Assassin's Creed II
From SDA Knowledge Base
Assassin's Creed II is the console follow up to Assassin's Creed. AC2 has a more mission-based organization than the first game, with core memories being accessed in a DNA Sequence by finding the memory start and choosing to accept or decline the memory. There is a wider array of weaponry in this game, although the same "puppeteering" concept is present, with buttons mapped to body parts: legs, hands and head. The same unskippable cutscenes and single save slot per game are present, however Ubisoft has added additional complications to running the game by not allowing saved files to be transferred between accounts. This unnecessary complexity means doing a segmented run will be much harder, with concentration on autosaves and being forced to play each segment in order. So far, although some major glitches have been found, much of the odd clipping issues seem to have been removed.
The only requirements for completing the game are to complete every main memory and collect all the codex pages. Assassin tombs, glyphs, chests, feathers, extra missions and villa upgrading are all optional.
Version differences
The game was originally released on PS3 and Xbox 360 with sequences 12 and 13 omitted and later released separately as DLC. The PC version, however, includes both sequences as a normal part of the game. Run categories would probably include a "basic" and "full" run with basic missing the two sequences and full having them both. This would mean the basic category would be console only and the full category would be runnable on any system. A "partial" category for having one or the other sequence but not both is probably unnecessary, but who knows.
Certain versions of both the game and the DLC come with different extras, like new areas or skins. Unless they cause some unknown conflict with the normal game, these don't really matter as a speedrun wouldn't need to go to extra areas. A possible exception might be a 100% run category, in which case there would need to be a discussion about whether to include extra assassin tombs or templar lairs.
Because the patch for the major glitches came out for the consoles before the PC release, it is likely that those glitches have also been removed from the PC version. Likewise, the PC version may have its own glitches. This would necessitate another discussion based on how different the versions are, with the PC version perhaps needing its own category or having separate categories for glitched and unglitched.
Combat
As in the original, timing your strikes so that you attack right as your last blow lands is the best way to keep up flurry of attacks. Also like in AC1, using the hidden blade while not engaged with the enemy is the quickest way to take down enemies. You can also throw enemies off of high places and a new feature, the smoke bomb, will immobilize enemies in a fairly wide area giving you the opportunity to take down three or four of them with the hidden blade before the stun wears off.
The two long-range attacks are throwing knives and the pistol, which is obtained late in the game. Throwing knives present a silent and quick way to take out enemies, and may be faster than the hidden blade when the enemy sees you or is distant. Throwing knives also don't seem to be blockable like melee attacks are, allowing you to do great damage very quickly to tougher enemies and bosses.
Money management
You will need 5000ƒ for learning the air running glitch (unpatched version is a must), 150ƒ here and there for hiring groups, and lots of money for smoke bombs and throwing knives. You won't need to upgrade armor at all and weapons only a little if any, since you are going to kill most mandatory things via throwing knives or the hidden blade.
Looting can yield you smoke bombs, medicines and throwing knives, which will come in handy. Perhaps during "auto-scrollers", which are unpleasantly abundant in this game, you could secretly steal or loot nearby people, hopefully without creating an alarm, saving money and time for smaller purchases.
Villa upgrading will have to be weighed by the pros and cons, with as little upgrading as possible so your coffers are ready to give you what you need at the appropriate times during the run.
Glitches
At least in the unpatched console version, there exists two very powerful glitches to abuse. First is air running, which can be done anywhere after having learned the throwing knives special attack. Have knives equipped, start running, then start holding the armed hand button (throw knife button). Running off a ledge, Ezio continues unhindered by gravity. The glitch can be ended at any time by just letting go of the armed hand button or switching weapons. Also, you can prevent heights damage by just grabbing something right before hitting ground, at least.
Another is "hyperblend", apparently discovered by The Hidden Blade folks, which allows retaining of the blend state for absurdly long times if you know what you are doing. In missions in which you must become anonymous at the end, like after some assassinations, this glitch allows the level to become finished in an instant, since the game thinks you're anonymous although by all logic you are not. It's not the most wieldy exploit in the world, but it could come in handy at some places. The video and article above explain most of it.
Timer and saving
There is an actual in-game timer (which doesn't seem to count in loading times with Desmond/Ezio floating around in nothingness after loading your save) clarifying things. If your segment is doing poorly, you can just quit to main menu and reload before an auto-save spot, and that's a lot better than nothing. Each time you reload your "session", the game timer gains about 3 seconds (it becomes auto-saved, and apparently can't be prevented). So loading does waste your time, although it's not too bad...
You can save your game somewhat on the PS3 by backing up the entire hard drive, but this is time consuming to perform and time consuming to restore your backup when you want re-run a segment. The methods for copying save files for the Xbox 360 and PC are the same as for the first game. See Assassin's Creed/Segmenting for details.
