Morale
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Morale[1] is a mechanic in the Animus which tracks enemy archetypes' motivation to fight in open combat. The values only apply once the Animus host entered open combat, so any action performed before the initiation of combat did not affect the morale of the guards.[2][3][4][5]
Overview
Animus 1.28
The Animus 1.28 used by Abstergo Industries had a basic system of morale. When Desmond Miles relived Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's memories, the lowest ranking guards would easily be scared by the deaths of their comrades, or superiors.[2]
Guard Sergeants were much harder to scare, and would presumably run away if their leader was killed.[2]
Guard Captains were the bravest of the regular guards. They would hardly ever be scared away, no matter what Altaïr did. However, if one of these was killed, all the other lower ranking guards would be terrified and would probably run away.[2]
Templar Knights were a unique guard archetype, the strongest and bravest of all the guards. They would never run away, regardless of the deaths of nearby guards. As these men were held in very high regard, whenever one of these dueled an opponent, the other guards would stand back and watch. The death of one would completely shatter the morale of nearby guards, few of whom would stand and fight.[2]
Animus 2.0
When Desmond relived Ezio Auditore's memories, the Animus used by the Assassins had an updated morale system. The Animus 2.0 specified morale points for each guard archetype:
- Militia had 20 morale points
- Archers had 30 morale points
- Agile guards had 40 morale points
- Seekers had 80 morale points
- Brutes had 1,000 morale points
With their hefty allocation of morale, Brutes never ran away from combat unless they were disarmed and completely unable to find another weapon, or procure an improvised one. Meanwhile, Militia guards were the most cowardly, in that they were most likely to run away from a battle if it ever got too intense.[3]
The death of any guard caused a drop in morale of all the other guards, with the death of any lower ranking guard causing a 5 point morale drop for all surrounding guards; a counter-kill, disarm, or ground assassination also caused a drop of 5 points. If a disarmed guard themselves could not find a replacement for their weapon, they would immediately run away, and disarming an opponent and killing them with their own weapon reduced morale by 10 points. Killing a Seeker, or killing an enemy using a pistol was worth 20 points, whereas killing a Brute subtracted 30 morale points.[3]
Every time Ezio took a hit, the guards' morale rose by 10 points, and if Ezio reached a critical state, the guards would gain 25 points each. If Ezio ran away from a confrontation, it would also add 25 points to every guard's morale statistic. At the Auditore Villa, however, Ezio could learn the skill of demoralizing an enemy by pointing a pistol at them.[3][1]
When Desmond began to relive Ezio's memories in Rome, the morale system was slightly updated. The guard archetype that appeared in the other cities Ezio had visited possessed the same morale stats that they had in previous cities.[4]
Despite this, two new enemy types were introduced in Rome, being the Papal Guard and the Borgia captains. The Papal Guards never ran away from a fight, while conversely, the death of a Papal Guard would frighten away almost every guard that was fighting alongside them.[4]
There were two types of Borgia Captains, ones who ran away from Ezio upon seeing him, and ones who stood and fought. The death of a Borgia Captain would terrify every single guard that witnessed it, regardless of whether or not they were engaged in combat alongside their leader.[4]
Additionally, a new feature was introduced in the Animus. Certain weapons that Ezio used during his travels could scare away enemies. In Rome, the only such weapon was the Dagger of Brutus. This dagger had different and more brutal kill animations compared to regular daggers, causing a drop by 20 points in most guards' morale; most lower ranking guards who witnessed it would immediately run away.[4]
Animus 2.03
When Desmond fell into a coma, he was placed into the safe mode of the Animus, which kept his body alive; the software had been updated to the 2.03 version by then. While he explored Ezio's memories from Constantinople, the morale system remained mostly unchanged from its previous iteration. Papal Guards were replaced with Janissaries, and Borgia Captains with Templar den captains, whose morale specifications were largely the same as their Roman equivalents.[5]
Meanwhile, two new pieces of equipment were introduced that caused a morale lowering effect similar to the Dagger of Brutus. The sword of Vlad the Impaler, as with the Dagger of Brutus, had brutal kill animations, which scared guards away. On the other hand, the Armor of Ishak Pasha was an unbreakable piece of armor, said to bear a cursed marking; hence, any soldiers that saw it would become scared.[5]
Animus 3.0
When Desmond relived Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton's memories, the new Animus 3.0 did not feature any morale system. Instead, all guards, regardless of rank, would stay and fight to the death, never becoming terrified.[6]
Notoriety
An additional feature related to morale was introduced in the Animus 2.0. Whenever any guards ran away from a battle, it would increase the notoriety of the user.