Assassin's Creed 3's multiplayer is unique not just for its stealthy cat and mouse gameplay, but also for its vast array of abilities that allow you to tweak the game to fit into your playstyle ever so snugly. The following is our guide to all of the abilities and the playstyles that they enable. Read on and decide which style of assassination works best for you.

Animus Shield

The Animus Shield provides added protection to your avatar, useful when you are battling an enemy head-on.

Bodyguard

The Bodyguard ability enables you to recruit an NPC from the nearby area to act as your bodyguard, taking the blow from your hunters when necessary. The Bodyguard will do this by disguising themselves as you for a limited period of time. As the enemy approaches the Bodyguard, the Bodyguard will attempt to use a stun move on them and reset your killer's contract.

The Bodyguard is useless against players who have already identified you, so it's a good ability to pop early in a chase, when the enemy still doesn't know exactly who you are.

Closure

Closure seals off every Chase Breaker in the nearby area, making it much more difficult for your targets to escape from you. That goes both ways, though, as you and any teammates you might have also cannot use the Chase Breakers. Because of this caveat, you will have to think very carefully before using Closure, as you can end up getting yourself or a friend killed just as easily as trapping an enemy.

Closure is a very situational ability; after all, there's no telling when an opponent might want to use a cChase Breaker, or if there will even be one in the nearby vicinity, or if the attack will even break out into a chase at all. Because of this, unless you find yoruself chasing down enemies all the time, you might want ot leave Closure behind as you make your way into battle.

Decoy

Similar to the Bodyguard ability. Causes one NPC nearby to run away from you and towards a selected character. The NPC will temporarily take on your appearance, giving the whole thing the look of a hunter breaking cover to assassinate his target.

Disguise

Another great way to throw off enemies is by popping on a disguise. This ability will change the appearance of your avatar for just a few seconds, which will ideally throw off attackers in the crowd as they hunt you. The big caveat here is that popping and losing the disguise are totally obvious;; both of which are accompanied by a flickering light effect around your character.

Note that while disguised, your enemies will still be able to find you via a proximity detector and line of sight indicator.

Disruption

Target a player with this ability, and you will mess up their HUD for several seconds. Disruption is a very subtle move, as nobody can see you performing it and it doesn't take too long to enact. If you're aiming to stay quiet, this move can then be a real life saver.

Firecrackers

Firecrackers will stun NPCs and make them fall over to the floor. They'll have a slightly less damaging effect on players, who will just be blinded by the miniature explosions. This will give you the time you need to escape from your pursuer, or close the distance with an elusive target.

Naturally, this is not a quiet ability. You'll attract a lot of attention when using these items, so only do so as a last resort.

Glimmer

Glimmer allows you to become nearly invisible for just a few seconds. You will appear as a sort of shimmer on the screens of enemies, so it is still technically possible for them to see you. Once you kill or stun an enemy, you will be visible again no matter what.

You can use this skill in both an offensive and defensive manner. It's easy enough to escape by turning invisible, although enemeis can still find you using their trackers. And then again, it's just as much fun to pop Glimmer before sneaking up on a target to finish the job.

Money Bomb

The Money Bomb tosses out change for NPCs to collect, attracting them all to the area where you dropped the coins. This can be useful for weeding out the human players from the NPCs; only a very quick-witter human will attempt the behaviors of the NPCs in this situation, adn even then those behaviors can't be perfectly recreated.

Morph

This ability will transform several NPCs nearby into copies of you, making it tougher for a hunter to pick you out as the target. Morph doesn't run on a timer, so you can feel free to pop it and then hang around with your clone army. This can help you to discover your pursuers, since they will have to weed you out from the crowd of identical enemies.

You can also use Morph in an offensive manner, popping it when you think you are near a target in order to change all of the NPCs around you into copies of you -- except for the real enemy ,taht is, who will still look like himself.

Pistol

The Pistol is a long-range, slow-reloading weapon that almost always marks an instant kill. Pistol accuracy beigns pretty lousy, though, but if you charge it up you'll be assured a 100% hit chance.

Using the Pistol will naturally make you visible to enemies around you almost immediately, so there' s abig risk in using this powerful weapon.

Poison

If you activate this ability right next to your target, your avatar will slip Poison into the enemy, leaving them dying a few seconds later. This kills your target without alerting him, and earns you a bonus for Poisoning enemies and towards Variety.

Just be sure you don't target an NPC; if you poison an NPC, you won't get your poison back.

This is one of the sneakiest of the game's abilties, and only players interested in scoring huge points and remaining silent the entire time should employ it. In this way, it's almost the opposite of the Pistol.

Poison Darts

If you're looking for the subltlety of the Poison with the range of a gun, look no further than the Poison Dart. You activate this ability just like the Pistol, and poison them just like the Poison ability. This makes the Poison Dart less risky in most scnearios, but you will have to play through an animation to toss the dart, and this can alert one of your followers.

Smoke Bombs

Smoke Bombs have been in the game for a whlie now, and they remain mostly the same and mostly useful. By escaping into the cloud of gas released by one of these bombs, you can easily lose a tail and get yourself back on target.

Smoke Bomb has the longest cooldown of any ability in the game, but that's just because it's such a useful and multifaceted tool. You can disable and stun attackers, force targets into specific areas, or even create impassible routes, herding your targets before the kill.

Teleport

Teleport is one of the most sci-fi moves in the entire game. It does just as the title says, and teleports you from your current location to a location a few dozen meters away. Teleporting exactly is difficult, but if you're looking to end up in the general area of your taget it's a good choice.

Teleport is another move that has a long cooldown time, but it can be worth it when trying to escape from a persistant tail or close in on an elusive target. Use it wisely, and you can dominate a game.

Teleports can be interrupted, though, by the likes of the Throwing Knives, Smoke Bomb, and Wipe.

Throwing Knives

Throwing Knives are perhaps the most simple items in the multiplayer, but they are also incredibly versatile. They can cripple your enemies or even kill them, and they can interrupt Teleport and Pistol moves.

Throwing Knives will now make a sound when they are targeting you, allowing you to get away with just enough warning if you are fast enough. If you're on the throwing end of the spectrum, be sure to get your shots off quickly.

Trapwire Bomb

This nigh-invisible trap will pop a tiny Smoke Bomb upon any player unlucky enough to walk across it. It can be thrown or set down, but careful planning and patience are necessary to make the most of this ability, and you'll have to be precise if you are going to throw the Bomb instead of place it yourself.

This is a great ability to use in Domination and Artifact Assault, where you and your enemies will have reasons to congregate and battle in specific areas of the map. Lay down a Tripwire Bomb in one of thse areas, sit back and watch the magic happen. Then, run in and assassinate your stunned targets.

Wipe

Wipe prevents other players form using abilities for a limited time. It also reduces heartbeat and whisper sounds, so your targets won't know when you near them. Of course, that also means that you won't know when your enemies are getting close to you.

This is a move best saved for desperate times, as it's pretty obvious when you use it and you will be making yoruself a target even as you interrupt the abilities of those around you.