Useful Combat Tactics

In this section, we offer a selection of useful tips and suggestions that will help you make the most of Arno’s abilities, and enable you to defeat even the most fearsome enemies in Assassin’s Creed Unity.

Strong Attacks

Strong Attacks, which you can launch by holding / (instead of tapping it) once you have unlocked these per-class weapon abilities, can prove extremely useful to expedite battles.

■ A Strong Attack performed with a long weapon leads to a wide sweep that knocks down the affected targets ( ). They remain prone for a second or two, which either offers brief respite from their attention or, later in the story, a chance to finish them off instantly with a Ground Execution.

■ If you use a heavy weapon instead, the Strong Attack is a slow blow that inflicts massive damage and knocks the victim down ( ). The charge time required to perform these moves means that you have to unleash them strategically, whenever you spot an opportunity – for instance after a Perfect Parry, or if you have just dodged an assault.

■ Strong Attacks executed with one-handed weapons cannot be parried by the target, which makes them very handy against the more advanced archetypes who will otherwise block your blows. It is possible to perform combos of two standard attacks followed by a Strong Attack and repeat this constantly, without ever allowing the victim time to react. This technique is particularly effective against Brutes.

Faction Fights

Faction fights are brawls that involve two or more factions: blue-clad guards, red-clad Extremists, and allies supporting Arno (highlighted in green when viewed through Eagle Vision). Technically, you can trigger them even when facing a single faction by hitting an opponent with a Berserk Blade. These battles offer you unique opportunities to get rid of enemies very quickly. Simply run a few meters away from the melee, then approach any target and you will be able to assassinate (or even double assassinate) opponents in rapid succession, without having to engage them at all ( ). You can deliberately engineer such brawls by luring groups of Extremists towards guards or allies in the vicinity.

Ranged Weapons

If you are finding a specific battle too challenging, ranged weapons can be your salvation. Every time you tap / with these equipped immediately after incapacitating a target with a Perfect Parry or Staggering Strike, you instantly remove a target from the equation – even the most challenging archetypes. With Berserk Blades, you don’t even need to incapacitate your opponent first. Simply move away, and the remaining enemies will be busy fighting their crazed former ally – leaving you free to step in to finish off survivors afterwards ( ).

If you prefer stealth, Berserk Blades enable you to set up fights that will draw enemies in over a surprisingly wide radius. As long as you select a target with high endurance (particularly Defenders and Seekers) and stay well out of sight, you can then pick off targets assailing your crazed and intoxicated proxy with Phantom Blade headshots.

Bombs

Whenever you face a large group of enemies, Bombs offer an instant reprieve from potentially deadly situations. Smoke Bombs and Stun Bombs enable you to escape your opponents or move to a more advantageous position. Poison Gas Bombs are probably the most powerful of all, as they have an area of effect that

can harm entire groups of foes. The combination of a Berserk Blade (to lure all guards in the vicinity toward the one you hit – ) and a Poison Gas Bomb to catch the entire group in the toxic cloud can prove incredibly effective in many instances ( ).

Ground Executions

The combination of a Perfect Parry ( ), followed up by a Staggering Strike ( ), followed up by a Ground Execution while the target lies prone ( ) is a very effective way to eliminate enemies quickly and efficiently. Though mildly demanding from a technical perspective, as all three actions must be performed in rapid succession, this sequence of commands is lethal against most archetypes (with the only exceptions being charged blows from Seekers and Brutes, which cannot be parried at all). Naturally, this technique is only possible from Sequence 10 onwards, when the Ground Execution skill becomes available for purchase.

Executing all three commands in a row takes a few seconds, which means that there is a chance that you might be interrupted by another foe during large brawls. When this happens, simply Perfect Parry the incoming blow and restart the process.