Typically, my Assassin’s Creed strategic overviews tend to primarily consist of muttering whatever comes to mind as I try really hard not to die.

It’s not ideal, but hey – it works for what it is.

But in today’s article, we’ll be looking at five specific things that could save your ass in Revelations online multiplayer. They’re not all game-breaking, world-changing facts, but they’re simple tips and tricks that, if used correctly, can put you on the podium more often than not.

#1: Don’t mute that teenage trashtalker

If you’re playing Wanted, Deathmatch, or any other free-for-all mode, you may have noticed that voice communication doesn’t exactly work. You’ve probably shouted into your microphone, asking for someone to respond to no avail. And when you do get a response, it’s almost always some annoying snot who screams constantly into your headset about how bullshit your last kill was. Looks like Ubisoft dropped the ball, right?

Actually, the voice communication works fine. It’s just that the only people you can talk to are your immediate pursuer(s) and target(s).

That may sound pretty damn annoying, but before your shield your ears from the constant audio onslaught, consider this: if you learn what your opponents sound like, you’ll know who’s coming after you and when.

Did you hear some kid arguing with his mom about 0.8 seconds before a Gamestop jester stabbed you to death? The next time the little twerp’s voice comes up, you’ll know who’s gunning for you. Hell, if you’re lucky, the kid might even say something about his position or strategy out loud. Assuming, of course, that his strategy is more nuanced than “I’m going to stab all the faggots.”

#2: Save your bullets for another day

The Hidden Gun may not be the most nuanced, finesse-based ability in Assassin’s Creed Revelations, but it’s extremely effective at taking the lives of stun-baiters, roof-runners, and any big game deer that wander into the Animus simulation.

That said, its long wind-up time can often give away your intentions or cost you a kill, especially when your target is looking right at you. Some players may even race directly at you in a desperate attempt to stun you before you stun them. In the face. With a bullet.

Luckily, there are two ways to cancel your Hidden Gun kills.

First, you can move the left analog stick (or WASD keys) at any time during the aiming process to abort the shot.* Your ability won’t be used up, so don’t worry about the cooldown going into effect. Second, you can cancel directly out of the aiming process into a kill with the Assassinate command (X on Xbox 360, Mouse 1 on PC, Square on Playstation 3). Most players don’t seem to know this, which would explain why a large number of targets at mid range run right at me when I’m aiming the gun at them. Once they’re about three feet away, I start spamming the kill command (while still holding the lock, just in case).

#3: The single player wasn’t completely useless after all

While I’ve yet to complete the Revelations single player campaign, I can’t say I’m impressed from a mechanical point of view. The controls are awkward, the missions dull, and the “gameplay” tedious. But as much as you might want to forget your time in Bomberland, you shouldn’t forget all the parkour controls therein.

It seems many players online never learned the advanced moves from the single player missions, so here’s a quick reminder of some things you can do to gain an edge over adversaries:

While jumping towards a Chase Breaker, hit the off-hand button (B/O/Shift) to vault forward a vast distance instead of the typical 90 degree turn

When jumping towards a large, flat wall, hold the off-hand button to grab onto its surface (instead of falling to the ground)

When walking through crowds, hold the off-hand button to gently push NPCs aside. Note that human personas cannot be pushed.

When activating the Charge skill, press and hold high profile and the foot button (A/X/Space) to immediately gain momentum.

When activating the Charge skill, press and hold high profile and the foot button (A/X/Space) to immediately gain momentum. If a pursuer is following you up a wall, go into high profile and hold down on your movement input, then press the foot button. You will vault a great distance perpendicularly off the wall. It will be very difficult for pursuers to see where you’ve gone until you have quite a lead.

Ezio didn’t kill civilians,** but you sure as fuck can. If your contracted target is being annoying as hell, slay an NPC for a new assignment.

To climb to a ledge without vaulting up it, release high profile and use only the left analog/WASD for more deliberate movement.

#4: Change you can actually believe in

A lot of players messaged me on YouTube, GameFAQs, and here on T3 after I recommended crafting Poison with one point in score bonus and one point in cooldown.

“WiNGSPAN, that’s stupid!” they told me. “You won’t get enough extra uses out of Poison to make a cooldown investment worthwhile.” The numbers spoke for themselves, so I understood their points. But there was something the bean counters hadn’t taken into consideration.

I like to change my ability sets during the match.

You see, Poison may not benefit that much from having 10 seconds shaved off its cooldown, but you know what sucks a lot? Waiting 90 seconds to use Throwing Knives after switching ability sets. That’s because when you switch ability sets, your cooldowns carry over to their respective skill slots. So while a double score bonus works great for someone who intends to use Poison the entire match, it’s less useful if you might be jumping between Poison and another, shorter-cooldown ability frequently.

Some players may not typically switch ability sets, but versatility confers great value during the course of a match. For instance, starting the game with Hidden Gun equipped can almost guarantee the First Blood bonus. That’s incredibly useful since there’s no other time you can earn it. Once you’ve taken the lead, switching to a defensive set with Charge/Mute or Tripwire Bomb/Decoy can keep pursuers off your tail for longer. And if prolonged hiding leads to five contract losses, you can equip Smoke Bomb and Poison with the 2x Score Loss Streak to set up a 2500 point kill.

#5: Spam isn’t a dirty word; it’s delicious

One big change from Brotherhood to Revelations is that the stun and kill distances are larger and roughly equidistant. It effectively evens out a lot of previously hard-to-understand encounters, but it also means the general range of “wow, what the fuck was that?”

In many scenarios, this means that the player who spams kill or stun the soonest and most rapidly wins.

Now, I’m not going to tell you to buy a highly-rated turbo controller or anything, but it would probably behoove your to learn the maximum stun/kill distance and start mashing the fuck out of the appropriate button when that range is reached. Just think: if you hit the button a half second before your enemy does, it could give you a clean kill or stun.

And there are plenty of other times spamming is necessary. When locked on to a player who’s much lower in elevation than you, spamming Assassinate is often the easiest way to catch your target in the brief moment he or she peeks out from under a canopy. If you’re trying to poison someone, spamming the ability hotkey is the only sure way to guarantee you can administer whatever the hell is in that vial to your victim before getting stunned.

And, most importantly, spamming the taunt input is the only way for your opponent to know how terrible he or she is at Revelations.

If you enjoyed this article, read more Assassin’s Creed Revelations multiplayer strategy articles.

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* Instead of your opponent.

** Little known fact: Ezio killed every beggar woman on Earth. At least… he did in my game.