Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Multiplayer Abilities Strategy [Part 3]

Not pictured: literal brotherhood.

In Part 1 of our Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood abilities guide, we looked at Disguise, Sprint Boost, Smoke Bomb, and Hidden Gun. In Part 2, you got an overview of Firecrackers, Morph, Throwing Knives and Templar Vision. Now that you’ve graduated to the top tier Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood skills, let’s talk about the last of the unlockable multiplayer abilities.

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Charge
Level 21

When Charge is activated, your persona um, Charges forward at high speed, auto-bashing NPCs and auto-killing/stunning your enemies. Unlike Sprint Boost, Charge is mainly automated, though you retain a small amount of lateral control. The primary use of Charge is to automatically identify and disable your foes, though it can be used as a pseudo-Sprint Boost to run faster for a short time, if only in a straight line. A caveat: while Charge does make you run fast, you can’t free run or climb while using it, so it’s not the best ability for high speed pursuits.

Offense: Since Charge automatically pushes NPCs and kills real players, Charge is a great skill for beating Disguise, Morph, and Blender. Charge takes all the guesswork out of target identification, plus it has a lower cooldown than Templar Vision. When using Charge, remember that your persona starts slowly, then builds up to a run, so use it as close as possible to your suspected target(s) to decrease the amount of time spent in high profile. While Charge is a great skill, it is less powerful against groups of enemies, since it only disables one person while making you highly visible to everyone else.

Defense: Charge is a powerful defensive ability, since it auto-stuns your pursuers, who can only escape by using Charge themselves (it will overwrite yours) or by dropping a Smoke Bomb. Another reason Charge is great on defense is that, since it doesn’t matter if you’re in high profile when you’re running for your life, you don’t have to be bothered by Charge’s drawbacks as much. You can lure pursuers to the roof or a remote location, then Charge him/her for an easy 200 points. Charge does have a short (2 s) startup, so it’s not effective at point blank for stunning; give yourself at least 5 feet space.

Decoy
Level 24

Unlike most skills, Decoy can only be used on an NPC. When activated, the skill turns the NPC into a copy of your persona (if it wasn’t one already), and causes that character to run at full speed from its current position. As the name suggests, Decoy is intended to throw off pursuers who are likely to mistake the Decoy NPC for a panicked target. Although Decoy only lasts for a few seconds, it’s usually enough to cause a distraction. Decoy has one of the shortest cooldowns in the game, and Rapid Reload Decoy can be used almost continually when paired with the Overall Cooldowns perk.

Offense: Though Decoy is generally useless when you’re on the hunt, there’s one aspect of it that’s important: Decoy doesn’t work on players. Therefore, if you come across two identical personas, lock onto one and use Decoy. If it runs, it’s an NPC. If it doesn’t, spam the fuck out of the Assassinate button.

Defense: Decoy is a valuable skill to throw off your killers, if only because most players automatically kill running personas, as letting a contract escape or stun you are highly undesirable. When using Decoy, timing is everything. Use it too early (before your pursuers have full radar line of sight), and they wont’ believe the Decoy is you, since their radar will tell them otherwise. Use it too late, and there’s a good chance your killer(s) will have already started using Templar Vision, Charge, Firecrackers, etc. That said, even if your assassin isn’t fooled, the way they react to Decoy can make their identity more obvious.

Mute
Level 26

Mute doesn’t silence anyone: it disables them. Upon activation, Mute instantly prevents every enemy in a gigantic radius around you from killing, stunning, and using any ability. The downside? Mute has a long cooldown and only lasts for a little more than one second. Regardless, Mute is a powerful skill, since it guarantees nobody can touch you for that second, which is often all it takes in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood to go from last place to first. Unlike other skills, Mute produces only a tiny visual cue, making it substantially more subtle than other disabling skills like Smoke Bomb. Long Lasting Mute and Rapid Reload Mute are highly recommended.

Offense: Overall, Mute has few uses when you’re on the hunt, though when it works, it works well. Mute can help guarantee a Focus Kill bonus but, more importantly, it can disable your prey when you know that they know who you are. Use Mute right before you move in for the kill, preventing your target from using Smoke Bombs, Charge, or a Mute of their own. In free-for-all modes like Wanted and Alliance, Mute is also useful, since it means your own killer(s) can’t get in the way of your assassination.

Defense: Mute is a powerful skill for protecting yourself, since it’s instantaneous, long-range, and low profile. If you suspect your killer is near, it can’t hurt to hit Mute and run for your life. However, if you know who your assassin is, just run right at him/her, hit Mute, and stun! Unlike Smoke Bomb, Mute covers a huge range while you’re moving, allowing you to use it to turn the tide quickly while barreling at your soon-to-be KO’d enemy.

Poison
Level 29

The last and most coveted active ability, Poison kills a target slowly over five seconds in exchange for a 200 point bonus and a more discreet assassination animation. Poison can only be used in low profile and at melee range, rewarding players who are stealthy enough to touch their target, inflict poison, and escape. Poison awards its kill score based on the player’s status upon its use, meaning players are free to enter high profile afterward while still earning an Incognito bonus. Targets afflicted by Poison will see nothing at first, followed by visual and audio hallucinations, followed by death. Once poison is administered, you’ll get points for the kill, even if you die or are stunned, but if someone else poaches your target before the poison finishes him/her, you’ll only receive 50 points.

Offense: Aside from the score bonus, Poison is great in free-for-all modes because it allows you to kill your target without making your identity obvious to everyone else. A careful nudge is all it takes, letting you assassinate incognito from within crowds, baffling the other players. Poison does have many downsides: long cooldown, short range, must be used in a silent kill, etc., but it almost guarantees at least one variety bonus in addition to its own bonuses. Poison is not recommended in Manhunt, where other players are likely to kill your target before the toxins do.

Defense: Poison has no use on defense, since it cannot be used on your pursuer. The only value of Poison as a defensive measure is as listed above: to conceal your identity when killing others, decreasing the odds you’ll have exposed yourself to your assassins.

Perks and Streaks

In the upcoming articles, we’ll finish this guide by discussing the Perks and Win/Loss Streaks available. Until then, you can browse other Brotherhood strategy articles on the site.