Smoke screen bomb

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Piri: "Ah! Turkish smoke bombs. Are you curious to try a few?"

Ezio: "Should I? I have used smoke bombs before, with varying results."

Piri: "But not like ours. We have a special recipe for deep, dark clouds. Throw one of these and your eyes are useless. You must rely on your hearing, and... any other senses you may have cultivated."

—Piri Reis, describing a smoke screen bomb to Ezio, 1511.

A smoke screen bomb with a fuse casing

A smoke screen bomb, also known simply as a smoke bomb, is a non-lethal explosive device which emits smoke upon ignition. As its name implies, its primary function is to create a smoke screen to conceal movement and disorient enemies. Depending on the design, a smoke bomb may momentarily incapacitate targets caught in its field rather than simply hampering vision. For this reason, a smoke bomb is a basic yet highly effective tool for stealth operations which can be employed for tactical retreats, escapes, or even offensively in combat and assassinations.

Smoke screen bombs have been used by the Assassins since their founding as the Hidden Ones in 47 BCE, and the bombs remain a regular and indispensable part of their arsenal into the modern times. Although stealth is not as central to their modus operandi as it is to their archenemies, the Templars have also trained their agents to rely on smoke bombs when necessary, most notably as a last ditch escape from assassination.

Description

Design

Upon detonation, a smoke screen bomb produces a cloud of smoke dense enough to obscure all vision such that absent special gadgets or Eagle Vision, it is impossible for the human eye to penetrate the fog. Typically, the smoke is so debilitating that it affects more than just sight, disorienting unprepared individuals by suffocating them. Because the smoke is not commonly designed to last for more than several seconds before dissipating, no permanent ill effects are dealt to those breathing the gas.

Functions and techniques

As a result, the smoke bomb is a fairly simple yet enormously versatile explosive device ideal for stealth operations. Its foremost function is to facilitate disengagement from conflict through concealment, permitting quick escapes or tactical retreats. However, it may also be used offensively to incapacitate groups of enemies, creating an opening for unimpeded engagement. In an age of fully automatic, high-calibre firearms, this may be necessary for outnumbered, under-equipped Assassins to close the gap against special forces.

Aside from combat or escapes, smoke bombs are potent tools for assassination or counter-assassination. Similar to the aforementioned techniques, Assassins have relied on smoke bombs to stun powerful enemies for added insurance before approaching with their Hidden Blade. Owing to their history as casualties of such assassinations, Templar recruits who participated in the 2011–2014 Animi Training Program learned to deploy last-second smoke bombs at the approach of enemy assassins, providing them the needed opportunity to counter-attack or escape.

The non-lethal nature of smoke bombs ensures that operatives deploying it have greater control over the injury they inflict on enemies in hostile environments, providing the opportunity for them to avoid killing altogether. In crowded, public areas, this is especially vital as it permits Assassins to engage or disengage without harming innocent civilians in accordance with their strict Creed.

Variations

The smoke bomb crafted and employed by the Assassins has historically utilized white phosphorus as its main component. Under the Ottoman Brotherhood, smoke bombs were created, like other bombs in their arsenal, with either impact bomb casings or fuse bomb casings. These alter the design of the bomb such that it either detonates upon impact or after a short delay upon ignition, where the former emits a near-instantaneous burst of smoke and the latter a slower stream. Alternatively, the explosive components were encased in a sticky pouch or modified into a trip mine instead, creating smoke bombs which stuck to a target for greater precision before engulfing it or which could only be set off by an unwitting trespasser.

An Ottoman-era Assassin smoke bomb had a blast radius of 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0 meters depending on whether gunpowder from India, Arabia, or Britain respectively was used. Similarly, the normal smoke bomb used in the first stage of the Animi Training Program had a blast radius of 3.2 or 4 meters.

History

1st century BCE

Although gunpowder was not discovered until circa 850 CE by the Chinese, smoke bomb technology was already well known to the Medjay in the 1st century BCE. Prior to founding the Hidden Ones in 47 BCE, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa made prolific use of smoke bombs throughout his campaign to eradicate the Order of the Ancients in the midst of the Alexandrine war.

Middle Ages

Basim escaping from a group of guards after using a smoke bomb

In the Middle Ages, particularly in the 9th century, Hidden Ones like Basim Ibn Ishaq used small pottery vials filled with alchemical materials that produced thick smoke clouds. While investigating the Order of the Ancients' actions in Baghdad, Basim was helped by inventors and fellow Hidden Ones Abu Jafar, Ahmad, and Al-Hasan, who developed a number of upgrades for the bombs, including flammable smoke, fumes that would harm those caught in it, a healing vapor, a red noise-suppressing fog, and even a mist to wipe the memories of nearby onlookers who witnessed his actions.

From the Hidden Ones, the technology passed on relatively unchanged to the Levantine Assassins. In 1190, the Master Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad relied on smoke bombs to evade the first Crusader soldiers who spotted him within the city walls at the Siege of Acre. Later that year, he utilized smoke bombs again when forced to evade his own brethren upon returning in secret to the Assassins' Alep Citadel to assassinate the traitor Harash.

Renaissance

In 1478, mercenaries under the employ of the Italian Assassin Mario Auditore provided his nephew, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, with smoke bombs in advance so that he may have an easy escape after assassinating the Pazzi conspirator Stefano da Bagnone at the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. As expected, the devices proved beneficial to Ezio, and from then on, he regularly purchased smoke bombs from blacksmith shops throughout his career as an Assassin, for despite their paramilitary use, they were normally supplied by blacksmiths throughout Italy during this period.

Ezio aiming a smoke bomb at a group of Janissaries

Conversely, blacksmiths in the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century did not sell smoke bombs, and the Ottoman Assassins generally had to craft them themselves, a fact that was taught to Ezio upon his arrival to Constantinople to lead the Ottoman Brotherhood against the Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order. He received a refresher course from the Assassin explosives expert Piri Reis on the smoke bomb, testing it out on a nearby church courtyard to steal bomb ingredients stashed there.

Sengoku period

During the late 16th century, the kunoichi and Japanese Assassin Fujibayashi Naoe carried smoke bombs as part of her arsenal. While her bombs were useful for blinding guards for a few seconds, the smoke was not thick enough to completely cover Naoe and she would be detected if she came too close to an enemy.

18th century

Smoke bombs were commonly sold in general stores in the West Indies during the early 18th century, making them easily accessible to pirates like Edward Kenway. The West Indies Assassins also regularly utilized smoke bombs during their missions, including Edward once he joined the Brotherhood in 1721. Years later, Edward continued to use smoke bombs during his search for Pieces of Eden in Southeast Asia, as did his ally Shimazu Saito, a samurai and former Japanese Templar.

Shay using his gas mask to counteract a smoke bomb

Smoke bomb technology carried over to the Colonial Brotherhood, established in 1746 by Achilles Davenport, a former West Indies Assassin. As such, Colonial Assassins like Shay Cormac had access to smoke bombs and would regularly use them during their missions. Gang members affiliated with the Assassins were also given smoke bombs and would often use them during their attempts to assassinate Shay following his defection to the Colonial Templars. However, Shay could easily counter the bombs' effect using a gas mask.

As smoke bombs were commonly sold in general stores in the Thirteen Colonies during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, both the Colonial Templars' Grand Master Haytham Kenway and his son, the Colonial Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton, had easy access to them.

By contrast, in the French and later Spanish colony of Louisiana, smoke bombs were more difficult to come across, and the Louisiana Assassin Aveline de Grandpré could only purchase them from black market merchants. The same was true in the case of Paris during the French Revolution, though Arno Dorian could also acquire smoke bombs from his fellow French Assassins.

19th and 20th centuries

In 1841, the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir regularly made use of smoke bombs during his quest to recover the Koh-i-Noor and the Precursor box from the British Templars.

In 1853, the Irish Assassin Oscar Kane created a variation of his own smoke bombs for his apprentice Jack Straw in their attempt to free the tailor János Libényi. In 1869, the British Assassin Pierrette Arnaud used a smoke bomb to disorient the Templars in a cave in Egypt and managed to kill most of them, including Armen Kazan, but was apprehended and restrained by her former captor Art Hennighan.

Alexander Graham Bell holding a smoke bomb

In London in 1868, the twin British Assassins Evie and Jacob Frye utilized smoke bombs in various ways. The formula for the smoke bombs used by the twins was provided by the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, after Evie assisted him in installing a telegraph line to counter the influence of the Templar-run Starrick Telegraph Company. Decades later, in 1916, Jacob's granddaughter Lydia Frye also used smoke bombs during her quest to hunt down the Master Spy in war-torn London.

In 1918, during his quest to protect the Precursor box and Princess Anastasia Nikolaevna amidst the chaos of the Russian Revolution, the Russian Assassin Nikolai Orelov made frequent use of smoke bombs.

21st century

A smoke grenade deployed by Galina Voronina

In October 2015, when the Assassins Galina Voronina, Shaun Hastings, and Rebecca Crane were pinned down by Abstergo Industries' Sigma Team at the Buckingham Palace vault without a firearm, Galina deployed a smoke grenade, a critical tactic which allowed her to close the gap against the enemy commandos and slaughter them all. This in turn enabled the three Assassins to escape, albeit without the Shroud of Eden they had just fought the Templars Isabelle Ardant, Juhani Otso Berg, and Violet da Costa for.

Behind the scenes

Single-player

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, smoke bombs can be purchased from blacksmiths for 350ƒ each, but only after the smoke bomb pouch has been purchased from a tailor for 9500ƒ. This allows the player to carry a total of three smoke bombs at a time.

Unlike in previous games, the smoke bombs cannot be purchased from blacksmiths in Assassin's Creed: Revelations but must be crafted instead like all other bombs. By killing a guard while they're caught in a smoke screen bomb, the achievement "I can see you" can be earned.

In Assassin's Creed: Unity, unlike in previous games, enemies are not stunned by the smoke and will attempt to move out the smoke should they not be eliminated quickly enough. The smoke also disrupts the player's view of the surrounding although Eagle Vision can be used to prevent this.

Multiplayer

In Brotherhood and Revelations, the smoke bomb is one of the most powerful and ubiquitous abilities and is used not just an easy counter against assassinations, but for assassinations as well, a tactic popularly termed offensive smoke bomb (OSB) by the multiplayer community. In the latter usage, the 4.0 second duration of the Long Lasting Smoke Bomb in Brotherhood can give a free focus poison kill.

A common strategy with the smoke bomb is to bait opponents either by exposing oneself conspicuously or by remaining in hiding but feigning ignorance to the approach of the pursuer.

Counters to the smoke bomb involve techniques used to evade being caught in the cloud or to prevent its usage entirely. These tactics include using abilities such as Mute/Wipe which directly inhibit usage of any abilities for a short duration or Hidden Gun/Pistol to shoot down the target from a distance at the cost of a high score. Since the smoke bomb only has a horizontal blast radius, absent any abilities, a player can counter with an air assassination, anticipating an opponent's use of the smoke bomb and approaching from a higher elevation.

Owing to its overpowered reputation, the smoke bomb received incremental nerfs from Revelations to Black Flag. In Revelations, this was minor where the maximum duration of the smoke with upgrades was reduced from 4.0 seconds to 3.8 seconds. Further nerfs to range, cooldown, activation time, and duration in III and Black Flag, however, led to the smoke bomb virtually becoming obsolete after losing much of its popularity to throwing knives and other abilities.

Gallery

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  A smoke bomb used by Basim
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  The smoke screen bomb's various casings
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  A smoke bomb used by Ezio
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  A smoke bomb used by Shimazu Saito
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  A smoke bomb used by Shay
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  Smoke bombs used by Aveline de Grandpré
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  A smoke bomb used by Jacob and Evie

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows