Assassin’s Creed Unity Enemies Guide – Brute, Watcher, Defender

While exploring 18th century Paris in Assassin’s Creed Unity, you’ll come across two groups of bad guys, Extremists and Guards. Extremists are a sort of Templar henchmen, harassing the city’s population, and they will recognize and attack Arno as soon as you’re in range. Guards, however, are the city police, and will only attack if you’re seen committing unruly acts, like murdering Extremists or capturing criminals. Apparently they don’t take kindly to vigilantes.

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Within these two groups of enemies are five types, two of which are exclusive to the Extremist faction. Another important thing to remember is that each enemy has a level that tells you how difficult he is to take down. These levels range from one to five depending on the line of white diamonds marked above his head.

On that note, we have a short list of enemies in AC Unity and the best ways to kill them.

Soldier

These are the base units of each group and are fairly easy to kill depending on their level. They range from Level One to Level Four, and are only able to Parry attacks when Level Three or higher. They have no resistance, making them easy to take down at lower levels, however at higher levels they can perform a quick feint when they attack, making the timing required for Perfect Parries a bit more precise. They are also HIGHLY susceptible to ranged weapons, and will go down after one use of Quick shot most times. These are the enemies you’ll see the most, and should be easily recognizable by their standard equipment, a sword and pistol.

Brute

The first of the Extremist only enemies, the Brute is a tough looking powerhouse who is immune to Staggering Strikes, and wields a large one handed axe; they range from Level Two to Level Five. Their standard attacks can be Parried, but they are too strong for Arno to Perfect Parry and will therefore inflict some damage. At the same time, their charged blow cannot be blocked at all and requires quick dodging. 

Normal attacks will take a while to wear down the Brutes, but you can kill them easily with Strong Attacks (opened later in the game using Sync Points), which will make these fights quicker. We suggest going with ranged attacks.

Watcher

The sniper of the game, players will often find Watchers positioned on rooftops or window ledges waiting for some action. They come in both group variants and only appear as Level Two and Level Four enemies. These guys sport an unmatched detection still, and can identify Arno over very long distances, at which point they will engage him with their rifles. 

Watchers will also fight Arno in melee combat once he gets too close. That said, you can clearly tell this is not their forte. The best way to take out Watchers is to sneak up behind and dispose of them with a Hidden Blade, or take them out of the equation with a well-aimed Phantom Blade.

Defender

The last of the Extremist only enemies, the Defender is a spear wielding powerhouse who ranges from Level Three to Level Five on the difficulty scale. They aren’t very good at detecting Arno, but once a battle has ensued, they can be a pain to take down. They also make use of a special leg sweep attack that if successful will bring Arno to the ground, allowing other enemies to gang up on the lone Assassin. You’ll need to be quick once the icon for the attack appears, and make sure to dodge roll away before they make contact. Their unmatched strength and damage dealing makes ranged attacks the perfect way to deal with these guys.

Seekers and Officers

Don’t let the names fool you, this is really just one group of enemies and each faction labels them differently, though they have some different stats. Overall, they are the same enemy and share similar attacks and strengths. Since they deal massive damage, they should be approached with caution at all times, and always keep a smoke bomb handy so you can make a clean getaway.

On the Extremist side of things, the Seekers range from Level Three to Level Five, while the Officers of the Guard range anywhere from Level Two to Level Five, with the  Officer having a stronger attack in the Level Five variant. If you’re struggling to take these guys down, we suggest backing off and skirting around them. Avoid them as much as possible and shoot them with Berserk Blades near large groups of enemies, then watch them become a makeshift ally. 

To kill one, approach with a Hidden Blade or switch to a ranged weapon and nail him with a headshot from afar. Having trouble spotting one? Keep an eye out for enemies sporting either a Top Hat with a red feather, or a Military style helmet with a blue Plume atop his head.

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