Social stealth

File:Icons hud.jpg

The Stealth Meter (top to bottom): Unaware, Watched, Alert and Detected

Social Stealth, or how inconspicuous one can remain in public environments, is a key ability to master in order to become a successful assassin.

Philosophy

A true master assassin knows that people cannot appropriately prepare themselves to an invisible strike. For the true assassin, remaining unexposed is the safest way to move about without catching the city guards' attention, arousing the crowd or alerting the target. Therefore, avoiding attention at all times is key to an assassin's survival during an assassination mission.

As the second tenet of the "The Creed", remaining anonymous is a top priority at all times and it is required within the Assassin's Order, since investigations and assassinations have a much larger chance of success when no one knows from where comes the blunt. To understand the people and know extensively how use that element to your advantage during your endeavors is the key. Let them mask your approach during assassinations and reveal yourself only when absolutely certain, using the crowd to create distractions and moving for the kill when everyone's attention is on something else that is not you.

Whether performing silent executions or public assassinations, one must strike at the most appropriate moment, time, and place where he/her can not only hit, but also run or hold his/her ground if it be necessary. Normally approaching someone from behind and putting a hidden blade between their ribs or gently pushing past a crowd and bursting through the guards on a rampage charge at the target's head, social stealth mastery is indispensable. Mastering the kill is your priority, mastering the approach should be too.

In-Game

Assassin's Creed

A major theme in this game is social stealth. Other games have worked with the idea of stealth play while out in the open, notably the disguises in the Hitman series, but few if any have included the crowd dynamics found in Assassin's Creed.

The social stealth system keeps track of how much attention is being paid to Altaïr and his actions. Citizens and guards will react anyway you treat and interact with them. While walking around the city and kingdom, you can either force people out of the way and to the ground or you can gently push past them. The first will attract a lot of attention in your direction but get you through the crowd more quickly, and the person you knocked to the ground may get up and push you back risking exposure if close to a assassination target. Gently pushing past or moving past people will attract no attention but will take more time. Any socially unacceptable behavior will also increase the attention that people pay you. If you quickly climb the front of a building then you will attract a lot of attention, as will jumping from a rooftop and landing in a crowd. Slowly climbing a ladder or dropping quietly into the street will attract much less attention when moving about. Remaining anonymous, completely avoiding all arousing suspicion and publicly expressing only socially acceptable behavior will allow for safe travel through city streets.

With the social stealth system you won't find any shadows to hide in if you are being chased by guards. Instead you have to escape their sight and then blend in with the surrounding crowd, like joining a group of scholars or ducking into a rooftop garden. The scholars have the added benefit of being a mobile source of social camouflage. Other places to hide include bales of hay and even benches (while sitting between two people). The public is your greatest ally when used properly.

Remaining anonymous will also refill your sync bar. If you attract too much attention, the omnipresent guards will recognize you as an assassin and try to kill you, ruining your anonymity, and forcing you to hide. The guards are implacable and to a large degree always scanning the crowd for your presence another reason to remain one with the crowd, if easily dispatched, foes who will follow you over rooftops and chase you through streets, often while gathering reinforcements. A very important (slow paced) but guaranteed way to assure anonymity is to Blend. Dressed as a religious scholar Altaïr's mannerisms mimic theirs, an example folding the hands and being in the prayer stance ensures very slow yet extremely safe passage.

Assassin's Creed 2

"AC2"'s social stealth engine has been largely improved. You can now blend just by walking into a crowd, bribe guards, and hire courtesans or thieves to distract targets. You can now pickpocket for money and also runs the risk of being pickpocketed. You can hide in carts of hay, fish and autumn leaves, sit in a bench and also can jump into water. Doing this will not save you all the time as Seekers can now search for you if you're hiding. Crowds and AI in general are more intelligent and a notoriety system has been included. If you're caught doing bad deeds, your notoriety goes up. and to reduce it you must either rip "Wanted" posters of the walls, assassinate officials or bribe heralds to stop talking about you.

There's also a new system called Social Status Indicator (SSI). It is divided in two parts.

NPC Arrows

There is an arrow above a guard's head that informs you if you're at a risk of being detected or not.

• If you're incognito, the guards will only notice you if you engage in illegal actions such as killing, looting or pushing them.
• When the arrow turns yellow it means the guard has started investigating and is alerted to his surroundings.
• When the arrow turns red, the guard has recognized you.

Mini Map Frame

The social status indicator, instead of being located left to the Synch Bar, is now a frame that surrounds the Mini-map located on the bottom right. The indicators colors are the same from AC1:

• White: You are Anonymous
• Red: You are in an Open Conflict with guards
• Yellow: You are in an Open Conflict with guards however you have broken the line of sight
• Blue: You are Vanishing (ie. you're in a hiding spot and the guards are still searching for you)
• Green: You are Hidden (ie. in a hiding spot)