Hidden Blade

Altaïr stabbing a crusader with the Hidden Blade.

The Hidden Blade is Altaïr's most precious weapon, mainly used for stealth assassinations. After you get demoted, you will receive this weapon back for your first assassination in Damascus. Altaïr triggers it by a ring on his pinky finger. Then the blade will eject from inside his gauntlet, which he wears on his left-lower arm. This weapon is mostly used when sneaking upon a soldier so you can stab him in the back, or if you manage to get close enough to your opponent it can be triggered to stab them inside their stomach. Another manoeuvre is to jump upon an opponent. Altaïr will use his body weight to cause his victim to fall on the ground. Then he'll trigger the blade to stab them in their throats as he keeps blocking them to get up. Using this weapon requires good timing cause if you trigger it at the wrong moment, you will surely fail. Your opponent will throw you back and you'll be either forced to flee or use another weapon. The Hidden Blade is also used for one of the quests which informers hand out to you. You are asked to assassinate a number of targets and the only weapon to be used is the Hidden Blade, since other weapons attract too much attention and will surely alarm the guards which makes you fail your quest. When tracking down these targets, you have to make sure that not much guards are around, so that you have enough time to flee the murder scene and stay anonymous. A tactic adviced is to pose as a 'Scholar' by praying, then walk away far enough from the murder scene and other guards, so you can move to your next target. Even if you succeed in killing all targets, stay cautious and don't rush back to the informer, as guards will surely detect who you are when you pass one of these murder scenes again.

In another part of your investigation Altaïr will automatically trigger the blade after you've successfully interrogated someone. Since Altaïr is forced to kill them, he will stab them, then drag their body onto the ground to stay unnoticed. He will do the same with other assassinations performed with the Hidden Blade. In free missions to save citizens from soldiers, threatening to kill them, this weapon will come in handy. Once successfully used and fast you can take out at least three soldiers who are bullying these citizens. This will prevent them reaching for their own weapons, though if they notice your tactic, you better change your weapon and select either your large blade or sword, cause the Hidden Blade won't work on them any longer as they will throw you back, like with other attempts with the blade that fail. Be aware of course that if you stab innocent citizens your health bar will get out of synchronization, just as with any other weapon you use to kill innocents. Lastly the weapon will automatically be used once you manage to defeat your main target, the Templars. You will hear the metallic sound the Hidden Blade makes as Altaïr stabs them in their throats, so they can't scream or call for help any more.

It is worth noting that Altaïr's descendent Ezio Auditore de Firenze, who you play as in Assassin's Creed II, will possess two of these blades which seem to be hidden in his sleeves, but both eject from within his gloves. In the story Ezio will receive them from his friend, namely Leonardo Da Vinci.