1. On Save Citizen missions, make sure you disobey the bright, shiny HUD display telling you to lock on to your target to start the mission. Instead, eyeball the guards, pick the best-dressed (and thus best-fighting) one, walk up to him, and assassinate him with your hidden blade. If you’re fast, you can usually take out one more guard this way before it’s really on, and then you only have half the chumps to put down. Remember, fighting fair is for losers and corpses!

2. The most essential combat move in the game is the counter kill, where you hold RT and wait for an opponent to attack. Just as they begin to move, release RT and tap X to uncork a brutal takedown. Stay in the practice ring in Masyaf until you can pull off this move in your sleep.

3. Throwing knives at rooftop guards is great fun, but it tends to cause a commotion as their corpses often tumble into the streets below. When stealth matters, take the time to approach them on foot and stick them with the hidden blade.