Health
The horizontal gauge in the left-hand corner of the screen indicates Ezio’s maximum health level, with blocks of pure white used to represent his current state of fitness. The only means of increasing his overall endurance is to purchase and equip armor.
Each block in the Health Meter represents four “hit points” in the underlying combat system. Whenever an attack leaves one of these partially depleted, avoiding further damage for a few seconds will enable it to regenerate completely.
Empty blocks, by contrast, are only replenished if automatically refilled at the start or end of a Memory, if Ezio is healed with a dose of Medicine, or after seeking the attentions of a Doctor.
Health Block Status
|
Symptom |
Remedy |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Health Block: full |
|
|
|
Health Block: half-empty |
Avoid taking further damage for a few seconds. |
|
Health Block: empty |
Have a Doctor heal you, or use Medicine. |
|
Health Block: damaged armor |
Have the corresponding piece of armor repaired by a Blacksmith. |
Ezio can also be injured by falling too far. His natural agility enables him to fall distances of eight meters in a straight drop, or twelve meters if he rolls on making contract with a surface to dissipate the full force of the impact. The degree of damage sustained after uncontrolled descents is as follows:
• 30% of total health lost when falling over 8 meters.
• 50% of total health lost when falling over 12 meters.
• 75% of total health lost when falling over 16 meters.
• Death (Desynchronization) occurs if he falls 20 meters or more onto a solid surface.
When Ezio’s Health Meter is reduced to zero blocks, he enters a critical state, indicated by a visual disturbances as the display flashes angrily. A further injury in this condition will lead to instant Desynchronization.
However, if you can avoid further damage for a few seconds, his final health block will always regenerate.
Desyncronization
Though the Assassin’s Creed Revelations story focuses primarily on Ezio, players are – strictly speaking – playing the role of Desmond Miles who, in turn, is experiencing his ancestor’s life as a genetic memory accessed via a high-tech device known as the Animus.
Success or failure rests on your ability to maintain Desmond’s “Synchronization” with Ezio. Diverging too radically from the true course of events in Ezio’s history causes Synchronization to be lost – which, in pure gaming terms, sends you back to a previous checkpoint or nearby landmark.
The following conditions all lead to a loss of Synchronization:
Death: This occurs whenever all blocks of Ezio’s Health Meter have been depleted.
Failed objectives: Desmond (and, therefore, you the player) must experience Ezio’s life with a degree of precision. Failing to comply with mission parameters may lead to a return to a previous checkpoint.
Moving out of bounds:
Attempting to visit a specific locale before the appropriate time (or moving outside the confines of a current mission area) can cause a loss of Synchronization. There is a clear visual cue that warns whenever you approach such boundaries with an icon as follows
. Take heed, and move away swiftly.
Anomalous behavior: If you attack allies or civilians indiscriminately, Desynchronization can be swift. There is, of course, a little leeway – accidentally striking the wrong individual during a pitched street brawl won’t lead to serious repercussions.