Climbing

Climbing

To avoid guards and get through enemy territory, Shay spends a lot of time climbing. There is almost always a way to get through each region by climbing trees or buildings. Get up high and use the superior vantage point to avoid patrols, spot targets, and plan your attacks.

The Free Run button is also your climbing tool. Hold it down and direct Shay toward any wall or tree. If that object is climbable, Shay will automatically jump onto it. Press up on the left control stick to climb, use left or right to shimmy along ledges, or hold it down when trying to gently climb down off of something rather than leap.

Loose tiles, bricks, ledges, thick stones, tree branches, and splits in trees are all climbable. Once you see the types of objects that Shay grabs, it gets easier to figure out where you can climb and where you can’t. Try everything out when you’re getting a feel for the game, and then rely on that knowledge during more intense scenes to plan a path for escapes and clever attacks.

Certain pulleys let you get higher up very quickly. Ships often have these by the masts, but you find them in New York as well. Look for these ropes; they’ll often have a periodic glow to show that there is something special about them. Free Run into pulleys like this to activate them.

The Counter button is used to descend onto a ledge. Tap this if you’re near an edge to immediately climb down and hang from it. Keep tapping the button to drop from these handholds, but push toward the climbing surface if you’d like to grab hold again on the way down. Shay won’t take falling damage if he finds a handhold (his fingers are like iron).