The Assassin's Achievements

With forty-four achievements almost equally divided among story-related conquests, world exploration and action-based goals, Assassin's Creed™ offers some of the most balanced and challenging achievements available on Xbox 360®. We've focused in on some of Altair's more daring and difficult achievements so that your path to a greater Gamerscore may go more smoothly.

Tsk, tsk. All major targets should be struck down with the hidden-blade attack.

We haven't included tips for flag gathering or for tracking down each and every Templar Knight. Save the use of downloaded maps with each flag and Templar location noted, only exhaustive and dedicated world exploration will unlock these achievements.

Absolute Symbiosis: Have a complete synchronization bar (45 points)
Those that wish to hurry through the fewest number of investigation missions before tackling their assassination targets are in for a rude Gamerscore awakening. Each investigation and side-mission increases your "synchronization" with your ancestor, so make sure to scale every View Point, save every citizen, and investigate every target fully. You don't need to complete one hundred percent of these missions, though you'll unlock this achievement faster if you complete every mission in each district.

Conversationalist: Go through every dialogue with Lucy (20 points)
This achievement is really just a question of awareness. If you've missed the chance in between missions to chat with Lucy, you're out of luck. However, if you're just starting out, make absolutely sure to talk with Lucy whenever possible.

Use Blend with scholars twenty times for the March of the Pious achievement.

You should see a B button prompt in the lower right-hand corner of the screen when the option to speak with Lucy is available. This prompt can be a little sensitive, so if it isn't immediately available, try walking around Lucy to make certain whether or not you can speak with her. Lucy may have more than one subject on her mind, so even if you've already talked to her once, try chatting her up a second and even third time. You must exhaust every bit of her available dialogue to score this achievement.

Disciple of the Creed: Assassinate every one of your targets with a full DNA bar (30 points)
Again, this achievement really only requires awareness and patience. You need to assassinate every target with a full DNA (health) bar, not just kill them in open combat. Make sure every assassination is a one-hit kill with your hidden blade. This doesn't mean that every assassination must be a low-profile hidden-blade attack though. Holding down Right Trigger for a hidden-blade strike for a high-profile assassination will still score this achievement.

Eagle's Flight: Last ten minutes in open conflict (20 points)
The end of nearly every major assassination mission is the same: a city-wide alert is raised, placing you in immediate and ongoing open conflict. This is the perfect opportunity to gain the Eagle's Flight achievement. Run, hop, scale, and sprint through the streets and over the rooftops, avoiding death but always enticing nearby guards to follow you. Keep this up for ten minutes and you're home free. To make things even easier, try this strategy well into the game when your DNA bar is well stocked.

Enemy of the Poor: Grab and throw 25 harassers (5 points)
There has been some confusion regarding who qualifies as a harasser. In short, it's not the guards and soldiers harassing citizens, but instead the beggars that rush up to Altair, impeding his path while begging for money. Grab hold of them (Right Trigger and B) and toss them aside. It may be cold, but hey, it's the price they pay for meddling in an assassin's affairs.

Check every rooftop, alley, and broken down building for flags.

Blade in the Crowd: Kill one of your main targets like a true assassin (30 points)
A true assassination involves successfully combining a couple of different variables. First, you must strike down your opponent with a low-profile (don't hold Right Trigger) hidden-blade attack, and secondly, you must do so without alerting any nearby guards.

This can be most easily accomplished during your first primary assassination mission against Tamir, the Black Market Merchant in Damascus. Follow him around the market courtyard until you're out of the guards' direct line of sight. Then, once you've hit him with a low-profile hidden-blade attack, walk away. Don't run or scale walls (at least not initially) or you'll attract attention and ruin your chance at the Blade in the Crowd achievement.

Hungerer of Knowledge: See 85% of all memory glitches (20 points)
Any time you see the screen filled with a mass of jumbled digital "code" you know that a memory glitch has just been activated. Press any button immediately after the code appears and the camera's perspective should change. These glitches can be found primarily when initiating the last stage of an assassination mission, such as when Abul Nuqoud is addressing the citizenry from his balcony. They also occur immediately after assassinating a primary target. Keep your fingers at the ready during these moments as well as any other cutscene and you should have no problem picking up this achievement.

Defender of the People: Complete every free mission in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre (20 points per city)
Saving citizens is a relatively straightforward process, though finding them can sometimes prove troublesome. In order to track down every free mission in each city, make certain that you have scaled every View Point. Only when you've Synchronized at the top of a View Point will the available free missions appear on your map.

That's it for now, assassin. Sheath your blade and go forth, quietly, and do your brethren proud.

Article by Ryan Treit