S8: The End of an Era

Sequence 08 -- The End of an Era

This, the second from the last Sequence, presents Ezio with a formidable task -- the need to remove the final Templar Leader who is also the relation if the Sultan, which makes not simply the city but the entire region unsafe.  This situation is emphasized by the fact that the notoriety meter is now solid red as you enter the city -- this means that Ezio can anticipate armed resistance no matter where in the public areas of the city he travels at least until he removed the notoriety -- which he should do quickly.

With a 10,000 Coin reward on his head -- no questions asked -- Ezio no longer knows who he can trust or who might be induced by that great sum of money to betray him!  But that is not what the focus of this Introduction for Sequence 08 is really about -- what this is about is both informing you that it is time to wrap up loose ends if that is what you want to do, because after you start the ball rolling and from this point onward, you will not be able to do any of that until you have completed the entire story mode of the game and then you will have to sit through the 45 minutes of closing credits before you can return to Animus Island where, if you like, you can enter the Desmond Memory Gates or head through the main gate to return to Constantinople and thus enter the free-roam mode afterward. 

To what, then, are we referring to?

The following optional pursuits qualify as secondary story elements and optional activities and some of them actually do count towards the 100% Synchronization requirements -- so if you have started any of these and you wish to see them through to their ends you will want to do that now --  before you continue the story:

These optional activities include:

(A) Book Quests
(B) Challenges: Assassin's Guild
(C) Challenges: Bombs
(D) Challenges: Mercenaries Guild
(E) Challenges: Romani Guild
(F) Challenges: Thieves Guild
(G) Faction HQ Missions
(H) Master Assassin Missions
(I) Mediterranean Defense
(J) Peri Reis Missions
(K) Rebuilding Constantinople
(L) Recruiting Assassins
(M) Secret Locations: Hagia Sophia's Secret
(N) Securing the Templar Dens
(O) Animus Data Fragments
(P) The Desmond Sequences! 

The details for the above appear below in as much as what is required for you to wrap them up.  Bear in mind though that the bulk of these optional activities were fully addressed in the body of the guide above, and so the only way that you would still need to begin most of these and finish some would be if you ignored them in each of the relevant sections of the guide above.



(A) Book Quests

There are seven Book Quests in total, and six of them become available following Sequence 04, Memory 04, while the seventh and last Book Quest is unlocked after the Arsenal District becomes available after Sequence 05.

Note that each of the Book Quests functions in almost exactly the same way as the Signs and Symbols Quests did: Ezio must locate the glowing Polo Symbol with Eagle Vision, and then go to the waypoint, there to recover the book. 

After Ezio completes those two steps, he obtains 100% Synchronization for that book.  Simple rinse and repeat to complete these outstanding optional quests!

To determine which of these quests you have already completed, and which remain to be done, use the pause menu and then access DNA > Book Quests -- if the quest can be flagged it will be included as an undiscovered listing under this heading -- and at this point all seven should be flaggable and, if you have been following this guide, all seven should need to be completed. 

To facilitate doing these quickly edit the map filter to reveal only the Book Quests so you can go directly to them more easily!

The Book Quests are:

(1) The Polo Symbols: Hippodrome    -- The Travels of Marco Polo
(2) The Polo Symbols: Galata -- One Thousand and One Nights
(3) The Polo Symbols: Arsenal -- The Book of Kings
(4) The Polo Symbols: Forum of Ox -- Nibelungenlied
(5) The Polo Symbols: Aqueduct -- Iliad
(6) The Polo Symbols: Church I -- The Canterbury Tales
(7) The Polo Symbols: Church II -- The Flute Girl


(B) Challenges: Assassin's Guild

Level I
-- Call Assassins during a fight x25
-- Call Assassins on a target x20
Reward: Increases the Assassin Effectiveness in Mediterranean Defense Missions by 10%.
   
Level II
-- Use Arrow Storm x15
-- Call your Assassins within a story mission x5
Reward: Increase Assassin Signal Meter recharge speed.
   
Level III
-- Train recruits to the rank of Master Assassin x7
-- Successfully perform a Den Defense x3
Reward: Unlocks Altair's Sword at Assassin HQ.


(C) Challenges: Bombs

Level I
-- Stick a bomb on a guard x10
-- Kill a mission target with a bomb x1
-- Distract a guard using bombs x20
-- Kill five guards with a single bomb x1
-- Kill guards with Tripwird bombs x20
Reward: Extra bomb ingredients in Dens.
   
Level II
-- Craft a bomb with every shell type x1
-- Use any bomb x50
-- Kill a guard incapacitated by a bomb x25
-- Craft one bomb of each effect type x1
-- Use every bomb effect at least type x1
Reward: Bomb Pouch Capacity Upgrade.


(D) Challenges: Mercenaries Guild

Level I
-- Use Mercenaries on guards x10
-- Destroy a scaffold by throwing someone onto it x5
-- Kill an enemy using a thrown weapon x5
Reward:  Cost of hiring Mercenaries decreases.
   
Level II
-- Disarm and kill a guard with his own weapon x5
-- Kill a Byzantine Almogavar x25
-- Perform a Hook and Throw x10
Reward: Unlocks the Mercenary Faction Ability
   
Level III
-- Perform a double assassination x10
-- Kill five guards in under 10 seconds with melee x1
-- Perform a Kill Streak of at least five kills x10
-- Kill an Ottoman Janissary x25
Reward: Unlocks the Broadsword at the Assassin HQ.


(E) Challenges: Romani Guild

Level I
-- Use Romanies on guards x10
-- Evade using stealth (crowds/blending spots) x10
-- Kill guards using the crossbow without being detected x20
Reward: Cost of hiring Romanies decreases.
   
Level II
-- Use Tactical Bombs to escape guards x10
-- Kill a Stalker without getting stabbed x5
-- Kill guards with poison x15
Reward: Unlocks the Romani Faction Ability
   
Level III
-- Kill guards using bombs without being spotted x20
-- Assassinate a guard from behind x10
-- Assassinate a guard from a blend spot x5
-- Kill three enemies dazed by a single smoke bomb before it dissipates x1
Reward: Unlocks the Romani Stiletto.

Wrapping up the Book Quests

(F) Challenges: Thieves Guild

Level I
-- Use thieves on guards x10
-- Sprint uninterrupted for 300 meters x1
-- Perform a Hook and Run x15
Reward: Cost of hiring Thieves decreases.
   
Level II
-- Perform a Leap of Faith x40
-- Climb a total distance of 1 km x1
-- Steal money with a Counter Steal 250 Coins
Reward: Unlocks the Thief Faction Ability
   
Level III
-- Perform a dive of at least 30 meters x1
-- Kill a guard using throwing knives x25
-- Perform an air assassination on guards from a beam x5
-- Perform a zipline assassination x10
Reward: Unlocks the Ottoman Mace.


(G) Faction HQ Missions

These will have been completed -- if you have been following the guide -- early in the story line.  If not, find their location in the guide and follow the instructions there!


(H) Master Assassin Missions

These you will have completed as part of the securing if the Dens and unlocking the related Achievements as per the guide, which you have been following :)  If not :(  then locate the appropriate section and follow the details therein!


(I) Mediterranean Defense

This can be as time-consuming as you like or as quick as you like... As you like it.  The easy way to do these is to simply dispatch a pair of Master Assassins to the City for its Take Control Mission and, ten minutes later, the Assassins control the city!  Now do that for the rest and in just under two hours you will have unolocked the related Achievements and satisfied your need to take over cities!


(J) Peri Reis Missions

If you have been following the guide you have already completed these missions.  If not, go to the section called "Bomb Crafting" and follow it.


(K) Rebuilding Constantinople

You should have already completed this process if you followed the guide, but if not this is simply a matter of purchasing the last few shops and Landmarks, and renovating all of the Faction Buildings and placing a Faction within.  Use the filter on the map to make these easier to locate and then make the purchases / renovations -- you should have more than enough coin to do them all in one run now.



(L) Recruiting Assassins

This is part of the logical line for the Master Assassin Missions -- and it is covered in the guide so, as long as you have been following it you have completed these.  In any event these are covered in detail in the appropriate section of the guide -- so head there!


(M) Secret Locations: Hagia Sophia's Secret

We actually cover this in the next Section following this Section -- so when you are finished evaluating the entries above this and the one below, and you have wrapped up anything within this section that needs wrapping up, the next section will complete these for you!


(N) Securing the Templar Dens

This is covered in the guide and includes the process of leveling your Apprentices to Level 10 and assigning them as Den Leader for each of the Dens in Constantinople, and then leveling them to Level 15 and completing the 2-part Mastery Mission for each, which thus renders the Den locked and free from the threat of attack.

If for whatever reason you have yet to complete these, please see the appropriate section of the guide for the details...


(O) Animus Data Fragments

There are a grand total of 100 Animus Data Fragments in the game, with 88 being distributed around the districts of Constantinople, and 12 located in the area of Cappadocia.  Since you do not have access to the Cappaoicia area until you begin Sequence 7, you will not have had the opportunity to complete this collection until recently in the logical guide-play. 

In addition to being a collection in their own right and the subject of their own Achievement, the Data Fragments also serve another purpose, that being to unlock the Desmond Memories that are accessed through the beach on Animus Island -- and as a consequence of this, are required for you to proceed beyond this point in the guide.  So if you have yet to collect the requisite number needed to unlock the Desmond Memories, it is time to do so now.

The Desmond Sequences do not actually require you to have completed the entire Data Fragment Collection or to have unlocked the achievement that is associated with doing so, rather there are speficic target numbers that you need to seek if you do not plan to complete the collection prior to completing the game.  These are:

-- 5 unlocks Desmond Memory Sequence 1
-- 10 unlocks Desmond Memory Sequence 2
-- 15 unlocks Desmond Memory Sequence 3
-- 20 unlocks Desmond Memory Sequence 4
-- 25 unlocks Memoir Pages treasure map unlocked in bookstores
-- 30 unlocks Desmond Memory Sequence 5
-- 50 unlocks Remaining Fragment Locations appear on the Map

If you need to collect the 30 required (or however many you still need) that means that you do not have the 50 required to have the remaining Fragments appear on the map.  This is not a big deal however, as the Fragments can easily be added to the map by using a trick that is based upon the fact that you do not actually have to SEE them to add them to the map...

Basically how it works is really simple -- start at one corner of the map, turn on Eagle Vision, and then run from rooftop to rooftop, climbing to the highest points in various parts of each district and turning in place to "scan" the area.  Eagle Vision actually works like a beam of information-gathering power, so even when the Data Fragment is blocked from your visual line-of-sight, you still detect it and it is still added to the map!

So your best and easiest method to get the Fragments you need is to run around with Eagle Vision turned on as described above and, once you reach the other side of the city, turn off Eagle Vision (the fragments do NOT appear on the map while Eagle Vision is turned on) and then start tagging them with the map marker and collecting them.  You will very quickly get the 30 you need, or for that matter the 50, after which point if you like you can go ahead and complete the collection now.


-- Wrapping Up this Section --

Now that you have completed all of the above there are only a few more modest steps before you will be on the road to finishing the story mode!  That is to say, now that you have completed the items listed above that you are interested in completing -- because save for some few obvious ones, many of these can actually be completed in free roam following the story mode completion -- I am just saying...

As you will see there are two outstanding issues that we will now need to complete -- Hagia Sophia and  (P) The Desmond Sequences! 

After we complete the Desmond Sequences we will have addressed all of the optional components of the game, and we will therefore be more than ready to take the story to its inevitable completion.  Before we embark upon those I just want to say well done! This has been a long and very strange ride and you did very well on it!