Arquebusier
Arquebusiers were firearm-wielding soldiers who served and protected the pontiff during their tenure. They function similarly to archers and crossbowmen, patrolling rooftops and protecting important targets such as Borgia tower captains, and Octavian de Valois.
Though the range of an arquebus is not quite as long as a crossbow, every shot is more powerful, and will inflict more damage on the armor Ezio Auditore is currently wearing. Additionally, similarly to crossbowmen, arquebusiers do not possess melee weapons, and will merely back away and continue to fire their arquebuses if engaged in a close-range fight.
Like all other guards, the colors of their uniform indicate their allegiances, with red marking them as soldiers of the Borgia, blue as of the French, and yellowish-green for those of Viana.
They feature notably during the assault on Monteriggioni, where armored arquebusiers under the command of Cesare Borgia, were able to wound Ezio Auditore in the shoulder and abdomen.
Aside from Borgia towers, arquebusiers are also commonly found guarding rooftops around the Pantheon, and in the Castra Praetoria. They can also be seen patrolling the streets of the Antico or Campagna districts in pairs.
Trivia
- If the player kills an arquebusier after he has turned hostile and thusly drawn his weapon, the gunman will drop his arquebus upon dying. However, there is no way to actually attain the relinquished gun, and - similarly to enemy Crossbows - the weapon will disappear shortly after moving out of the camera's view.
- Some Borgia Tower captains behave exactly like arquebusiers.
- All arquebusiers carry several bags across their belts, which likely contain gunpowder and lead projectiles for their arquebus, in case of having to reload in the heat of battle.
- If the player, with his hands equipped, kills the arquebusier from behind, and the arquebusier falls off the building onto another building from a one story height, the arquebusier survives. If he lands on a building from two stories, he will catch himself, but he will be frozen. You can search him for items, but when you go to pick him up, he will be shown to be dead.
- Similarly to Papal Guards, arquebusiers are more often encountered during story missions.
Gallery
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Arquebusiers during the Siege of Monteriggioni. -
A Papal arquebusier.
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An armored arquebusier in Rome.
