Looking for AC3 info instead? Read our Assassin’s Creed 3 multiplayer ability crafting guide.

If there’s one thing every gamer loves, it math. And even if you don’t particularly like mathematics, you probably should. You see, math can open up new understanding and insight into the games you love. Games like Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. A few calculations can shed light on previously dismissed strategies or builds.

Now, you could spend all day crunching numbers and building boring Excel spreadsheets, or you could just wait till someone online does it for you. Well, today’s your lucky day.

Skill crafting basics

Before you get daunted by the name, “Skill Crafting” in Revelations doesn’t really match the paradigm of “crafting.” There are no recipes, item collecting, and chance of failure… just grinding. For the per-ability cost of 80 Abstergo Credits you can customize any ability to your liking. There is only one copy of each ability, so changing its effects will alter the way it works in every loadout. But don’t fret – even the worst craft is better than the default skill configuration!

If this sounds familiar, it’s essentially a revised iteration of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood‘s skill customization mechanics. You don’t have to complete specific/impossible challenges to unlock what you want, so for most players it should be a less annoying experience, though still a time-consuming one.

Each ability has three parameters you can tweak, and you’re given two points to use as you see fit. You can spend both points on one parameter, or spread them between two parameters, or (if you are a complete idiot) spend one point and throw away the other. Common attributes you can affect are cooldown, duration, range… you get the idea.

In this guide, you’ll find charts showing the full customization possible for each ability, as well as my recommendations for the best ability crafting outcomes for Revelations. All times listed are in seconds, and all distances in meters.

Are you ready to start slaughtering your way to the tops of the Templar ranks?

ACR Ability Crafting Guide

DECOY Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 50 45 -10.0% 40 -20.0% Duration 5 10 100.0% 15 200.0% Behavior Normal Discreet n/a Disguised n/a

Decoy turns a nearby NPC into a copy of you that runs around in the hopes of luring a pursuer into killing it or buying you enough time to escape. The skill has a very short cooldown, and the first point only buys you 5 seconds (10%), so I’d recommend one point in duration, doubling it from 5 seconds to 10. While a second point in duration is tempting, spending it on behavior instead buys you a more convincing Decoy that walks at a normal speed instead of random, panicked flailing. Most enemies will distrust the standard behavior, but might be fooled by a more calm dummy.

DISGUISE Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 60 55 -8.3% 45 -25.0% Duration 15 18 -10.0% 20 33.0% Visibility Strong Medium n/a Light n/a

Disguise changes your appearance to that of a random persona, allowing you to fool pursuers and targets alike (assuming you don’t unfortunately Disguise as one of them). While a shorter cooldown would be great, a large 33% increase in duration means you have more time to make your escape or your approach in the clutch moments you need it most. Cutting down on the visibility of the animation is all right, but a longer duration puts off the flickering warning flashes by 5 seconds anyway. If you haven’t won by then, you wouldn’t have won anyway.

TRIPWIRE BOMB Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Range 2 2.1 5.0% 2.3 15.0% Activation 5 4.2 -16.0% 3.5 -30.0%

Tripwire Bomb places a proximity mine in the ground that incapacitates enemies who step near it. Anyone who’s used it knows how annoying the long activation time is, so a point is definitely worth spending there. Whether you opt for an additional setup reduction or go for a lower cooldown is up to you, but I believe having a new Bomb available 10 seconds sooner is worth more than having the current one up 0.7 seconds faster. Don’t even consider the range stat, which buys you a measly 30 centimeters of explosive radius.

CLOSURE Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 50 45 -10.0% 40 -20.0% Range 25 30 20.0% 35 40.0% Duration 5 5.8 16.0% 6.5 30.0%

Closure activates every Chase Breaker within a huge proximity, keeping opponents at bay or trapping them in a closed space with you. Rorschach much, anyone? This is a situational skill, so you want it to work as well as possible when the need to fence off foes arrives. To that end, a 30% increase in duration to 6.5 seconds guarantees a good gating effect. Closure’s recharge is already quite low, and the range is huge, so those stats don’t really warrant buffs.

TEMPLAR VISION Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 75 70 -6.7% 60 -20.0% Duration 3 4 33.3% 5 66.7% Range 25 30 20.0% 40 60.0%

Templar Vision reveals the true nature of every character on screen, showing you if they’re friend, foe, or just another dumbass AI. Its largest downside is that it also reveals you to all nearby players, which is why dropping a point in range to put you farther from potential punishment is great. You could go for a second point in range for a 40-meter line of sight, but that tends to be overkill in ACR’s small maps. Boost duration 33% instead for more time to scan for your victim.

FIRECRACKERS Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 75 70 -6.7% 60 -20.0% Range 5 5.5 10.0% 6 20.0% Duration 4 4.5 12.5% 5 25.0%

Firecrackers cause computer-controlled personas to panic, leaving real players standing around conspicuously. It also blinds them, making ensuring their death all the easier. In Brotherhood I would have recommended range upgrades to give you the edge over Smoke Bombs, but in Revelations you can throw Firecrackers, eliminating this need. You won’t need Firecrackers constantly, so forgo cooldown for duration buffs, keeping your enemies running into walls for 25% longer.

MORPH Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 60 55 -8.3% 45 -25.0% Duplicates 4 5 25.0% 6 50.0% Range 3.2 4 25.0% 5 56.3%

Morph isn’t just a stupid X-Men character; it’s also an ACR ability that turns 4 nearby NPCs into copies of you. It gives your pursuers a 20% chance of guessing who you really are, which means the need for additional dupes isn’t really necessary. Range can ensure fewer “dud” uses that don’t hit close targets, but good players will rarely miss. That leaves two points for cooldown, giving you the option of making instant friends as often as you’re so inclined.

BODYGUARD Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 50 45 -10.0% 40 -20.0% Range 8 10 25.0% 12 50.0% Duration 8 10 25.0% 12 50.0%

Bodyguard, like Decoy, creates a copy of your character. Unlike Decoys, Bodyguards don’t run from opponents – they stroll towards them and attempt to stun them for you. Combine the two abilities and you have a never-ending circus of NPC puppets! Like Decoy, cooldown isn’t a big problem, and 8 meters is quite all right for range as-is. Bodyguard benefits from duration bonuses tremendously, so dump both points there and watch as hilarity ensues.

HIDDEN GUN Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Aiming Time 2 1.5 -25.0% 1 -50.0% Accuracy 30 45 50.0% 60 100.0%

Hidden Gun won’t earn you the respect of your targets, but it will earn you their bounties. While the aiming time is annoying (the accuracy is tied to it, starting at 30% and reaching 100% at full charge), you should only use the gun when you are sure you have the time to do so. In other words, if you were planning to take a quick shot at someone, you probably shouldn’t be using the Hidden Gun anyway. Skip those attributes and give yourself more shots with a double cooldown point distribution.

THROWING

KNIVES Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 50 45 -10.0% 40 -20.0% Duration 2.8 3.2 14.3% 3.5 25.0% Target Speed 80% 75% -6.3% 70% -12.5%

Throwing Knives somehow leave targets living, albeit crippled and unable to move in high profile (including climbing) for a short time period. Their duration and slowing effect suck, but the bonuses to these parameters suck even more, with meager additions to each category. Most of the time, you’ll be using Throwing Knives to knock Templar off of walls or wires, so cut down on the cooldown to give yourself a vertical edge on a more frequent basis.

CHARGE Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Duration 2 2.5 25.0% 3 50.0% Accuracy 25 30 20.0% 35 40.0%

Charge hurls you at crowds full-speed, automatically locking on to your pursuer or target, even if you had no clue who your foe was within the fray. It’s a great all-around skill since it can disable enemies on either side of the equation… when it hits. Extra duration can backfire when you run off cliffs or straight past your victim, so ensure more clean connections with a 20% boost in accuracy instead. Then chop 10 seconds off the cooldown with a point spent there.

SMOKE BOMB Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 60 55 -8.3% 45 -25.0% Range 3.2 3.5 9.4% 3.8 18.8% Duration 3 3.5 16.7% 4 33.3%

Smoke Bomb is hands-down the best skill in the game, so why not use it more often? It incapacitates all characters in its AOE, giving you 3 seconds to have your way with their coughing, soon-to-be corpses. Duration can help in Smoke Bomb vs Smoke Bomb spam, but is otherwise unnecessary in most circumstances. Smoke Bomb is already very powerful, so I recommend double cooldown boosts. Range is a nice perk, but you can now throw Smoke Bombs (slowly).

MUTE Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Range 6 6.5 8.3% 7 16.7% Duration 1.5 1.8 20.0% 2.1 40.0%

Mute shuts down all enemies’ abilities, including the ability to stun or kill you, within a gigantic three-dimensional radius. The only downsides? A painfully short window of efficacy and an inversely protracted period of cooldown. Increasing the range from “enormous” to “galactic” is a fucking waste, so don’t bother there. Just slice down your wait time and notch up the precious effective duration so you can land more successful Mutes on a more frequent basis.

TELEPORT Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Activation 2.5 2.1 -16.0% 1.8 -28.0% Range 35 40 14.3% 45 28.6%

Teleport gives you the power of Nightcrawler, hurtling you forward 35 meters, usually a safe distance from would-be aggressors. Much like Closure, you won’t need Teleport all the time, but when you do, it needs to work without hitches. Ignore the cooldown for this one, as well as the range, since a football field is plenty of breathing room. Cut the activation time by 28% so it’s less likely your life ends before the beam me up Scotty Teleportation animation does.

POISON Default +1 Point % Change +2 Points % Change Cooldown 90 80 -11.1% 75 -16.7% Delay 6.5 5 -23.1% 3.5 -46.2% Score Bonus 200 250 25.0% 300 50.0%

Poison is the mechanical opposite of the Hidden Gun, giving you a huge point bonus for a silent kill at close range. If used correctly, your victim won’t realize he’s dead until Satan himself is asking him which orifice he’d like violated first. While the long kill delay is annoying, a smart player will rarely get poached. You’re left with a tradeoff between a higher initial bonus and a lower recharge for more opportunities to score big. Why not take the middle ground, just to be safe?

Download this guide

I hope you’ve found this guide useful. Keep in mind that while the stats presented above are factual as of this writing, my opinions are just that – opinions. Experiment with your own crafts and let me know your preferences in the comments below. If you’d like a permanent version of this file, download a Assassin’s Creed Revelations Abilities Guide PDF. Don’t forget to stay tuned to Top Tier Tactics for more great ACR strategy, tips, and events!