Save Citizen
Save Citizen quests are optional missions in which Altaïr or Ezio save a helpless citizen who is being harassed, taunted,
and shoved by guards. The guards are accusing them of crimes they most likely did not commit and they are threatening to hurt them. The objective of a Save Citizen mission is to engage the guards in combat and kill them. The outcome of this depends on whether Assassin's Creed or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is being played.
Assassin's Creed
In Assassin's Creed, Save Citizen missions are a simple affair. Guards harass a citizen, while other guards stand around the scene, scaring away any resistance to the wrongdoing going on behind them.
There are usually between three and five guards around the citizen. Two or three are in the process of actively shaking the citizen, while the remaining guards stand as lookouts. These lookouts will push Altaïr away if he gets too close.
Outcomes
Once all of the guards (including any other ones that have joined the fight) are killed, the saved citizen will profusely thank Altaïr, and a group of either Vigilantes or Scholars will be put at his disposal.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
In Brotherhood, Save Citizen side-quests return, with a new addition; citizens saved by Ezio will be given the opportunity to join Assassin's Guild as Assassin Recruits and join the fight for the freedom of Rome by breaking the corrupt and ruthless Borgia influence. Save Citizen missions are only encountered if an Assassin Recruit slot is open, which is relative to how many Borgia Towers have been destroyed.
Situations
When encountered in the game world, the citizen, who can be either male or female, is usually surrounded by 4 to 5 guards in a standoff. Once the player physically arrives, the citizen will engage in combat after a couple of seconds. A few different situations can be seen:
- The citizen is surrounded on all sides and has, as well as the guards their swords drawn and frozen in a standoff.
- The citizen has taken a guard hostage and has pressed his/her blade to his throat in attempts to make the other guards back down.
- The citizen has a guard by the scruff of the neck and his holding the guard over a cliff, threatening to drop him to his doom if the other guards should advance on him/her. (This happens more frequently in the hilly, countryside towns to the south and east of the city itself)
- The citizen has his/her back against the wall, brandishing her/her sword at the surrounding guards.
- Sometimes, the citizen has already started fighting with the guards in earnest. This can happen if Ezio is nearby the Save Citizen quest and can hear it, but not see it.
Outcomes
As mentioned above, no matter what the situation, the citizens will eventually start fighting the multiple guards alone. If the player doesn't assist the citizen quickly, or simply walks away, they will be killed by the overwhelming force presented by the guards, and the mission will be failed[1].
If you choose to help the citizen kill all the guards, you must the press the Speak button to talk to the citizen. They will then thank Ezio for his aid, and pledge themselves to his cause, should he accept them. Ezio will do so automatically without saying anything, then the citizen will run off and become an Assassin Recruit[1].
If you decide you don't want to recruit a particular citizen after arriving on the scene, simply walk away without engaging the guards or do not talk to the citizen after killing all the guards.[1] This can be helpful if you want to keep a healthy balance of male and female recruits, or simply do not wish to take on another Recruit at a particular time.
Trivia
- In Assassin's Creed, as Altaïr approaches Damascus for the first time in the game, there will be a citizen to be saved near market outside the main gates. This one Save Citizen is mandatory - it must be done and cannot be skipped. It is the only mandatory Save Citizen mission in the game.
- In Assassin's Creed, save Citizen missions are only available in the three cities - Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem.
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