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Laurens Prins Assassination Variety Pack

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http://youtu.be/wpOUfOPu0O0
[Front-paged. -stabguy]

Surprise, everyone! I finally got to playing Black Flags.

Early Death

Shortly before the assassination you tail the target on an eavesdropping mission. Right before the scene at the end you have a chance of killing both Prins and Torres (who I believe to also be a target in the game, although I haven't gotten that far yet) in a double air assassination.

It's a bit tricky since there are a couple of brutes right there, plus you don't want to do anything that would interrupt the conversation or the scene might start before the end of the conversation which would make predicting the time the scene starts impossible. Sleep darts help in keeping them at bay, but don't use beserk darts since that would draw their attention (in the video I used a beserk dart to lower a brute's health to kill him with one shot of the pistol).

It seems Ubisoft tried to make it impossible for an Early Death because shortly before the scene the targets are invincible to attacks, although there aren't for a split second before the scene starts (during that split second they change from yellow to red in eagle vision).

You don't actually see the kill, but you hear the sound of the blades. further proof is the glitched scene!

Completely Stealthy Pacifist Run

The goal is to be as stealthy as possible, the closest thing to a mysterious death. This means no yellow or red social status indicators. Start off by entering the place from the right. Sometimes I've gotten seen; it might have been because I wasn't fast enough or there might be some luck involved. After climbing the mansion stay to the left of the archer. There are two guards patrolling the backyard area. Move when their backs are turned and you won't have any trouble.

Now for the assassination. I chose a low profile fist kill because it was non lethal and matched the "mysterious" description. I may not be an expert on strangling, but I'd be willing to bet it can be done without leaving any marks.

"Employee of the Month"

For the fun of it I wanted to try killing the target with a beserked guard. the closest guard patrolling the backyard area is the best option, but it will take luring to get him to directly go after the target. When he comes from one side of the patrol he temporarily stops by the alarm bell. From the stalking zone you are close enough to attract him with a whistle. I took out the other guard by the back of the house because the beserked guard might go after him instead, depending on whether he or the target is closer.

When in combat with the poisoned guard the target gets in a battle stance but makes no attempt to attack (also if you poison the target to fight you he won't attack either.) Now for a surprise. By doing this I managed to complete an Abstergo challenge and got the Employee of the Month achievement for completing twenty five Abstergo challenges.

Brute Force

Equipped weapons are different in AC4. You have dual swords in place of the usual small and medium weapon. This means you can't keep axes (you can't even pick up daggers). Therefore it is worthwhile to obtain an ax and kill him with it. Luckily there is a brute on the stairs at the front of the mansion. Even more luckily the weapon drops out of it's sheath when you kill him.

Now for getting the ax to the backyard area. There is no way to carry it there (in this game you drop the ax if you try carrying it up a ladder), so you'll have to settle for leaving it by the fence on the side of the building and picking it up from the other side. To deal with the guards beserk darts come in handy.

Rooftop Sniper

Kill Laurens Prins without entering the backyard. I chose to use the gunman's musket for creativity's sake. From one part of the roof you have a clear look at the target but are too far away for a shot. From another you're close enough but you're line of sight is obscured by leaves. It helps if you tag the target.

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I'm not sure, bro. but perhaps you will change your impression of it again, after you play it enough times.

I really really hope I'm wrong, because it means you will make more AC4's videos maybe. Wink

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Time for me to offer my two cents on the game.

Naval Gameplay: I thought it would be long and tedious like AC3. I thought it couldn't ever be fun. I thought the open sea would be the worst area outside of cities. Boy was I wrong. Boarding ships is nice, and they came up with some great ideas to make the ocean interactive, from floating loot/stranded sailors to diving spots, to sharks and whales for harpooning. And when you can't fast travel it doesn't even take that long to get from one place to another.

Combat and Weapons: Combat is a lot tougher now. Alarm bells also help create a big challenge. Finally! I've died so much in fights it proves Ubi isn't trying to make me an unstoppable one man army (or maybe I just suck Tongue ). The darts are amazing. Literally make enemies or civilians fight other enemies. And although I don't like the series being made into a shooter the aiming is very improved from AC3.

Characters: Although nothing like an assassin, Edward is very likable as a pirate who stumbles across Templars and fights them for a different cause. In fact I find it amusing. Every series needs its own comic relief and AC4 is it for AC. The way he handles things is also in good taste to me. The Templars thought he was just a poor outcasted nobody, but he sure showed them! Another thing that helps is the good amount of strong allies, which was what AC3 was missing after you stopped playing as Haytham.

Targets: Although not as good as AC1 and AC2, Black Flags seems to have more than AC3 and at least they're not scripted. Definitely some opportunities there.

Overall: A lot better than I expected it to be. If I knew I'd have like it this much I probably would have bought it sometime after the price started going down. As it is I have it borrowed at the moment.

Thanks for the comments people. I was really surprised to see the glitched scene after the Early Death (in AC3 it seems characters are respawned for scenes). For some missions completely stealthy missions will be quite the challenge, so this assassination didn't seem like a biggie. Another variety pack could easily be done: Blitz (somehow I think the fastest would involve a ranged weapon), hiding in plain sight which I tried but couldn't make it entertaining, possibly get Prins to the front side of the house without beserking him, best escape route, silent extermination. Also thanks for the tip about beserked civilians picking up weapons, RaccoonSandwich, I didn't know that.

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aurllcooljay wrote:
Thanks for the comments people. I was really surprised to see the glitched scene after the Early Death (in AC3 it seems characters are respawned for scenes). For some missions completely stealthy missions will be quite the challenge, so this assassination didn't seem like a biggie. Another variety pack could easily be done: Blitz (somehow I think the fastest would involve a ranged weapon), hiding in plain sight which I tried but couldn't make it entertaining, possibly get Prins to the front side of the house without beserking him, best escape route, silent extermination. Also thanks for the tip about beserked civilians picking up weapons, RaccoonSandwich, I didn't know that.

Don't mention it.
I have posted about several other of my findings while playing around with targets and potential assassinations in the various/creative assassinations thread. You should have a look if you're planning on doing more videos or you could post some of your findings yourself!

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Very nice video!

A while ago I was toying witht he idea of doing a variety video of Prins but I couldn't come up with a lot of ways of killing him so I'm glad to see someone got a bit more creative than me Laughing out loud The early death and using the axe were a nice touch that I hadn't thought of!

It's also possible btw to have the fieldworkers kill Prins, just kill a guard and leave his weapon on the ground, then you dart a fieldworker who will pick up the weapon and kill Prins. I dubbed it "Freedom Cry" Tongue

Another possibility for fun/varied assassinations of Prins is the fact that if you use fury dart on Prins he will follow you whereever you go, as long as you sleep then re-fury to keep him alive.

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@Gerund, I accept your suggestion, it's funny and sounds like something TheHiddenBlade would come up with.

Now, Aurel, you impress me greatly. I knew there would be some cool stuff possible with the Laurens Prins assassination but I'm still playing around with my capture card and its settings. It's really, really good and really refreshing to see new life being breathed into Black Flag. This video feels very classic THB, and that's a feeling that I haven't really gotten in a while. (I think it's fair to say, a feeling not many of us have gotten in a while.)

The Stealth Pacifist Takedown was incredible and I'm most proud of that. But you probably knew that already ;]

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woohoo

“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus

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Floating money pouch!!
Nice video man. You made the pacifist run seem ridiculously easy. Also, the achievement was perfectly timed. Petition to call the strategy where a guard kills his boss 'Employee of the month' from now on?

"...and if I had no self-awareness, I think I'd know."