic route off to the left (note: losing the race results in de-synchronization, but infinite chances to retry). After the race, Federico climbs to the top of the bell tower: a brief introduction to scaling tall walls (though a little late if you chose to scale the front of the church rather than follow Federico's path during the race).

Nightcap - Florence

An introduction to view points and leaps of faith: head towards the glowing point of view at the top of the tower and tap the head button to synchronize and fill out part of your map. Next, take a leap of faith off the top of the tower into the hay pile below by holding the high profile button while pushing forward on the left analog stick, then tap the legs button. More introductions via a short cutscene: hay stacks and other such spots marked with a whitish glow in Eagle Vision (hold the head button for a second or two) provide you with hiding spots. Make your way to the white wisp in the street below Cristina's window (marked with a yellow cross on the map) while avoiding the Pazzi.

During the cutscene, there will be three action buttons:

[optional button 01: Head] hit: Ezio kisses Cristina /// miss: Ezio stands still while Cristina comes to him

[optional button 02: Open Hand] hit: Ezio slides the sleeves of Cristina's dress down her arms /// miss: Ezio does nothing

[optional button 03: Head] hit: the candle is extinguished /// miss: the candle stays lit

Three guards are sent after you, whom you can fight. As these guards attack you with their fists you can easily counter them.

Paperboy - Florence

The Pazzi are still not fond of you, so try to avoid them. They are identified on the mini-map as red dots. Take to the rooftops to avoid them completely. Make your way to the yellow cross marker on the mini-map. While continuing to avoid the Pazzi, return to the Palazzo Auditore. Use the same roof-hopping strategy to avoid detection.

After the cutscene, three exclamation targets appear on the map. One is for Claudia, one is for Maria one is for Petruccio. The missions they mark can be completed in any order.

Beat a Cheat - Florence

Avoid the Pazzi and make your way to Duccio, the new yellow cross target on your map.

During the cutscene, there will be one action button:

[optional button 01: Action] hit: Ezio punches Duccio in the face mid-sentence /// miss: Ezio does nothing

After the cutscene, a fistfight ensues. To easily win, grab Duccio and throw him down, then run to him and start kicking while he's down. After you have beaten him enough, he'll walk off.

Petruccio's Secret - Florence

You have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to acquire the three feathers, which are marked on the map with yellow crosses. All the feathers are found on rooftops, so you should immediately start climbing. Stay up top and you shouldn't have any problem collecting the three feathers in the given time. When you pick up the third, the timer will stop and you can make your way back to Petruccio, who has since gone inside the house to wait for you. His location marker appears after the third feather is obtained (note: these feathers do not count toward the 100 needed for the achievement).

Friend of the Family - Florence

Follow Maria and listen to her and Ezio chatter about Ezio's fight with Vieri de' Pazzi. No Pazzi are along your path, so you shouldn't run into any trouble on your way to Maria's mystery destination. Lock onto her to avoid losing her in the crowd, or simply check your map for a moving blue cross target to follow. Once the cutscene ends, tap the empty hand button to pick up the box. Start leading Maria and Leonardo back to your house, marked on the map with a yellow cross. When you reach the swirl of light outside the door,stand in the middle and tap the empty hand button again to set it down.

Special Delivery - Florence

The three errands may be completed in any order. Remember to watch out for the Pazzi. There are two letter deliveries you need to complete. Find the yellow cross targets on the map, run there, and enter the light wisps to deliver each letter to its target. The pigeon coop's location is on a rooftop, so climb high to find it. Approach its shining door and tap the interact button to open it. Return to Giovanni in the Palazzo Auditore.

During the cutscene, there is one action button:

[optional button 01: Head] hit: move backwards to avoid injury /// miss: be hit on the head by Annetta, the Auditore housekeeper.

Jailbird - Florence

Along with the Pazzi, now you will need to look out for city guards as well. Though your notoriety meter is empty, guards will still, like the Pazzi, attack you on sight if you do not escape their line of sight quick enough. While attempting to avoid them, make your way to the window of the tower prison Giovanni is being held in, marked on your map with a yellow cross. Be careful as you get close. The prison has a lot more guards than you'll find elsewhere. Stay on building tops surrounding the prison. Be sure to approach it from the southern side. As you get higher up on the prison, expect to run into an archer or two. Try to approach the from behind; you can easily grab an archer and toss him off the top of the prison for an easy kill. Scale the clock tower to reach Giovanni's cell window.

Family Heirloom - Florence

Push and hold the head button to locate the hidden door (it will be shining). You can hold the head button again to deactivate Eagle Vision and the door will remain visible. Walk through it and to the shining chest inside. After, now that you are wearing the lovely assassin's outfit and have a weapon, make your way back outside towards the blue cross mark. A cutscene interrupts your journey. When it's over, it's time for your first swordfight! Unlike in Assassin's Creed, counter kills are immediately available. It is the most logical choice in this fight, since your health is rather small. Lock onto the guards and draw your sword. While they are easily defeated, always try playing a defensive battle, sticking to counter kills (note: being in the habit of counter killing is essential for the disarm ability later in the game to work). When the guards are dead, continue towards the blue cross mark. All the guards and Pazzi outside still recognize you immediately, even with your new attire. Once you've reached the target marker, knock on the door encased in a wispy white.

Last Man Standing - Florence

Walk through the archway towards where a large crowd of people are gathered. At the end of the cutscene, don't even bother attempting to fight; the guards are all armed while you only have your fists. Run away, turning sharp corners and taking to the roof whenever possible (by means other than the wall - remember the guards will throw things at you and presently, there's quite a few of them). Ditching your trail is easier from the rooftops, but it's certainly possible to out-hoof the guards on the street level. It is still possible to end the fight without running. Note as you dispose of guards, more respawn. You can disarm Brutes even this early in the game, so you can take advantage of this to get a good weapon early. A quick easy way to dispose of everyone is to climb the nearby scaffolding nearby, wait for them to try get on, and then throw one into it to kill them all at the same time

DNA Sequence 02: Escape Plans

(Florence- 1476)

Go and meet Annetta at her house. Notice the plethora of red dots in your house's courtyard as well as your notoriety meter. However, even though your notoriety meter is now different, it's still the same story: guards will attack you if you do not evade their line of sight fast enough. Taking to the rooftops guarantees a safer route, but now and for the rest of the game, you will run into guards up there as well. Locate the shining door marked on your map with an exclamation point target.

Fitting In - Florence

This is where you learn to blend. Walk into either group of courtesans to see what you and your surroundings will look like when you blend effectively (you should see a white webbing on the ground). Then walk out of the group and follow Paola. Walk through crowds to avoid drawing the attentions of the guards she walks past. Notice that after you exit a group, you have a couple seconds of leeway before guards will notice you. Use this to your advantage if groups of citizens are sparse. Don't be afraid to dash a short distance to get into a group, but make sure you don't run into any member of the group; they will back up and look at you, and you will not be able to blend with them. It is impossible to remain close to Paola, but just keep her in your sights and follow her general direction. After you return to the small courtyard, you will learn how to steal. Press the legs button while walking past someone to steal from them. Practice pick-pocketing the women and test your skills on the unwilling participants of the city. Steal from at least five people and then walk away before they realize they've been robbed.

Ace Up My Sleeve - Florence

Go to Leonardo's workshop, which is marked on the map with a yellow cross target. You'll notice you can now hire courtesans to act as a moving blending spot. Use them to your advantage. After giving you the repaired hidden blade, Leonardo is interrupted by a guard at the door. Use your new hidden blade to assassinate the guard, who is attacking Leonardo. Simply walk up behind him and press the armed hand button to stealth assassinate. At Leonardo's request, pick up the body, and carry it into his workshop. Drop the body in the wisp of white light. As with the first Assassin's Creed, you can use the hidden blade as a weapon as well, rather than a tool used only to stealth assassinate.Go back to Paola; the brothel is marked on the mini-map with an exclamation point.

During the cutscene, there is one action button:

[optional button 01: Action] hit: Ezio shows Paola the hidden blade /// miss: Ezio holds his arm out, but does nothing.

Judge, Jury, Executioner - Florence

Walk to the area Uberto Alberti is supposed to be in, marked with a yellow cross marker. Climb to the roof to reach the white swirl.
While the objective on the pause menu at this time is to 'follow' Alberti, you're really only making your way to the red target marker on your map (the art exhibition). Look around and consider how you can get over to Alberti's location without attracting the attention of the myriad guards in the area. Use your blending skills to join a group of people walking in Alberti's direction. There should be plenty of options. Once you are near the building entrance, you'll find that it's guarded. Just around the corner of the building, however, you should find a small group of Courtesans. Use them to sneak past the guards. Sneak up to Alberti and assassinate him. If he notices you, however, he will not fight back. Once you have killed him, escape the art show and the guards. Try to make your way by using the rooftops.

Laying Low - Florence

Follow Paola's advice and walk around the city reducing your notoriety; tear down posters, bribe heralds and assassinate corrupt officials. All will be marked on your map, provided you are close enough. You must reduce your notoriety to zero to continue.

The easiest task to remove notoriety is removing posters from around town. The posters appear on your radar and each removes twenty-five percent of your notoriety. Find and remove four posters and you'll have reduced your notoriety to nothing. Note that many of the posters are above street level, sometimes on low platforms, and sometimes on high platforms. This way of reducing your notoriety is the most simplest out of all, as you only pay a short amount of time getting to poster to poster. Less common throughout the city are heralds, who are propaganda spreading big mouths. They stand on the streets and yell about general news. Pay them 500 florins and they won't say anything about you and notoriety by fifty percent. This way of notoriety reduction is great if you have a large amount of money, as 500 florins is quite a lot of florins, especially at a time like this. However, you can either pickpocket them, or kill them and loot the 500 florins back. Officials show up quasi-randomly on your map. Their icon resembles the poster icon, but watch for one that moves on your radar and chase after it. This is the hardest way of notoriety reduction, as being noticed by the official will cause him to flee, obviously attracting the attention of nearby guards. Pull of a silent, low profile assassination to lower your notoriety by 75% with no problems.

Arrivederci - Florence

Since you are now incognito, guards will not bother you. Walk with Maria and Claudia towards the yellow cross marker on the map. The markers function as checkpoints, each subsequently marked with a yellow cross as they appear. Hire courtesans to bypass the guards at the city gate. There are plenty of factions nearby. Another tactic is to just throw some money in front of them, as they will easily be distracted by it. It will also use less money than hiring the courtesans, which cost 150 florins while throwing money will use just 10 florins. Continue through the three checkpoints once you are outside the city.

DNA Sequence 03: Requiescat in Pace

(Monteriggioni- 1476-1478, Tuscany- 1478)

Roadside Assistance - Monteriggioni

Begin leading Claudia and Maria through the canyon, you are soon interrupted by a cut scene. After the scene, turn around and fight the enemies that are attacking you. Once you've defeated the enemies picking on your sister and mother, another cut scene takes place, and leaves you with yet more enemies to cut down. Again, focus on defending your ladies as they're basically defenseless. Fight off the enemies - with some help from uncle Mario- and the mission ends.

Casa Dolce Casa - Monteriggioni

Follow Mario into the villa and up the stairs that lead to the doorstop of his considerably-sized home. Mario stops and talks for a bit before sending you off to do some errands. Run back into town and follow the map marker to the blacksmith. Open up the shop and use your money to buy a pair of greaves (armor) and a dagger (weapon). Just a bit further down the street is the doctor from whom you need to buy five medicine items. When all items are bought, the mission is ended.

Practice Makes Perfect - Monteriggioni

Talk to Claudia inside the mansion. She walks off. Find Mario further inside and talk to him. He'll demand you train yourself in the art of combat, and warps you to a fighting pit in front of his pad. You'll go through a number of training exercises, each of which needs to be completed at least three times before you can move on to the next. The final challenge is to defeat Mario in a fight. Mario, however, is pretty easy to fight. After you defeat Mario, he storms off after talking to you. Follow the marker on your map to Mario's back room and talk to the man there to end the mission.

What Goes Around - Tuscany/San Gimignano

Talk to Claudia in her room on the second floor of the mansion for a bit of dialog, but no mission. Next, go to the south end of town and exit the gate to find a stable of horses just outside. Hop aboard one of the horses and ride it southeast toward the map marker. Mario is now in Tuscany, just outside the city of San Gimignano. Hop off the horse and talk to him to accept a mission against the troublesome Vieri. Follow Mario up the hill to the wall surrounding the city. You can climb up the broken portion of the wall to the parapet walk. Be aware, there are three archers up high that you can silently take out using your new throwing knives, two on rooftops, and one at the highest part of the parapet. When you've killed the three archers, drop down on the inside of the wall and look for the crank that will open up the gate. Help your men finish off the last of the enemies, just outside San Gimignano's gate. Follow the group inside the town and Mario will stop to tell you something about distracting guards. Start tearing your way through the city, killing the guards in your way. There's a marker on your map to follow.

The marker eventually leads you to a downed mercenary who tells you that Mario's in need of help just ahead. Continue just a bit further and you'll fall into Mario's melee. Help Mario and the gang dispatch all of the guards and Mario will give you another target to run after. The target leads you to the rooftops at the north end of the city. A cut scene shows Vieri enter the town and send his men into a battle with Mario's. You're then instructed to assassinate Vieri, but you don't have to get into the thick of it. Vieri secretly retreats to the top of the parapet overlooking the battle. From the rooftop, you can jump to the stairs that run up the right side of the parapet. Head to the highest part of the parapet, where you'll find Vieri there, along with a number of other guards. You only need kill Vieri. Be aware, he'll block your counter kill attempts when using the sword and dagger if his Health is high enough, so the easiest way to kill is to grab Vieri, toss him on the ground, and then execute a killing blow while he's on the ground; it is also possible to achieve a Hidden Blade counter kill against him. With Vieri dead, the mission ends.

A Change of Plans - Monteriggioni

Talk to Mario just outside his home and follow him indoors. He'll part ways soon, leaving you to read a letter that you've got. After reading the letter, you can find Mario in his back room. Talk to him again for another cut scene. Mario sends you to collect four codex pages scattered throughout Monteriggioni. To find them easily, climb to the top of the villa and move to the view point to synchronize. All four codex pages will appear on your map, making the collection very easy. Just go to the four locations on your map and you'll find the codex boxes in plain view on the lowest ground level. When all four are collected, the mission ends. Locate Claudia on the lower floor of Mario's palace and talk to her. She'll complain about her duties, before leaving you to talk to the local architect, who's in the same room. Talk to him and he'll explain how you can invest money into the town to, eventually, make more money. Make whichever investments you'd like—it's your choice.

Exit the renovations screen and find Mario in his study. Talk to him and he'll open up a secret doorway. Follow him downstairs to the hidden Auditore Sanctuary and he'll show you something that you can't have, at least for now. There are hidden assassin's tombs scattered throughout the world that you need to complete in order to gain access to the Armor of Altaïr.

DNA Sequence 04: The Pazzi Conspiracy

(Florence - 1478)

Practie What You Preach - Florence

Return to Leonardo in Florence, two years later, now 1478. Leonardo uses your collected codex pages to give you new skills. After the cut scene, look for the marker on your map that points you to a courtyard behind Leonardo's pad. There are three new stealth kills you've learned, and you need to practice each. To perform the hiding spot kill, hop into the pile of hay, and press the assassinate button. The air assassinate move must be executed from a platform directly above the enemy that's on the ground. Just lock onto the enemy and press the assassinate button. The assassination from the ledge works by climbing onto the ledge just below the railing of the upper balcony. Press the button and Ezio makes the kill look easy.

The mission ends once all kills are completed. After this mission you will have learned the assassinate from hiding spot, air assassinate and assassinate from ledge moves. Once completed, you will have the double hidden blades. This is a formidably great weapon as it has the same instant-kill power as the normal hidden blade, but doubled. Now you can assassinate two people at once.

Fox Hunt - Florence

When you begin this mission, you're asked to find a particular man among the crowd in the village square whom is marked in green on your map. Use the Eagle Vision to locate your target, indicated by a yellow glow around them. When you find the man, approach him for a quick, puzzling cut scene. The man steals your money pouch. Chase after him, and once you're close enough, tap the empty hand button while in high profile to perform a dive tackle and bring down the thief. A cut scene plays out afterwards, ending the mission.

See You There - Florence

Initiate this mission by speaking with La Volpe and he'll start by immediately running. Don't worry about losing him, as he'll move to a spot above you and wait for you to meet him. After another brief cut scene, he runs off yet again, leaving you in the dust. Again, don't worry about keeping up with him. An icon will appear on your map that guides you to his ultimate destination, so just make for that target. Beware, though, you only have one minute to get there, so stick to the rooftops and run. You'll need to free-run like hell, though dropping down to the street level by accident may ruin your chances. Watch your step. When you reach the end point, a cut scene closes the mission.

Novella's Secret - Florence

The map marker will lead you to the entrance of the first of the Assassin's Tombs underneath Santa Maria Novella. Activate the skull carving on the wall and Ezio will drop down to the mission. There's a lever to the north that opens up a gate and lets you climb to the next room just ahead. Continue to the map marker and the camera will pull out, to show you the collapsed stairwell and the target you have to reach next. Start by leaping off the platform, jumping left to grab a pole and swing to the next solid platform along the wall. From there, use the series of wooden beams ahead to leap step-by-step to the next platform. There's a craggy rock wall that Ezio can climb to the next platform, and on this platform a lever on the back wall that opens up a metal gate in the center of the stairwell. Jump through the opened passage in the center column and out to another platform along the outer wall. Turn right and swing across a couple of wooden beams to reach another platform. There's another switch here. Take a leap of faith off the edge of the platform to drop into the hole opened by the lever. Once at the base of the stairwell, approach the nearby opening for a quick cut scene that shows some enemy guards moving into the next area. Head into the next room and you'll have a new platforming challenge. There are two guards to watch for on the upper levels of the room, so be mindful of their movement patterns. To the west is a series of rocks that you can vault across to reach a climbable portion of the western wall. From there, shimmy left, but make sure the guard to your left is facing away.

Look east from the northern wall and you can jump across a series of beams and swing from a rope to reach a platform to the east with a large lever. Pull the lever and the camera swings up to show you another lever high above. To get to it, jump south across the hole in the platform and look left. You can wall-run after crossing the narrow beam to reach a platform overhead. Once you reach the ledge just under the guard, you can execute a ledge assassination to drop the guard silently. Pull up to the platform and look north for the second guard, who paces back and forth. Wait for him to turn away and you can run up for a simple, straightforward silent kill. From here jump north to another platform that'll let you leap out to the wooden block suspended in the air by a rope. Once on the wooden block, turn south and you can jump to grab a wooden pole that'll let Ezio swing to another solid platform that was previously highlighted by the pull-away camera. Pull the lever on the platform and the big double-doors below will open up, triggering the curiosity of three of the guards in the next room. They take to patrolling the room you're in. Move to the ledge overhanging the stack of hay below. One of the guards will patrol near it and stop just next to the hay pile. Lock onto him and drop down for a silent kill. Immediately hop into the hay pile for cover and another guard will eventually see the dead body and come nearby. He should get close enough that you can perform an assassination from the hay pile. From the cover of the hay pile, wait for the third guard to inspect the dead body and show him the same fate.

Move toward the open door to the north and a cut scene will show the last remaining guard run away from you. Chase after him, but don't worry if you can't catch him. While you're chasing him, a gate will close behind the guard and ahead of you, forcing you to look for an alternate route to the right to circumvent the gate. You'll catch back up with the runaway guard for more chasing and he'll lead you to the upper level of a large hall. Run up a stack of boxes on the right and from there you can leap out into the open area of the hall and swing across a couple of beams to continue the chase. Another gate ahead locks in front of you. Look to the right and you can climb to a handrail and jump across a series of wooden beams. The rest of the chase is pretty simple. He'll close another gate in your face, but just turn left to continue following him. When he finally closes a large, stone door behind him, climb up a scaffolding to the right and you can finally confront him. Don't bother being stealthy here, you'll just have to fight the group of enemies in the large, round room. Play defensively, at least at first, countering incoming attacks with your full-sized sword. When you've whittled down the enemy's numbers, you can start fighting more aggressively to finish them off. After the fight, move down a nearby hall to trigger a cut scene. As the scene closes, continue down the hall to a room that's loaded with treasure chests. Collect the goods and then open the coffin. There's a door to the right of the coffin that you can open to return to the streets of Florence.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing - Florence

Hit the map marker and this mission will immediately kick off. You need to check the nearby street in front of a large, regal building to find a certain somebody. The area is marked green on your map, so don't waste time anywhere else. Just turn on eagle vision and, once you've spotted the target, a cut scene will take over. After the cut scene, defend Lorenzo de' Medici who's marked with a blue arrow. Move near him before readying your sword. If you see an enemy attack Lorenzo, you can frequently score instant kills with a stab to the enemy's back. Otherwise, just stay near Lorenzo and catch enemy attacks with counters for quick kills.

When the enemies are dead, escort Lorenzo across town. The escort is pretty straightforward, just run toward the map target with Lorenzo following. He'll keep up with you if you run, so book it, doing your best to ignore the men fighting around you. If you do get confronted, be ready to defend Lorenzo as you did before, putting yourself next to him so that you can counter incoming attacks. When you bring Lorenzo to the end point, the mission is complete.

Farewell Francesco - Florence

Talk to the indicated man and he'll tell you that Francesco de' Pazzi is mounting an attack at some tower across town. Take to the rooftops and start heading for the tower. There's a waypoint on top of a building overlooking the courtyard outside the tower.Go there and you'll see a cut scene in which Francesco sends his men on you. Get to Francesco, who's standing atop the prison tower. The northeastern corner of the building is probably the easiest to climb, and you can get a boost from the adjacent building. As you ascend the tower, you'll run into enemy guards. Do your best to ignore them.

Get to the top level and approach the northwestern corner to trigger a cut scene with Francesco. He'll immediately dive off the corner of the building, prompting you to take a leap of faith off the same corner. Don't worry, you'll survive. When you land, lock onto Francesco and chase after him. Equip your hidden blade and, when you get close enough, launch an assassination attack to end the mission.

DNA Sequence 05: Loose Ends

(Florence - 1478, Monteriggioni - 1478, Tuscany - 1478-1480)

Four to the Floor - Florence

Talk to Lorenzo, and he will hand you another Codex page, and give the names of the remaining conspirators after a brief chat about the past of his and Ezio's families.

A Blade with Bite - Florence

Take the Codex page which Lorenzo gave you to Leonardo's workshop. He will decode it for you, and add the poison blade to your arsenal, which will allow you to create a distraction and silently eliminate enemies without drawing suspicion to yourself.

Evasive Maneuvers - Monteriggioni

Return to the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni and talk to Mario at the house. He'll bring you out to the training grounds in the villa and challenge you to learn a couple of new things. The first is the dodge. After that, you will then learn the disarm move. The move is executed just like a normal counterattack. Perform it three times to complete the mission. Dodging will be very important in high-profile fights with large numbers of enemies. The Disarm move is very useful as you can just steal a guard's weapon as use it against them. Weapons from guards can't be found in any blacksmith shop. After this mission you might want to fight with you bare hands only for much of the game.

Town Crier - Tuscany

Make your way to Tuscany, where you'll find that you've got a number of missions to choose from. Select this one by talking to the man in the town square at the center of Tuscany. He advises you that conspirator Antonio Maffei is at the top of a very, very tall tower. Accept the mission make your way toward the tower. As you get near, you'll start hearing the cries of Maffei as he preaches aloud in his encroaching madness. Start climbing the tower from the eastern face and make your way upward. You'll have to move around to every other face of the tower on your way up. When you reach the top, cling to the platform and hang there. There are two guards protecting Maffei, and you can avoid them entirely if you're smart about it. Shimmy over to the eastern face of the tower and you'll spot a ladder that leads to the uppermost platform where Maffei is standing. Wait for the guards to move away and then quickly run up to the top platform and assassinate the conspirator. He's got a sword of his own so he may resist, but he's not above a quick counterattack, or even a toss off the roof.

Bugs

In the Steam download for PC version (unknown for Mac or console versions), if you have to reload the mission from the starting checkpoint due to death or some other reason, Maffei will occasionally fail to respawn at the top of his tower. You can verify his presence by going to the foot of his tower immediately following the reload. If his target marker does not move (he is supposed to walk around the top of the tower), he has failed to respawn. Aborting the memory and starting over from the initial meeting with the mercenary will fix this problem.

Behind Closed Doors - Tuscany

You receive this mission from a man in a small village northeast of the main city. The target, the Archbishop Francesco Salviati, is in a nearby compound. Your contact gives you the details and then tells you that you've got a small army at your command, but truth be told they're not that useful. Just make your way to the gate on the southern wall of the compound. There's a small group of enemy soldiers outside the front gate, as well as a few archers on top of the walls. Take out the archers from afar using throwing knives before sending your men on the guards to engage them. Once the coast is clear, you can climb up the face of the wall just left or right of the gate. Ezio says something about wanting to open the gate, and if you really want to you can drop down and try to open the gate via the draw handle just inside the compound. But as soon as you drop down, you'll likely come under attack. Stand your ground and counterattack the many enemies that surround you. So long as you're patient and don't get too aggressive, you should tear through their numbers quickly.

Occasionally, the Archbishop will join the fray and attack you. He's dressed in a unique attire that resembles pajamas. If you counterattack him, he'll die and complete the task for you. After the Archbishop is dead, your crew will flood into the compound and help you finish killing the enemies around you, completing the mission.

Come Out and Play - Tuscany

This mission is received from a man to the south of the city. A map marker guides you to the general location of the target, Bernardo Baroncelli, but it doesn't point him out exactly. Climb to the rooftops and use eagle vision to pick out the target (highlighted in gold) that's pacing around the market with a pair of guards in tow. The target repeats the same route pattern over and over, so you can set yourself up for a simple and easy kill. There's a well in the center of the market that you can wait in. Face south while you cling to the inside of the well. When Baroncelli's route pattern brings him to the edge of the well, lock onto him and you can get a quick assassination kill. After the cut scene plays out, you still have to deal with Baroncelli's guards. Be ready to defend yourself. There are nearby mercenaries if you need to enlist their help, but honestly you should be a-okay on your own. Clear the guards and the mission ends.

The Cowl Does Not Make the Monk - Tuscany

You'll pick up this assassination mission just outside of town, in a villa to the southeast. The target is Stefano da Bagnone; he is inside an abbey to the southeast, and the whole area is restricted, so the guards will react to your presence regardless of notoriety. Once you reach the abbey, climb to the top of the building from the western side, which is furthest from the restricted zone. Once up top, you can see inside the abbey to spy on its inhabitants and look for the target. Use eagle vision and the target will glow gold, though he's constantly under the cover of the halls around the southern perimeter of the abbey. Also along the southern perimeter, is a carriage filled with leaves that you can leap into without being seen. From here, wait for da Bagnone to reach the southeast corner of the building.

He'll stop momentarily, letting you quickly and quietly jump out of the leaves and assassinate the target from behind. After the kill, you'll have to leave the area and ditch the guards, but with such a wide open area around you it shouldn't be a problem.

With Friends Like These - Tuscany

The start point for this mission is on a rooftop overlooking an open square in the city. As people spill out of the main building in the square, use eagle vision to pick out the target, Jacopo de' Pazzi. The goal for now is not to kill him but to let him lead you to the meeting spot for the enemies. Drop down to street level and follow him, keeping your distance so that you don't give yourself away. It helps if you start the mission with zero notoriety, as you will be walking past many guards as you trail Jacopo. You can hire a group of ladies to offer cover if you need. Following Jacopo on the rooftops is a bit difficult just because of the places he goes, but you can get by okay on the ground. Eventually, he'll exit the city limits through a line of guards. You can't just walk past the wall of guards, so climb the wall, via the ladder to the right. You may attract the attention of some parapet guards, but you can actually fight them off while moving down the parapet path without rousing the suspicion of the target. Jacopo eventually heads away from the city wall to an outdoor amphitheater. The main path has guards nearby and it's a restricted area, so you'll need to avoid the guards completely. Just jump over the walls to the left or right of the main entrance and get in close enough to Jacopo to trigger a cut scene.

During the cutscene, there is one action button:

[optional button 01: Action] hit: Ezio kills the guards using the hidden blades /// miss: Ezio pushes away the guards

After the scene plays out, fight off the guards, including some seekers and a brute that you won't be able to counter. However, these guards are vulnerable to the disarm maneuver, which is just as good for killing. When you've cleared the area, approach the downed Jacopo and finish him off. It is also possible to do this in the opposite order, by sprinting past the guards at the beginning of the encounter to kill Jacopo; afterward, ending the encounter by killing off all other combatants or escaping will complete the mission.

DNA Sequence 06: Rocky Road

(Florence- 1480, Apennine Mountains - 1480, Romagna- 1481)

Road Trip - Florence

Talk to Lorenzo de' Medici and he will reward you with the Medici cape, which makes your notoriety not increase in Florence and Tuscany as long as it is worn. Head to Leonardo's workshop. Knock on the door to find out he's been commissioned by a Venetian noble, and left Florence.

Romagna Holiday - Apennine Mountains

Travel to the mountains to start this mission. Talk to Leonardo, who's stuck trying to fix his wagon. The cut scene that follows leaves you in control of a horse-drawn wagon that's being chased by an endless supply of enemies that attempt to leap onto the back. As enemy soldiers jump onto the carriage, rock it back and forth to make them lose their balance and eventually fall off. Just focus on steering and rocking the carriage. You can rock too much and flip the wagon, but it's pretty hard to do so don't take it easy. Also be sure to watch the health meter of the carriage—running into things damages it. After a mid-ride cut scene, you'll start taking fire from archers with flaming, explosive arrows that hit the ground ahead of you. Do your best to weave a path between these spots of fire as they'll further damage your ride. Eventually, Ezio lets Leonardo continue and hops off the wagon.

Now kill off a fair-sized group of enemies, including a brute with a nasty axe. Simple counters may not work against all of these guys, so throw in some disarm attempts, as well as grabs to throw them on the ground. When you've killed off the lot, move to the waypoint just down the road a bit to complete the mission.

Tutti a Bordo - Forlì

You are transported to Romagna, the area surrounding the city of Forlì To the far, far northeast corner you'll find Leonardo, who's ready to board a ship with you. But before you can join, you get interrupted with this mission to save a woman who got herself into trouble. A map marker points you to a nearby oar boat. Hop aboard and approach the oar at the back of the boat to start steering it. Row south and around the corner of land to reach the woman. Ride into the wisp of light in front of her, then deliver her to back to the docks.

Intermission (September 8th 2012)

(Hideout- 2012)

Training

There are four switches on the surrounding walls that you need to hit. Just activate eagle vision and they'll glow red—two on walls at the upper catwalk level and two on the lower ground level. When you've hit all four switches, look for Lucy and she'll lead you back up to the Animus room.

Altaïr dream

Desmond will go through the hallway of the hideout and he will start hallucinating. Now you play as Altaïr one more time. All you need to do is follow your target. After a cut scene, you're left in Acre with control of Altaïr. Move straight down the road and don't worry about the guards surrounding you. As you enter the castle gate, you'll catch sight of a figure running away from you. Do your best to lock onto the figure and chase after, but don't get too worried if you fall behind. If the figure gets away, just reach a high spot and use eagle vision to spot the glowing gold so you can continue the chase. You'll be led across building tops and eventually onto a parapet walk. Climb the tower at the end of the parapet. When you reach the small balcony midway up the tower, climb on top and stand directly beneath the beam above. Leaving the analog stick in neutral, hold the high profile button and tap jump. Altaïr should hop up to grab the beam. Your 'target' turns out to be Maria Thorpe.

You get a cutscene as you reach the end and are left sitting atop the tower. Perform a leap of faith off the tower and you'll be brought back to the present-future time. Move into the Animus to return to Italy.

DNA Sequence 07: The Merchant Of Venice (September 9th 2012)

(Venice- 1481-1485)

Benvenuto - Venice

Begin by talking to Leonardo. A man will come by and escort you two around the city of Venice, showing off some of the attractions. Cut scenes interrupt you. In the final cut scene, there will be one action button:

[optional button 01: Open Hand] hit: Ezio hugs Leonardo /// miss: Ezio does nothing and Leonardo looks sad.

That's Gonna Leave a Mark - Venice

The beginning point for this mission is near a heavily guarded area. Be aware that if you approach from the wrong angle you'll have to fight all sorts of enemies.When the mission starts, follow Rosa around as she runs in circles looking for her destination. Guards will show up that need killing. Do your best to protect Rosa. Rosa doesn't seem to know where she's going, so expect to run around a lot and get interrupted by a number of groups of guards. Eventually, Rosa drops to her knees, unable to walk any further. Get near her and you can pick Rosa up to carry her. A final waypoint marker appears on your map, so run her to it quickly. If you get chased, hire a group of mercenaries to distract the guards for you. At the waypoint, Rosa and a buddy take off in a gondola while you're tasked with defending them against archers on the buildings surrounding the river. Immediately cross the river by skipping over the poles to the southwest and assassinate the nearest archer. For a quick kill, you can simply toss him into the water—unlike you, the guards can't swim. Keep moving up the river, staying ahead of the gondola so that you can intercept the archers before they get a chance to shoot at your weak friends.

Look for red dots on your map that appear on either side of the river so that you know where to look for guards. The gondola ride ends eventually. As Rosa's buddy takes off, pick up Rosa again and bring her to a table in the crew's little hideout area.

Building Blocks - Venice

Talk to Antonio de Magianis, the head of the thieves guild. He will elaborate on the current situation in the city, and will tell you to aid his thieves, so they can regroup and launch another attack on Palazzo della Seta, home to Emilio Barbarigo.

Breakout - Venice

Ugo, one of Antonio's thieves, is standing on a rooftop in the center of the city. He asks you to free some prisoners held captive in three different locations in the city. The nearest group is just north of you. Make your way there, but beware the guards standing in the alleyways that surround the makeshift prison cells. Infiltrate the area by using the rooftops without getting any unwanted attention. As you get near the little holding cell, a dialog between the guards triggers. Wait around and most of the guards will eventually walk away, leaving you waiting over just a single guard. You can drop down and assassinate him and then open the door of the holding cell, but expect other nearby guards to attack as you do. Fight off the enemies and then make your way back to the rooftops with the freed prisoners in tow. They're thieves so they can keep up with you as you hop around rooftops. Make your way back to Ugo, who should be just south of you. As long as you can escort at least one of the prisoners there, you can move on.

The next set of captives, whom are to the south, are under even less strict supervision. Again, use the rooftops to get close and clear a path that you can use on the return trip. The prisoners are at the bottom of a courtyard, with just one guard in front of their cell. Drop down on top of their cell, lock onto the guard, and perform a quick assassination. You should go unheard, letting you release the prisoners and take back to the rooftops for a simple jaunt back to Ugo. It is difficult to rescue the last group, located to the west, without triggering alarms, though you can perform a double assassination on the two guards directly in front of the holding cell. Expect to have to fight off other guards that hear the event. When they're dead, escort the four prisoners back to Ugo. Do your best to avoid the water, as the prisoners will die if they fall in. For all of these groups there are hay bales that you can jump into from the roof. To assassinate the guard without getting noticed, simply jump into the hay bale, briefly get out so that the guard comes to investigate, and then assassinate them.

Clothes Make the Man - Venice

Speak to Ugo at the docks and he'll ask you to loot three chests for some guard outfits. All three chests appear on your map and they're all pretty close. First, head for the nearest chest to the south. The guards are all busy staring to the east, but you can drop down into the river to the west and come up behind them to secretly steal the loot. The chest looks like a normal treasure chest and is in a small alcove accessible from both the street and the river. To the east, the second group of guards surrounding the next chest are not as easy to circumvent. The chest is against the outside wall of the Frari and the guards surround it tightly, giving you no space to sneak in. But there's a group of thieves just north of the chest's location that you can hire and use to distract the guards. When the guards run after the thieves, loot the chest. The last chest is located at the very edge of a restricted area, which means that if you get close you'll automatically be a target for surrounding guards, no matter how suspicious or ordinary your actions. Thankfully, the chest is actually located just outside of this zone, but you'll need to distract the guards surrounding the chest before you can get at it. Hire another group of thieves and send them to the guards, then swoop in to loot the chest, being mindful of the restricted zone's boundaries.

For the last part of the mission, hijack a small oar boat nearby. It's just off the dock on the other side of the restricted area. We suggest climbing to the rooftops so you can get around the restricted area without alarm, and then jump onto the boat. Man the oar and row to the waypoint across the water to end the mission.

Cleaning House - Venice

Talk to Antonio again and you'll get a mission to identify and kill some traitors. The nearest traitor is in an area just north of you, so head toward the green area on your map. Use eagle vision to spot the traitor glowing gold in the area. He's on one of the largest boats in the water, just off the docks to the north. If you just swim right up to his boat, his alert guards will spot you and make a stealthy kill impossible. But if you swim underwater, you can get up along the southern side of the boat and cling to the side, a position from which you won't be spotted. Climb your way to the outside rear-left edge of the boat, just above the anchor hanging from the side. The target will patrol around the ship's deck and periodically stop right at that position. Lock onto to the traitor and execute a stealth kill to quickly and silently pull him over the edge of the boat, to his death in the water below. One traitor down, two to go. The next closest target is to the east and south a bit. Make your way in that direction and use your eagle vision on the rooftops to spot him out—the traitor is also on the rooftops, pacing in circles. When the traitor isn't looking at you, position yourself along the ledge of the building and wait for him to walk near you. You can bust out another simple, stealthy kill without any drama.

The third target is found along the northeast boundary of the city. He has a fairly long and complicated patrol route that always takes him by the water's edge. When he's not nearby, jump from the rooftops and into the water so that you can cling to the ledge just below street level. Wait for the traitor to circle back around and nail him with a stealthy assassination while locked onto him.

Monkey See, Monkey Do - Venice

Talk to Rosa, who has her buddy show you a new move that'll help you be a better climber. Cling to the wall under the scaffolding and perform a big jump upward. At the peak of your jump, press the grab button to get hold of a ledge, securing the height of your jump. Perform this move a few times to reach the top of the scaffolding and end the mission.

By Leaps and Bounds - Venice

Meet Rosa in front of the Santa Maria Dei Frari, the tall tower at the center of town. She challenges you to use your new climbing skill to reach the top of the tower. To make things interesting, she also gives you a time limit. Fortunately, there's more than enough time to reach the top. Begin climbing upward. You won't actually need to use the new climb leap for most of the ascent, but it certainly doesn't hurt. When you reach the first level of the rooftop, start clinging to the main tower. This is where you can't progress further upward without the use of the climb leap. Make your way to the top, synchronize, and then perform a leap of faith to return to street level. Talk to Rosa to end the mission.

Everything Must Go - Venice

Visit Antonio again and be ready for a quick time event during the cut scene after you accept the mission. The first order of business is to kill five archers surrounding the Palazzo della Seta, home of corrupt master merchant and Ezio's target, Emilio Barbarigo. Take to the rooftops and locate the guards. Once you've gotten near them, you can't let them get too far away from you. Kill all of them. A yellow marker appears on your map and guides you to Antonio, when all five archers are killed. Speak to him and he'll give you the last objective for the mission, which is to kill Emilio. Go east toward the building in which Emilio is stationed and hire a group of thieves along the way. You can use them to distract the guards just outside the compound. Once you're inside the gates of the compound, start climbing your way to the top of the building. You'll have to make use of your climb leap ability frequently, so look for opportunities to jump high and grab the next ledge. When you reach the top of the building, you trigger a cut scene that shows Emlio on one of the lower floors. Take out any nearby archers on the roof and then drop down to one of the upper levels of the building on the south side.

There's a guard there you'll need to take out, so be quick about it. From the southern platform, move east and you can look down a hall of stairs, up which walks Emilio. Wait for him to get nearby and then quickly run out and assassinate him. A cut scene takes over, after which you need only to talk to Rosa to end the mission.

DNA Sequence 08: Necessity, Mother Of Invention

(Venice- 1485)

Birds of a Feather - Venice

This mission begins in the center of town. A couple of conspirators meet up and begin walking away from you. You need to trail them, but obviously you don't want to rouse their suspicion. Stay close enough that they never leave your line of sight, but try not to run or do anything else high profile. If a nearby guard bumps into you and gives you crap, turn the other cheek. If you get into a fight, you stand a good chance of blowing the mission. Occasionally, the pair you're trailing will stop and look around. Do your best to blend, or simply increase your distance to keep them from suspecting you. If there's a nearby group of courtesans, you can hire them and have them surround you for instant cover. The courtesans will also be useful when the conspirators move past a line of guards blocking your path. Send the ladies to distract the guards so you can continue past them.

The pair move to a large open area and meet up with more conspirators. After the cut scene, the same rules apply—follow them, but don't get spotted. You should probably be hiring every group of courtesans you pass, as they'll get lost in the shuffle and you'll lose your cover as you progress. They don't cost much, and you shouldn't be sweating that kind of money at this point in the game. Eventually, you'll make your way to a dock where a cut scene closes out the mission.

If at First You Don't Succeed... - Venice

Locate Rosa and Antonio and you'll have to wander around the Palazzo Ducale to scout out a way to infiltrate the building. Lead Antonio to the first map marker for a quick bit of dialog. Another map marker appears. Hurry to the second marker to scout and a third marker appears to the southeast. Beware that the building is surrounded by a restricted zone, so do your best to skirt around it. The third marker is at the top of a tall tower that you must climb. It's not a tough climb, but the way back down can be tricky unless you use the leap of faith off the north ledge. After the leap of faith, wait around for Antonio to catch up—he's afraid of heights and won't leap after you. You need to now make your way to the north end of the Palazzo to hit a fourth map marker. Again, be careful to avoid the restricted zone's boundaries as you go around the western side of the Palazzo. When you hit the map marker, Antonio suggests that you've found a suitable route to the top of the building.

A fifth map marker guides you onto the top of the Palazzo. Climb the northern face of the building, using the scaffolding to bridge the gap between hand holds. When you reach the top, make your way to the map marker. There are no archers to worry about, so just hit the last waypoint to end the mission.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained - Venice

Locate Leonardo's new shop in Venice and pay him a visit. He and Ezio move to a rooftop to test out Leonardo's flying machine. As the cut scene ends, you get to play with the flight controls a bit. You don't really have to do anything. After you've landed or crashed, another cutscene takes over. Leonardo will tell you that the only way to extend the flight is to fly from fire to fire, located across the city, but first the areas must be cleared from the guards stationed there.

Well Begun Is Half Done - Venice

There are four areas of the city, all east of your current location, that require clearing. Go to these four locations and kill the brute guards, the heavily-armored guys that show up in gold with your eagle vision. Each of these areas has standard guards nearby as well, but you don't need to kill them. Move to the nearest area and you'll find two of these brute guards standing on a bridge. Approach them subtly and you can assassinate both without a fuss. The next area that needs clearing is a ship in the river that runs through the city. The ship is considered a restricted zone, so you can't just walk onto it. But you can board the ship from the water, climbing onto the side of it to peek above and make sure no one on the deck is watching you. There are two more brutes patrolling the ship's deck and you can easily slip behind them for another double assassination.

The last two areas are pretty close by, and each is marked by multiple targets. To the south are two brute guards on opposite ends of a walkway by the river. You can wait in the water, cling to the ledge of the walkway, and wait for each guard to get near you for a quick assassination from the ledge. Beware that there are small restricted areas marked on the map, and if you swim through their edges the lesser guards on the walkway will spot you. To the north, the group you have to kill is actually made of three archers on the rooftops. Getting to them stealthily isn't easy because of their formation, but since they're just archers there's no real reason to play it so safe. Just rush them. When all three are dead, the mission is ended.

Infrequent Flier - Venice

You need follow the trail of fires that lead you east and then north before finally turning south toward the Palazzo. The game gives you instructions for kicking archers, but it's best if you ignore them completely. At the start of the flight, there are two diverging trails of fires. Keep to the northernmost trail of fires and you'll be out of the archers' ranges. Try to get within the range of each updraft you pass—you may have enough height to completely fly over a fire without getting the updraft effect, but it's important that you get close enough to each fire to move higher. There's a large gap between fires at the northernmost portion of the trail and you'll lose a lot of altitude. The next set of fires is on the deck of a boat far, far below. Make sure you catch the updraft from the boats, otherwise you won't be able to continue. From here on, it's smooth sailing. Just keep an eye on the map to make sure you find your way to the waypoint destination on the top of the Palazzo. Once on top the roof of the Palazzo, get inside and seek out Carlo Grimaldi and the Doge. From your landing spot, you can use eagle vision and spot the target to the north, on an open level just a couple of floors under you. To get to him, most players would run around the top of the building and patiently kill off the three archers, but another much simpler path is available which doesn't involve contact with any guards.

From your starting position on the roof, there is a ladder directly in front of you which will lead down to an overhang. You can then swing your way along the wall towards the white wisp waypoint without any problem. The only danger is that there is a militia guard patrolling on the staircase below and he might notice you as you swing on the final pole down to the white wisp; but if you move fluently and not linger on the last swing-pole, you'll only hear the "ping" indicating he's suspicious of your actions just as you land in the white wisp waypoint where a cut scene takes over. After the cut scene, immediately jump back out onto the overhang where the last white wisp waypoint was and you'll see the target, Grimaldi, beginning to run down the staircase in front of you. You can easily execute an air assassination from that position on the overhang. After hearing your target's final words, your final task is to exit the Palazzo and ditch the guards chasing you. Run out of the building through the southern exit (it's strongly recommended using a smoke bomb to stun the guards who burst through the southern exit, making your escape quicker and easier) and jump into the river. You can dive underwater to escape the guards' watch and quickly lose them to complete the mission.

DNA Sequence 09: Carnevale

(Venice- 1486)

Knowledge Is Power - Venice

Visit Leonardo and he'll create a new weapon for you based on a design from the Codex. After the cut scene, move out to the yellow map marker and you'll get some directions on how to use your new Hidden Gun. Lock onto the three dummies across the river and shoot them. Holding down the fire button builds up your accuracy, making it possible to hit the distant targets. When all three targets are shot, return to Leonardo to complete the mission.

Damsel in Distress - Venice

You'll encounter Antonio and company in La Rosa della Virtu in the Dorsoduro District to the south. Talk to him and your conversation is interrupted by a murder. After the cut scene, you need to kill the murderer, who's marked on your map and doesn't move. Make your way toward the murderer and you'll be stopped as he threatens to kill another courtesan. Lock onto him and equip your pistol. Charge the shot fully and blast the murderer from afar to end the mission.

Nun the Wiser - Venice

Go back to the brothel and speak with Antonio and Teodora. Follow them to the heart of the carnevale, listening to a bit of Teodora's own backstory along the way. You will have to win four challenges in order to acquire the Golden mask and gain entrance to the Doge's party.

And They're Off - Venice

You've got two minutes to complete this fairly challenging obstacle course. A series of waypoints show up one after the other, and you've got to run through all sixteen of them, quickly. The first four are on ground level, so you don't waste time climbing any buildings. The fifth waypoint will start you on an ascent up the side of a building, and from then on you can expect next bunch to require some careful platforming as you skirt the side of the building. After hitting the seventh marker, turn left and jump off the ledge of the platform. Ezio will grab onto something hanging just off screen and swing around to the next series of stepping spots and their waypoints. You'll eventually have to climb up to the rooftops for a couple of waypoints.

On your way to the thirteenth waypoint, you need to take a big dive off the west end of a building and fall into the river below. Continue up the ramp to the street level and you can continue collecting the last few waypoints on street level. The final marker is on a boat.

CTF - Venice

The carnival game to the north challenges you to a quick game of Capture the Flag. Be sure to pack at least five medicines for this memory! You start out on a rooftop, pointed toward a yellow waypoint on the map. Start running toward it as quickly as possible, ignoring the red marker that appears on your map. The red marker is your competitor, who tries to get to the flag before you. As long as you start running right away and jump directly down to the street level (don't sweat about your health because that's where your medicine will come in handy, to heal yourself from the high fall), you should always beat him. Grab the flag and immediately sprint for the ladder that's literally a few steps away, which is laid on the same building that is connected to your start point. Bring the flag to the start point to score a point. Earn three points to win.

Ribbon Round-Up - Venice

This is the closest of the three carnival games you've got to complete in order to earn the golden mask. Talk to the game master and he'll challenge you to round up a bunch of ribbons from women in the area. Various groups of women are marked on your map. Move to them and pick-pocket the ribbons from them. You can usually get two or four ribbons per group if you bump into all of the women. Go around the area quickly to pick up at least 25 ribbons.

Cheaters Never Prosper - Venice

This is a simple mission. Just fight off the opponents that come at you using your bare hands. Even though you've no weapon equipped, you can still use the typical counter ability. Though you won't always KO an opponent with the first counter, repeatedly make use of the technique and you'll eventually drop the opponent. Eventually, Silvio Barbarigo will send in enemies with swords. At this point, it's acceptable to break out your own weapon and fight back, or to use the weapons of disarmed guards, though it's certainly not necessary. Defeat all of the opponents and the challenge ends.

Having a Blast - Venice

Get the golden mask back from Dante Moro who cheated you out of it. His location is marked on the map, but only with a large, vague green area. Move into the green area and climb a building so that you can use eagle vision to scout the area. He's located at the intersection of two major roads, and once you spot him he'll start wandering off. Drop back down to street level, hire a group of courtesans, and start following Moro. If you lock onto him, you can use the courtesans to distract the target, causing him to stop in his tracks. Walk up behind the target and pick-pocket him to steal back your mask. With the mask in hand, you can now make your way toward the fancy party. Ezio equips the mask as you near the party and a man in front of the party entrance will step aside to let you in. Teodora greets you as you enter and suggests you use her courtesans to help stay incognito. As an option (i.e. it doesn't affect the mission): before heading into the party, cross the bridge where you met up with Teodora and immediately turn right and walk behind a wooden structure towards a corner formed by the river's fence and a building. In that secluded corner, you'll witness a heated discussion between the brother of the soon-to-be-dead-Doge and a guest of the party. After that, you may then continue with mingling with the rest of the crowd. After you walk right into the middle of the party, a cut scene shows Dante Moro walk into the party and charge his guards with finding you.

The guards will slowly patrol the party, and if you get spotted the mission instantly ends. Do your best to blend. Find a group of partygoers and stand in the middle of them, but don't expect the cover to last forever. As the guards move through, they bust up the groups and threaten to expose you. So as you wait in a crowd, be sure you look for an alternative hiding spot. Look around for a group of courtesans and lock onto them, ready to hire them and blend with them at a moment's notice. Another possibility is to go left immediately after entering and hang off the edge above the water next to the small building. You are just outside the boundaries, but your health regenerates faster than it falls, so it is simple to hang there, and then swim over to the ship. Keep moving between blending spots until the timer runs down, at which point a cut scene shows the arrival of the new Doge, Marco Barbarigo. The Doge stays on a boat just off the water. Hire a fresh group of courtesans and meander toward the boat, waiting at the short fence. Teodora suggests you use your pistol to take out the Doge from afar. Blast the Doge and then make a hasty retreat from the area. You need to become anonymous to complete the mission, so just jump into a river and swim under a bridge.

DNA Sequence 10: Force Majeure

(Venice- 1486)

An Unpleasant Turn of Events - Venice

Find Antonio in the Palazzo della Seta, and he'll tell you about your next assassination targets, Silvio Barbarigo and Dante Moro, after introducing you to the new Doge, Agostino Barbarigo. They will also inform you that Silvio fled to the Arsenale di Venezia and occupied it with two hundred mercenaries. They suggest that you ask Bartolomeo d'Alviano for help in dealing with Silvio and his men. When the cut scene ends, so does the mission.

Caged Fighter - Venice

Travel across town, where you'll encounter an injured mercenary on the rooftops, who gives you some new information on finding Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who should in turn help you with Silvio. You get a large green area added to your map, but note that it's overlapped by a restricted area. Expect trouble. Take to the rooftops and make your way toward the target. It'll be hard to spot Bartolomeo from the rooftops since he's caged inside, but you can easily spot the semi-circle of guards surrounding him. From the rooftops, target the guards and you can take out two of them with an assassination, leaving just two more to kill. Fight them off, and then unlock Bartolomeo. As he breaks out, more guards will appear. Fight them off, and then start making your way toward the new target to the south. Unfortunately, Bartolomeo can't freerun, so you'll have to stick to the streets. Do your best to avoid guards along the way. While they won't necessarily bother you if you've got a low level of notoriety, Bartolomeo will pick fights with every guard he sees. And he is not good at fighting.

Bartolomeo will end up getting the short end of the stick in every fight, so you have to save him. Thankfully, since he's picking the fights the guards won't notice you, and you can just walk up behind them for easy assassinations. But again, it's best to try and avoid guards altogether. When you reach the waypoint, a cut scene quickly interrupts you and leaves you with a couple of guards that you must fight. Kill 'em off and then open a nearby gate to close the mission.

Leave No Man Behind - Venice

Move to the first target and climb to the top of the building in the center of the restricted area. From the rooftop you can spot three guards outside the gate holding the prisoners. Assassinate two of them in one move and then kill off the other so that you can open the gate and free the prisoners. They'll follow you, but like Bartolomeo they have no idea how to climb. Another map marker appears to the east, marking another group of soldiers to free. Normally you need to be out of combat in order to open the gate holding in the prisoners, but if your crew is fighting the guards you should actually be able to unlock the gate. When the gate is unlocked, a quick cut scene interrupts the battle and essentially completes the fight for you. A third map marker leads you to the last batch of prisoners, and again you can just charge the gate, let your crew pick a fight, and then release the prisoners to end the mission without actually having to fight.

Assume the Position - Venice

You're given command of a group of mercenaries and tasked with bringing them to three different locations. Like Bartolomeo, they can't climb and they'll also pick fights with any guards with whom you cross paths. Watch your map as you run toward the target and do your best to avoid red dots that mark guards. When you reach the target, you'll find a few guards standing inside a small yard. Take them out, then step inside the yard to hit a glowing waypoint. A second marker appears on your map when you've killed the first batch of guards. Again, make your way there while doing your best to avoid guards along the way. There are more guards at the map marker location, and another waypoint appears when you've cleared them out. A third marker leads you to the last group of enemy guards. When you've killed them, hit the waypoint for a final cut scene to close out the mission.

Two Birds, One Blade - Venice

Visit Bartolomeo again for the last mission in this memory sequence. The first step is to climb the tallest tower in the area so that Ezio can set off a firework. The tallest tower is marked on the map for you. The west side of the tower provides the best climbing surface, letting you easily ascend to the top. Reach the very tip of the cross and you'll trigger a fresh cut scene. Quickly get back down to street level to help Bartolomeo, who's not doing a great job of defending himself against Dante. Perform a leap of faith in the northeast direction and then quickly make your way to the new map marker. When you find Bartolomeo and his crew in a fight, try to spot out Dante (he's got a long robe and an axe) and focus your fighting on him. His axe is heavy and powerful, so you'll need to use disarms and sidesteps to defeat him (he fights like a brute). Damage Dante enough and another cut scene will interrupt the action. Dante starts running away from the fight, leading you to Silvio Barbarigo. Run after him, and fast.

Lock on for easy tracking and Dante will lead you through a line of enemy soldiers before he stops right next to Silvio. Break through the line of soldiers and you can perform a double assassination on the two targets. Mission complete. You can also run right, towards a circular building. Climb up it, and then run across the masts of the ships until you get to the ship Dante and Silvio end up on. You can then air assassinate them both without worrying about guards.

DNA Sequence 11: Alter Egos

(Venice- 1488)

Leonardo's Discovery

The sequence begins with Ezio sitting near the Palazzo Ducalle, contemplating his quest for revenge during his birthday. He is then approached by Rosa, who brings him a manifest from the ship that left for Cyprus the day he killed Silvio and Dante, and that it is scheduled to return tomorrow. The conversation is interrupted by Leonardo, who had just returned to Venice. He tells Ezio of the cryptic prophecy he discovered on the Codex pages, and that it speaks of the Vault and two Pieces of Eden needed to open it. Leonardo also found that the second piece is to be brought to the "floating city", and Ezio believes that the ship from Cyprus will carry the Piece of Eden, which will lead him to Rodrigo Borgia.

All Things Come to He Who Waits - Venice

After parting ways with Leonardo, break into the walled-off area to the northeast and trigger this mission via a waypoint on the parapet walk. After the cut scene, you need to trail a courier who zigs a zagging path through the city. Stay far enough behind him that he doesn't get curious, but also be sure to keep him in your sights. If you lose sight of him, a countdown timer hurries you to catch back up. Occasionally the target will stop and look behind him to make sure no one's following. Don't worry too much about getting spotted as he doesn't become suspicious instantly. If he does see you, just turn away and walk further from him until he gets back to walking. After hitting a checkpoint, the courier crosses through a line of soldiers and if you try the same you'll be instantly spotted. From here, you need to take to the rooftops. The target eventually goes through another line of soldiers, at which point you get a quick break by way of a cut scene. After the scene plays out, you need to infiltrate the building secretly and kill the courier to steal his outfit. Climb the face of the building and, once you reach the top, look to the right. There's a pile of hay you can dive into on the ground level.

Hop out of the hay just long enough to get the attention of the guard on the ground level before hopping back into the hay stack. The guard will wander over to inspect, which lets you get a silent assassination from your hiding spot. With that guard taken care of, you can walk behind the target ahead and assassinate him to steal his outfit and end the mission.

Play Along - Venice

At the start of the mission, you simply need to follow the leader through the city. Do your best not to bump into anyone, as Ezio will drop the chest if you do. Eventually, you reach the end of the trail and a cut scene takes over.

During the cutscene, there will be one action button:

[optional button 01: Action] hit: Ezio kills the three guards /// miss: Ezio does nothing

Now the mission gets serious. You've got to defeat Rodrigo Borgia. In the first stage of the fight, you're best off using a sword and aggressively throwing strikes at Rodrigo. He'll naturally block most everything, and you can't get a quick kill, but you'll whittle away at his health, slowly but surely. Be ready to counter his attacks when he throws them, but if you're aggressive enough you can back Rodrigo into a corner and he won't be able to do much. Eventually, Rodrigo calls in some backup. At this point, ditch your sword for your bare hands and use disarm techniques to defeat the opponents around you. Don't worry about attacking Rodrigo—you just need to kill all of his backup to progress to the next stage of the fight. The Seekers with spears are by far the most dangerous and, unless you've got a spear of your own to counter them, a disarm is the best way to take them out.

You can also, if you prefer to not take excessive damage, use a smoke bomb to stun them and then just stab them all with your hidden blade. When you've defeated all of Rodrigo's men, you get some help while even more of Rodrigo's dudes show up. Again, it is best to continue sticking to disarms to clear the enemies, ignoring Rodrigo until all of the lesser baddies are killed. When it's just Rodrigo left, equip a sword and go back to your aggressive offense. When he's worn down, a cutscene closes out the mission.

DNA Sequence 12: Battle of Forlì (DLC)

(Romagna, Forlì- 1488)

Rebecca says that she was able to repair the damaged sequences and that they are available to be accessed.

A Warm Welcome - Romagna

The sequence begins with a cutscene involving Ezio, Mario, Leonardo and Niccolò standing around the Piece of Eden. Unaware of what it does, they simply mystify it. Ezio mentions that Rodrigo Borgia referred to it as the Apple, to which Leonardo mentions "Eve's Apple". To anybody else who touches it, it does nothing. But when Ezio touches it, bright symbols and ancient writing fill up the entire room. Then Niccolò tells Ezio to protect it with his life, in which Mario suggests to take it to Forlì. He tells him that it can be well protected there and that Ezio will come to meet Caterina Sforza, which Ezio is surprised about and excited about meeting again. You will be back at Romagna, where infront of you will be a group of people. When you walk towards them, speak to Caterina Sforza. Your first mission is to simply accompany Caterina and Niccolò back to Forlì. Whilst on the way there, you will see citizens running away from the city. A citizen stops to tell Caterina that the Orsi Brothers are attacking the city. While suggestions occur that they are after the apple, they are really after Riario's map. You then must run to the gates with Niccolò and Caterina. On the way, Templar guards will attack you. When you reach the gates, you realize the gates are locked. There is another way, in which there is an underground tunnel. You must head to the tunnel, and unlock the gates, defeating guards along the way (Killing them is optional in some cases). To unlock the gates, you must climb the ladder to the right of the gates. Then you must kill the two guards Caterina has been shouting and then open the gates.

Bodyguard - Forlì

Your mission here is to get Caterina and Niccolò to safety in the Rocca di Ravaldino, Caterina's citadel. This time, you will have guards you definitely need to kill in order to pass along the way. Once you arrive, you will be ambushed. Kill all the guards and run into the citadel. Afterwards, there will be a cutscene where you learn that two of Caterina's children are missing. Then you find out that the Templars are breaching the citadel, in which Caterina asks you to stop them.

Holding the Fort - Forlì

Your mission is to simply kill all the attackers. You have to be very careful however, as Niccolò and Caterina are still fighting and if their health goes to zero, you have to restart the mission. Speak to Caterina afterwards. Once you do so, a voice will call out Caterina's name. The Orsi Brothers. They tell Caterina that they have her children, and that they can exchange them for the map they want. They also mention about the apple which they wish to acquire as well. The brothers tell Caterina that they have one hour in which to exchange before they kill her children.

Godfather - Romagna

Your mission is to rescue Caterina's children. You have only ten minutes to complete the mission. Locate the children on the map and reach them before the time runs out. You will be attacked by guards so do so as quickly as possible. Once you reach the district, it is obvious on where the first child is, which is around the area of guards. Once you kill the guards and speak to the first child, who is named Bianca Riario. You learn that her brother is being kept at the lighthouse. Head over there, to the south-east. Unlike the first area, if you step into the area, you will step into a restricted area, so if you are around the guards too long, they will attack you. You must climb the lighthouse in order to reach the second child. Once you reach it, you will see one of the two Orsi brothers, in which you must assassinate. Free the second child, named Ottaviano Riario, and the mission will be complete. Head west of the map for your next mission. At the same time as unlocking this, you receive a special mission, which can be found north of the map.

Checcomate - Romagna

Once you reach the location, you realize the second Orsi brother, Checco Orsi, has the apple, and that chasing after the children was a trick to lower the defences. Head south to the map, and when you do, you will see Checco running. However, when you chase after him, guards will do so too, so kill him as quick as you can. If you chase him long enough, you will find a horse, in which you can use to speed up to him and attack him. You take the apple back from him and kill him. During the assassination sequence, just as you kill Checco, he will stab Ezio with a dagger. Ezio will then fall onto the ground and the Apple will fall out of his reach. A man then stands over it, and when he picks it up, you realize his left hand is missing his little finger. He then takes the Apple out of the bag just as Ezio loses consciousness.

Far From The Tree - Romagna

Ezio then wakes up next to Caterina. He tells her the story and that he has to find the man who took the Apple. Caterina then gives you Riario's map, which shows the locations of all the Codex Pages. She tells Ezio of a place where she has seen people like the man Ezio saw, and to start there. He and Caterina say their farewells. Head north of the map, where you will receive your final mission. The mission is to search the abbey which can be located in the Romagna wetlands, and to search for the black robed monk who took the apple. It is a restricted area so be warned. If you head to the right side of the abbey, you will see a man being confronted by two guards. Kill them and then talk to the man. He tells you to head to the south of Forlì. Once you head into the area needed, everybody will fear you as you killed Brother Stefano. Three main targets run away from you, in which you must only tackle down one in order to get information.

When Ezio tells him he is looking for a man missing a finger, he tells you about Girolamo Savonarola, whom in the actual history of him, was a main part in the Bonfire of the Vanities. Rebecca then tells you the rest of the data has been corrupted, and that she needs time in order to fix it.

DNA Sequence 13: Bonfire Of The Vanities (DLC)

(Florence - 1497-1498)

Florentine Fiasco - Florence

Enter Florence and your mission will be to meet up with Machiavelli in the Oltrarno district. You may need to do some fighting as blocking your path immediately is a long line of guards. Kill them all and move towards the checkpoint. Alternatively, if you move quickly enough, look for the monks walking towards the guards blocking the entrance. Remember AC 1? Well it's the same concept here: blend with the monks and carefully maneuver past the guards, being sure to stay blended until you reach the city. Proceed as normal through the city to the bridge. When you meet him, you find out Girolamo Savonarola has taken control of Florence, and that getting back the Apple won't be as easy as it may seem. Machiavelli asks you to talk with him. When you arrive at your destination, you see many bodies scattered over the floor, with the emblem of Borgia. You then need to escort Machiavelli to the Palazzo Pitti. Ezio comes up with the plan to attack the lieutenants so that Savonarola is defenseless, which would give them a chance to strike. Each one of the guards is a different mission. It does not matter what order you complete the next 9 missions in.

Still Life - Florence

The mission here is to assassinate the beguiled artist, who is burning his own paintings in the bonfire. The area you kill him in is heavily guarded and it is a restricted area and you will be terribly outnumbered, so it would be best to just kill him and run. Once you come into combat with a guard, he will flee the area, so you have to chase after him. Once you kill him, you need to become anonymous. The citizens then leave the bonfire.

Climbing the Ranks - Florence

You end up walking into a trap, where a captain has been told that someone would end up apposing Savonarola. After the captain talks, guards jump into the ring and start attacking. You can either fight them, or just climb to kill the captain. Be cautious that there are many of them, including archers, so killing the captain straight away is the best option. Afterwards, you need to become anonymous.

Upward Mobility - Florence

In this memory, you have to chase down a nobleman, who is to tell Savonorola of Ezio's treachery. He will summon guards to slow you down. It is wise to try and run from them while running after the nobleman. When you catch up with him, assassinate him. Afterwards, become anonymous.

Last Rites - Florence

There is a priest at the top of the Duomo, praying. You need to climb the tower without being seen by anyone and assassinate him. If you are seen, the memory will desynchronize. Your best bet is to go around the left side of the Duomo. If you go to the right, there is a bunch of guards that stand guard, and are not patrolling. On the left side, there are patrolling guards, which all you can do really is hide from then until they are gone. If you come into contact, the memory desyncronizes. When going to the left side, climb onto the building to your left and on the Duomo, you will see a ledge you can stand on. Jump onto it and climb the building. Assassinate any guards that walk by while you are hiding (that you are allowed to do, as long as they do not see you).

From then on its just climbing to the top. There are two guards in the same area as him. Wait until they are both out of view before you assassinate him. He will not run from you or fight back. Once you kill him, you complete.

Port Authority - Florence

In this memory, you must board the ship and kill the merchant without being detected. This memory is a little more tricky. The boat is heavily guarded and there is barely a way in without being detected. The way to do it is to climb onto the ledges of the ship and docks and slowly pick away the guards one by one. Be careful as there are some area where guards are in full view of other guards being assassinated. Work your way to the back and attack the two guards by the wheel. Get back to the side of the ship as there are patrols at the bottom of the ship. When you are ready to continue, wait for the patrols to start walking further away from you before you go and assassinate your target. For a slightly easier solution to this problem, simply swim around to the back of the ship and climb up on the side that is not facing the dock. There is a guard walking along this side of the boat. When he leaves the section of the ship with the wheel, climb onto the deck and throw a smoke bomb. All of the guards will be suspicious, but you will be free to assassinate your target for 15 seconds, which is more than enough time. Another method is to bide your time in the water on the other side of the dock with the guard patrolling.

Once the patrolling guard turns around, swim to the side of the boat facing the docks and climb onto the side. Make sure the guards are not facing you for a short while. Climb onto the ledge, hop onto the ledge facing you and assassinate him from there. Use a smoke bomb to cover your escape and swim/run/hide until you become anonymous. An easier strategy is to shoot the guards from land. The merchant will eventually come to investigate, allowing a clear shot.

Surgical Strike - Florence

There is a doctor that is extorting the citizens, who will only treat those who submit themselves. You must assassinate him without being seen by guards. Your best bet to do this is to go and blend into the main crowd in front of the doctor. Head to the right flank and you'll spot a small group of four priests cloaked in black. They will move back and forth from the crowd to behind the guards. When the priests are closest to the crowd, quickly move from the crowd and blend in with the priests. Keep following the priests around and behind the guards, making sure you're blending at all times. Finally, when you're closest to the doctor, break out into a run and assassinate the doctor.

For a more straightforward approach, blend with the crowd in front of the doctor, and use the hidden gun while guards aren't around. Guards will attack you once you kill him, so become anonymous. Once you do, the citizens will leave the area.

Hitting the Hay - Florence

In this one, you must assassinate a farmer without alerting any of his henchmen. To do this, climb down off the buildings. Guards will only seem to notice you more if you are in the restricted area. You will see the farmer patrolling with some henchman behind him. Enter the area, and wait until he starts to walk towards you and then assassinate him. Run and become anonymous afterwards. Citizens will then be able to walk through the area.

Arch Nemesis - Florence

In this mission, you need to assassinate the condottiero guarding the Ponte Vecchio, who only will allow people pass if they give themselves to Savonarola. Between him are two guards, and again all over the place, there are many guards. He will attack you and will not run off. Once you kill him, return anonymous. The citizens of Florence are then able to walk freely.

Doomsday - Florence

There is a preacher telling the citizens that the end is near, and that they need to beg for gods forgiveness. The place is heavily guarded again, and as soon as you come into contact with a guard, he will start to flee, which you must chase him down and assassinate. Once you kill him, become anonymous. The citizens then leave the area.

Power to the People - Florence

Once you have killed all of Savonarola's lieutenants, head back to the Oltrarno district. A cutscene will emerge where all the assassins are in a group. Savonarola speaks in front of a huge crowd of people rioting over his actions. Savonarola asks them why they are rioting and not cleansing themselves, filling bonfires. Savonarola will hold up the apple, in which you will need to press the allocated button in order to use a knife to make him drop it. Afterwards, a group of people will carry him away. A Templar will then take the Apple on the floor, and you must chase him down and kill him. Guards will also start attacking you, so kill him quickly. The mission will end as soon as you kill him.

During the cutscene, there will be an action button:

[optional button 01: Action] hit: Ezio throws a knife at Savonarola's hand to make him drop the Apple /// miss: Machiavelli throws the knife instead.

Mob Justice - Florence

Travel to the Palazzo della Signoria. The mission here is to just attend his execution. You will then see Savonarola be tied up to a post and the area around him set alight. Ezio mentions that he does not deserve to die so slowly, so Ezio must assassinate him and give him a quick death, instead of a slow one. You are on a 30 second timer, so be quick. Just run up towards him and you will complete the mission. Ezio will then make a speech on how the citizens must choose their own path, and not follow others. The memory then ends with Ezio walking away with the other assassins.

DNA Sequence 14: Veni, Vidi, Vici

(Monteriggioni- 1499, Rome - 1499)

Before starting this memory sequence, you need to first collect and have deciphered all thirty of the game's codex pages. They're scattered throughout all of the cities in the game, and if you haven't been collecting them you'll need to do so now. There are thirty codex pages in total, and you should already have 14 of them by completing the story missions. The other 16 are distributed between the other cities as follows: Venice- 6, Florence- 5, San Gimignano / Tuscany- 2, Romagna/ Forlì- 3. Each codex is in a Bank guarded by a row of enemies, and you need to be Anonymous to enter. You have a lot of options when it comes to breaking in past them, including simply killing the guards. If you want to be more subtle, you can hire courtesans, mercenaries or thieves to distract the guards while you waltz in. Alternatively, you can drop a dead body near the guards and they'll move over to inspect it, letting you walk in.

An even easier way is to throw several handfuls of money in front of them, and slip inside while they're filling their pockets. If you throw only one or two, they may not take the bait, or worse, may go back into their guarding position before you get out, which will result in them becoming instantly alerted as you leave. When you've collected all of the codex pages, you'll need to have them translated by Leonardo. By the start of this sequence, he moved into the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, and can be found in the same room as Claudia and the architect.

X Marks the Spot - Monteriggioni

Activate the Eagle Vision and then walk up to the Codex Wall to bring up a puzzle. You will see the faint red outlines of a picture. Rotate all of the pieces around into their correct positions in order to complete the picture. Start by going around the perimeter of the puzzle and arranging the border—it's the easiest. Once you've got the border in place, go for the inner pieces. There are several assassins symbols scattered throughout the map. Making those symbols appear in correct position will result in the page having a proper orientation. The pieces should eventually form a familiar map of the world, with the continent arrangements you should know. When the puzzle is complete, so is the mission.

In Bocca Al Lupo - Rome

Talk to Mario and he'll send you on your final mission, to assassinate Rodrigo Borgia in the Vatican. Climb the wall to the west and use the beams sticking out from the wall to jump to a hanging platform to the south. From the platform, jump north onto the wall of the compound and make a straightforward climb to the top. Beware, as there are guards waiting at the top of the tower. You can stealth assassinate one of them from the far side of the wall, but you may call their attention with that attack. Either way, quickly hop over the wall and fight the guards. If you have forgotten to get health vials before you left Monteriggioni, or are just plain in need of them, do not forget to loot the dead guards. Many of them will give you health vials if you need them. With the guards dead, locate a lever on the northern wall and pull it to open a gate to the next area. There are two guards at the far end of the next yard. If you're quick, you can run across the yard and execute a double assassination while they try to figure out what you're doing. The gate ahead is closed, but you can climb to a level above (on the right) to find a lever that opens the gate. Just watch out for the lone guard up top, next to it. You'll have to fight a host of guards in the next area, so be ready for a brawl. You can get the jump on a couple with a double assassination. When the guards are killed, climb to the top of a tower to the west to hit the glowing waypoint. A cut scene leaves Ezio on a horse. Direct your horse to jump over the obstacles to avoid getting knocked off by the guards. Though if you do, you can stand and fight, or simply hop back on the horse and take off again.

There's a large jump that needs to be hit at full gallop to get over. Once over, expect to get knocked off the horse again. This time, you'll want to kill the attackers. With the enemies dead, climb the tower ahead and take out the two guards at the top. From the top of the tower, you can make a leap of faith into a hay stack below. There are more enemies on the next stretch of parapet, so expect a fight before you can climb up the next tower. And again, at the top of the second tower are more enemies to kill, and another leap of faith to make into a pile of hay at the bottom. When you land in the hay here, however, don't get out. There are a series of guards patrolling the parapet walk and you can take them all out with stealth if you're careful. Wait in the first pile of hay as one guard patrols by and assassinate him silently. Then, when the coast is clear, move out to the second pile of hay for another assassination. Climb to the next tower and hang on the ledge, waiting for a patrolling guard to come near so you can pull him over the edge. Two other guards are facing the opposite direction and you can double assassinate the pair by running up behind them. Jump off the other end of the tower and you can get the jump on another guard that's standing alone.

There's one more massive batch of guards to fight off in the next area. Be prepared for a grueling melee, and use all of your skills to fight off the attackers. Using a smoke bomb and the hidden blade is a quick and easy way to defeat the large group of guards. When you've cleared the yard, climb a nearby scaffolding to a level up above where you'll find a switch that opens a gate into the Vatican.From this point on, you can't be spotted or it will be an automatic game over. Fortunately, the only folks around that know you're not supposed to be there are the guards. The priests, dressed in their dark robes, have no problem with you walking in the middle of their circles to hide. In the first hall, skip between circles of priests to get down the hall. There's one group of priests that patrols around the hall. Jump in their group and tag along to reach the far end of the hall. Silently assassinate the guard at the south end of the hall and pull a switch to open a door to the next hall. To the left is a guard that patrols in a circle pattern, moving between the northern and southern halves of the hall. When he's behind the wall to the left, move forward and take cover in the next group of priests. The second section of the hall is a bit tougher, as the guards at the far end will spot you if you repeat the last move. When the second patrolling guard goes behind the wall to the left, follow him slowly. You can slip behind him and behind the other guards staring down the hallway to open the next gate.

Finally, you have reached the inside of the Basilica, where Rodrigo Borgia is speaking. Move along the high platforms to cross to the far side of the room and position yourself directly above Rodrigo. Lock onto him and execute an assassination. Ezio jumps down and a cut scene shows Rodrigo's "death." Alternately, you can climb down and blend into the crowds and assassinate Rodrigo face to face; but you'll have to be quick, and avoid using any other weapons but the hidden blade. Borgia won't be so easily killed, so you need to fight him straight on. You start with a bit of an advantage, as you've got clones of Ezio fighting with you. They won't really do any damage, but they will distract Rodrigo for you. Be aggressive in your attacks, constantly throwing sword strikes. Don't bother trying to counter at this point—if you're too cautious, Rodrigo will kill all of your clones and nullify the advantage. As an alternative, a couple of throwing knives will end the fight rather fast with the cover of your clones. Rodrigo eventually retreats. Use Eagle Vision to spot a couple of spots on the wall that you can activate to open the secret passage that Rodrigo escaped into. Run down the secret hall, and Ezio will confront the enemy for the last time. Don't give Rodrigo a chance to retaliate. Grab the man and throw him against a wall. As he tries to get up, you can hit him with two kicks and then immediately grab him again. Repeatedly throw him, kick him, and pick him back up. This is the easiest part of the fight, and also the last. When you defeat Rodrigo, the Vault will open. Enter inside and the final cutscene will initiate.

Credits Sequence (September 9th 2012)

After the cut scene ends, head down to the compound and kill the Abstergo guards with your new hidden blade. Since Desmond has learned Ezio's skills through the Bleeding Effect, you may also disarm the guards and take their weapons which act like maces. After that's done, a short cutscene will play where Warren Vidic will tell you to enjoy your victory, temporary as it is. Then you and the other assassins will escape, talking about the vision in the Vault as the credits roll.