Overview:
- Estimated difficulty: 4/10
- Offline: 50/50 [1000]
- Online: 0/0 [0]
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 25-35 hours
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 plus Free Roaming
- Number of missable achievements: “Fly Swatter” [refer to the guide solution for more details]
- Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No codes
- Does difficulty affect achievements?: No difficulty
- Glitchy achievements: No
- Unobtainable achievements: No
- Extra equipment needed?: No
Introduction:
“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.”
It is a period of rejuvenation and enlightenment in Italy in the late 15th Century. It is the Renaissance. It is also a time of widespread deceit and corruption amongst the families in power. Betrayed by those once trusted, a young man takes his firsts steps in a lifelong quest for vengeance and redemption. To extinguish the corruption of Italy and recover the honor and memory of his family, he will claim his birthright and ultimately his destiny; to become an Assassin.
Assassin’s Creed II continues the story of the Assassins and their ongoing conflict with the Templars. Whereas in the first game you were an assassin in the late 12th Century, this one skips forward 300 years to Renaissance Italy. Reliving the memories of Desmond Miles, you play as his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, as you learn the ways of an assassin to avenge your family’s honor.
None of the achievements are difficult or require any real skill to unlock. Play through the game, following the icon to begin each of the story’s 70+ memories. It sounds like a lot but keep in mind that some only last a couple of minutes. Once you’ve completed the story, you are able to free roam to every city to pick up any miscellaneous achievements you may not have unlocked in your playthrough. Chances are you will unlock a number of them during the story anyway (see below).
Note: The videos contained in this guide may contain spoilers. Watch at your own risk.
Step 1: Story Mode/DNA Sequences
There are 12 DNA Sequences with varying numbers of missions, or memories, in each. Just follow the icon on the map to find the next memory. There is neither a difficulty setting nor are the story related achievements difficult to unlock. Just sit back, play through the story and enjoy.
In addition to unlocking all of the 12 DNA Sequence achievements during your playthrough, you will also unlock “The Birth of an Assassin”, “Arrivederci Abstergo”, “Welcome to the Animus 2.0”, “Undertaker”, “Bleeding Effect”, “An Old Friend Returns” and “I Like the View”.
The story sequences are not replayable, thus there is one missable story achievement called “Fly Swatter”. This is only available to unlock at the beginning of the final memory in DNA Sequence 8 called ‘Infrequent Flier’. If you miss this opportunity, you have to play the entire story again, unless you purchased the DNA Sequence 12 DLC, ‘The Battle of Forli’. Upon completing that sequence, the flying machine is available at any time in the city of Forli.
Step 2: Side Missions
Along with the main story memories, there are a number of side missions, or events, that you can complete to raise your synchronization percentage, earn florins and unlock achievements. If you miss or decide not to do any of these during the story, you can free roam afterwards to pick up anything you’ve missed.
- Beat Up Events – There are five Beat Up events throughout the game. Only completing one is required for the achievement “Macho Man”. Each awards between 200 and 3,500 florins.
- Races– There are six Race events throughout the game. Only completing one is required for the achievement “Steal Home”. Each awards between 1,000 and 3,500 florins.
- Assassinations – There are 30 Assassination events throughout the game. Only completing one is required for the achievement “Assassin for Hire”. Each awards varying amounts of florins.
- Courier Missions – There are six Courier missions throughout the game. There is no achievement for completing any. The only reward is florins.
Step 3: Miscellaneous
Aside from the story, collectible and side mission achievements, there are 16 achievements to unlock either during the story or afterwards in free roam.
Five achievements are related to combat. They are “Street Cleaner”, “Messer Sandman”, “Doctor”, “No-hitter” and “Sweeper”. Some of these might take a couple of tries to get as they’re all about timing your actions right.
Seven more unlock when you do random tasks, such as sprinting 100 meters, pickpocketing, tinting your clothes as so on. They are “Kleptomaniac”, “Lightning Strike”, “High Dive”, “Mailman”, “Perfect Harmony”, “Red Light Addict” and “Man of the People”. Some are cumulative and some require only one task, but they are all very easy to unlock and you will likely do so during your playthrough.
Finally, there are four achievements directly related to the upgrading of Monteriggioni. They are “Handy Man”, “Podesta of Monteriggioni”, “Art Connoisseur” and “Victory Lies in Preparation”. As your villa earns money, spend it on upgrading the buildings in your stronghold, art, weapons and armor. By the games’ end, you should have purchased just about everything available.
Step 4: Collectibles
There are a number of collectibles that you can obtain to further unlock achievements. If you miss or decide not to do any of these during the story, you can free roam afterwards to pick up anything you’ve missed.
- Feathers – There are 100 feathers scattered in the five cities for you to locate, usually in hard to reach areas. Collecting them all will unlock “In Memory of Petruccio”. Once you have all 100, travel to each city and the mountain region to unlock “Show Your Colors”.
- Glyphs – Glyphs are markings that are hidden on various landmarks throughout the five cities. Use your Eagle Vision to initiate a scan, unlocking “Tip of the Iceberg”. Then, complete one puzzle for “A Piece of the Puzzle” and all 20 for “Vitruvian Man”.
- Statuettes – Hidden around Monteriggioni are 8 statuettes of the Roman Gods. Obtain all 8 to unlock “Myth Maker”.
- Seals – Hidden in the sarcophagi in the six Assassin’s Tombs are seals needed to unlock Altair’s armor in the Sanctuary. Complete each tomb to unlock “Undertaker” [story related], “Choir Boy”, “Prison Escape”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “I Can See Your House from Here!” and “Venetian Gladiator”.
- Codex Pages – While there is no achievement related to collecting the 30 Codex pages in the game, it is required to collect them all to complete the story. As you obtain them, return to Leonardo for him to decode.
- Treasure Chests – Collect these if you are in real need of money. You can purchase maps from the Art Merchant in each city. As you open more districts, more maps become available. There is no achievement related to the chests.
Step 5: DLC
There are two available DLC’s, ‘The Battle of Forli’ and ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. However, there are no achievements for either. If you purchase and download them before completing DNA Sequence 11, then these two are incorporated into the story and you must complete them in order. Each takes about an hour to complete.
Conclusion:
There are no multiplayer achievements or real tedious tasks to do in this game, so your 1000 should come with relative ease. This is a very enjoyable game with an engaging story, a mix up of collectible and random achievements, but nothing too difficult making this 100% a breeze.
[XBA would like to thank bLaKgRaVy for this roadmap]