Economy
Economy is a new gameplay mechanic added to Assassin's Creed II and is a major part of the game, it also features in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
Function
Florins
Money, or florins (ƒ) as they are named, are an important part of the Assassin's Creed economic system. You can obtain florins by completing story missions or Assassination Contracts, by upgrading your villa or the city of Rome, looting treasure chests and dead bodies, or pickpocketing civilians.
Obtaining florins gives you a wide range of abilities. For instance, it allows you to buy and repair armor and weapons. Upgrading your armor and weapons can provide you with better resistance to attacks, or give you larger bonuses to do more damage. You can use your acquired florins to hire people throughout Italy to distract or kill enemies. You can also buy supplies (such as medicine, poison or smoke bombs), items to upgrade the value of your villa (paintings and treasure maps), or pouches (for medicine, poison and throwing knives).
You can also "equip" the Throw Coins ability, which is fairly self-explanatory: you toss a handful of florins to attract a crowd of greedy people, and distract both guards and targets alike.
Be advised, however, as thieves can steal from you without you noticing. If you see a red marker moving through your mini map, you have been stolen from. You will have to tackle or kill the thief in order to get back your money, also using a throwing knife on a thief can get your money back.
Armor and Weapons
Most armor and weapons in the game need to be bought from Blacksmiths. Exceptions include Altaïr's armor, the Hidden Blades (whose upgrades are provided by Leonardo da Vinci), and the first 2 swords Ezio uses. Aside from purchasing armor and weapons, they also sell ammunition, and provide repairing services for broken armor.
Combat Skills
Training for long weapons, two-handed weapons and ranged weapons need to be bought with money. This is paid to the trainers at the Villa Auditore at Monteriggioni.
Auditore Family Villa
- Main article: Villa Auditore
The villa and the city of Monteriggioni are introduced to the player in a state of disrepair, with many buildings in poor condition; leaving Ezio with the task of restoring it. Though the villa is not directly upgraded, it is cleaned up and improved along with the rest of Monteriggioni as Ezio spends money on renovations and upgrades for it.
Any money spent on Monteriggioni increases its value. The city gains a higher income as Ezio upgrades it, the profit of which can be retrieved from the chest behind Claudia's desk. As the landlord of Monteriggioni, Ezio is entitled to discounts at the stores in the city.
Rome
- Main article: Rome
When Ezio arrives in Rome he finds the city and a state of disreapair, he vows to help to return the city to it's former glory. Ezio first must destroy the Borgia towers around Rome and after this he is able to buy shops, repair aqueducts, restore tunnels, and rennovate landmarks.
The money gained from the city will be deposited in a bank for Ezio to collect, and upon restoring the city of Rome completely, Ezio receives the Auditore Cape for his efforts.