Some Odds and Ends Part II

When we resume the Animus we are introduced to the rope dart, and then we get a visit from one of the tribal elders, who tells us that the whites are about to force the sale of the tribe's lands – Connor goes a little batshit nuts at this point, and storms off.... As we are about to start a new Sequence that is fairly involved, before we get into that it's time to take a look at the map in Homestead to see what there is that is new, and then do some Frontier activities and some in Boston.

On the Homestead map you will note that there is now a Peg Leg Mission, as well as a pair of Homestead Missions, one at the Manor and one nearby it. We will begin with the closest one, that is at the Manor...

Homestead Mission: Encyclopedia of the Common Man

We flag this from Davenport, but this is an ongoing mission in which we need to scan the population of the Homestead. Because there are more yet to be added, we will not be able to complete this now, but we can get started on it. To add an entry you target a resident and hold down the Left Trigger,

The Homestead Ledger Book

While we are in the office go ahead and access the Ledger to add the crafting section to it, and then walk through the crafting of some barrels. You may as well send the barrels we made to town in a Convoy to make a little profit on them, right?

Defending Your Convoy

With any luck you will get this message shortly after you dispatch your Convoy – then you need to run like hell to the location on the Frontier and defend it from the attacking Redcoats! Once you have done so (assuming you do get the message to do that) fast travel back to the Homestead so we can continue our work there first.

Homestead Mission: Silent Hunter

You encounter a woman on the road who was injured by poachers, and her injuries need attention. You pick her up and carry her to the Manor House so that Davenport can tend to her, and then you leave to deal with the poachers! After you deal with the marked poachers you get a CS in which you warn the final one to tell his remaining friends to stay the hell away!

Now simply return to the Manor House and you get a CS of the resolution for the mission – the damsel in distress, Myriam, is now a resident of the Homestead, and you now have a Artisan who supplies fur, herbs, and the like. Well done you!

Mission: Peg Leg

Now fast travel to the harbor and seek out the Marker for the the old pirate... You ask him about the letters and he tells you that Captain Kidd sent these letters and a piece of leather to his four crew, and he claims that they lead to treasure! He wants Trinkets though, and since we already have a few of them go ahead and chat with him and you turn one in for a letter. Talk to him again and turn in the other Trinket that we have for another letter.

That wraps things up in the Homestead for now, so use fast travel to go to the Frontier as we have a bit to do there next!

Taking over a Fort to deny the British territory

– On the Frontier –

When you look at the map you will no doubt realize that there is plenty to do here – assuming you only bought the Chest Map there are those, but if you also went ahead and bought the other maps while you were there, well, you want to go ahead and clear out this region for all of the collection items you can reach! If you only have the chest map then go ahead and claim all the chests, then head to the store and buy the rest of the maps, and clear all the Trinkets and Feathers from the Frontier as well. This will take a bit of time – not to worry, I will wait. Go ahead! Go!

Welcome back! At this point you should have collected all of the Treasure Chests in the Frontier region, taken over the three forts that directly conflicted with access to the Treasure Chests and other items that were too close for comfort, and if necessary made the quick trip back to town to purchase the remaining Maps that represent the full stock-in-trade for that category. With those invaluable resources in hand, collecting the Feathers and Trinkets will have been trivial being more by nature a n issue of time-consuming play rather than anything else, but now that you have completed those aspects of the game and its environment, you have completed what is perhaps the most involved and make-work filled aspect of this game so far!

If you have not heard it enough, let me reinforce the event by offering you a hearty and sincere “Well done mates!”

Collecting the Windmill Feather

– After the Collections –

Now that the Collections are complete for the Frontier region a quick look-see reveals that there are just a handful of markers left, including:

– An Assassination Contract by one of the liberated forts

– A Homestead Mission

– An Interactive Conversation at our Tribal Village

Be an idea to get the easy out of the way first, so fast travel to the Tribal Village and go to the marker to speak with the woman in the longhouse, and she will ask you about what you have been doing and what success you have had in your quest? Speak with her twice again to be told you are always welcome and to remove the marker.

Outside by the curing rack is an elder who you have a general conversation with about the health of the tribe before the conversation turns to you and your concerns over the sale of the land. Again speak with him two more times to remove the marker.

Assassination Contract

Fast travel to the fort with the nearby Assassination Contract and head to the marker, where you will find a man who has a desire that is dear to your heart: he wants you to find and kill x5 Templar, an action that will be fairly easy to accomplish considering that the locations of the Templar are now marked on your map! This mission appears in the Logbook under Assassination Contacts if you want to check the status.

Since it is on our mind we may as well head over to the targets and kill them, right? After you kill the 5th target the mission completes and you are paid the reward without having to return to the quest giver, nice that.

Recruiting Warren the Farmer and his wife Prudence

Frontier Homestead Mission: Abused

All that is left outstanding in the Frontier Region at this point is the marker for the Homestead Mission, so fast travel to the Harbormaster Marker then head for the mission marker where you will arrive on the scene of a man and his wife who were attacked by British Regulars. You kill the Brits and then speak to the woman, who is cradling her badly injured mate – and you propose that they come live in Homestead – and they agree!

Well done mates! You have added another set of residents to the Homestead in the form of a farmer named Warren and his wife Prudence, which means that come this time next year the Homestead will have fresh produce! Sweet! More important than that though is that you have expanded the type of content and resources that the Homestead can now produce on its own, adding another depth level to the Encyclopedia of the Common Man (about which we will deal in-depth with later) and at this point you should be getting a handle on the direction that this process is headed in, from a philosophical point-of-view, right?

With that managed though, it is time for us to make the next logical leap in focus, bearing in mind that so far what we have been exposed to in this new world of Assassin's Creed is a very limited view of the Old World that largely entailed the Royal Opera House in London, life on board a sailing vessel, and the New World in the form of a deep focus upon the wilderness and a more shallow focus upon the Colonial City of Boston (which we are about to transform into a much deeper focus), as well as the rural community of Homestead which occupies a place off of the coast of what would today be viewed as modern-day Maine.

Eventually the game world will expand to include a detailed sense of Boston and New York City, along with the wilderness in sections of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, a tip of Maryland, and the woods south of the known territories. In addition to that our newly rebuild frigate will allow for adding the trade islands of the Caribbean as well as much of the New England and eastern seaboard to our consciousness. For now though, let's not bite off such a big chunk of the world, and instead focus upon the more immediate concerns, which are to complete the optional and collectible contents for the City of Boston, and learn that what we thought was the City of Boston from our previous play was really just the Central Boston District, and in fact as we open up the new areas of North Boston and South Boston, we find ourselves in a much bigger environment than we previously imagined to be the case.

So head for the marker and enter Boston now!

When things go very wrong you have to swim to the Sun

– I'm Shipping Up to Boston –

“I'm a sailor peg, and I lost my leg; I climbed up the topsails;

I lost my leg – I'm shipping up to Boston (whoa oh oh)”

The opening paragraph for this subsection is the first third of the lyrics for the song “Shipping up to Boston” – original words and music by folk singer Woody Guthrie (Arlo's Da) hoo-ah!

With the recruiting of Warren and his wife we have wrapped up all of the available missions and quests for the Frontier for now, which only leaves what we have not done in Boston, so it is now a logical time for us to pay the city a visit – of course that will mean some battles, as the Brits seem to hate us – but hey, that's OK, I like killing them and you do too!

The Map of Markers... Yeah, take a look at that! In addition to the Main Mission Marker there are lots O'Stuff to do here, arr-yay-shiver-me-timbers! Let us examine just what there is to do here and make a nice tidy list that is not necessarily in the order we would do the activities in, shall we?

• Almanac Page Collection
• Assassination Contract
• Boston Brawlers
• Courier Mission
• Delivery Requests
• Frontiersman Missions
• Homestead Mission
• Peg Leg Trinkets Collection
• Treasure Chest Collection

In addition to this general assessment of the available activities for us in Boston you will also discover that the “Fort System” that we first encountered in the Frontiers region plays a dominant role in the control of Boston by the military in the form of established Forts that are occupied by British Regular Army forces. This is significant for several reasons – the depth of which will be covered soon – but for now it comes to your attention due to the fact that there are several items in the Collections that, in order to obtain them, require us to deal with the occupants of these forts! For now, you can either avoid those collection items, and deal with them – and the question of the Forts – later, or you can bite the bullet and go ahead and address the issue of the fort being in the way of collecting your item now...

Dealing with Notoriety after taking over a fort

– The Taking of Fort Independence in the Central District of Boston –

Should you decide that you want to go ahead and take over the fort at which the Treasure Chest is located on the map in the center of the southern end of the Central District in Boston, you should probably be aware that by taking that fort you are not actually converting this local area to the Rebel Cause, you are just taking over and converting the fort... There is a different mechanism utilized for taking over the sections of the town.

Now having said that, there is a certain measure of satisfaction involved in taking a fort away from the Redcoats – I am just saying – but once you have done so chances are very high that you have also managed to get your notoriety level into the third level, which means you are going to want to lose active pursuit and head for the closest Printer's Shop or Town Crier to get your notoriety lowered as conveniently as you can manage, since having high notoriety makes running around town – or for that matter walking around town – a bit inconvenient since you end up doing a lot of fighting as a result...

The actual process of bribing a printer is rather anticlimactic - you just open the map, mark the closest shop, run there without drawing any attention to yourself and thus arriving without an active combat flag – then just go inside and give the Printer some coin and voila! You are no longer Kill-on-Sight! That means you can easily resume going after the collection items in relative peace like before you were so rudely forced to kill a bunch of Redcoats!

As you work on securing all of the collectibles try to remember that you can fast travel inside the city using the various Harbor Master Markers as well as dedicated fast travel markers if you need to – and you may want to be keeping an eye out for and exploring the hidden entrances to the tunnel system that was created by the Freemasons in Boston since these need to all be found and explored anyway – and you probably have figured this out already but what we are looking at on this map is only a small portion of the city – more about that will be covered later.

Some Notes about Treasure Chest Collecting: as you work your way through the map and begin to pick open and empty the Treasure Chests here you will notice that many of them contain just money – not that I am in any way, shape, or form implying that receiving money for what really amounts to minimal effort in locating, unlocking, and looting these chests – but as you know from your experiences with the first handful of chests that you opened at the start of the that collection quest, some of the Treasure Chests contain crafting recipes, and some of the recipes that the chests situated here in the Central District contain particularly desirable and even useful recipes! Examples of the recipes that you will be obtaining include:

• Bear Pendant;
• Cold Medicine;
• Cough Syrup;
• Royal Navy Sea Service Flintlock;
• Spirits (distilled alcohol);
• Torches;
• Wigs (seriously).

Interestingly where the recipes tended to appear in large quantities and in great variety in the early chests now come in dribs and drabs and with the exception of the Royal Navy Sea Service Flintlock and perhaps the medicine are not all that useful or valuable...

Chasing down and catching an Almanac Page

Part I: Clearing all of the Collection Item Map Markers

What to do? What to do? Being an orderly sort of bloke my inclination is to take care of all of the collection items first, that way we sort of get that out of the way and besides it is a major chunk of activity that can be briefly and efficiently covered by saying “go do the collection items and I will wait here for you, let me know when you are done?”

So do the following in any order that you like, as long as you actually do them:

1. Collect all of the marked Almanac Pages;
2. Collect all of the marked Peg Leg Trinkets;
3. Synchronize all of the marked View Points;
4. Collect all of the marked Treasure Chests;

In addition to the above, if you come across any Interactive Conversations, it would be an idea to go ahead and trigger and complete those, as they have the potential to add information to the Animus Database, and you never know when that information may come in handy.

A comment on doing this and how it may seem like more make-work than progress – dismissing for the moment that each of the Collections counts towards the 100% game completion stat, almost all of the collections in some way enhances the game – for example the Treasure Chests provide you with money that you will need, either for buying up the remaining maps that can be had at the General Store to such mundane but important items like outfitting your flagship with extra canon, and obtaining better weapons, replacing consumables, and the like. The Almanac collections may seem like the most annoying of the bunch, but bear in mind that with each Almanac set of pages you complete, you add to the game one of Benjamin Franklin's invention recipes, that both count towards 100% completion and number among the crafted items you are going to want to make anyway.

The point that I am making is that it is better to view this interlude of collection-item-hunting as a fruitful and desirable part of the game rather than the make-work and interruption to the story that you may be tempted to treat it as. Just saying, how you view things like this have a direct impact on how much you enjoy them – or not.

– Having completed the Collection Markers in Central Boston –

Wow! You did all that wicked fast! Nice job mates! With the Collections out of the way now, what remains are the more formal marked missions and quests that include the Assassination Contract, Boston Brawlers, Courier Mission, Delivery Request, Frontiersman, and the Homestead Mission, as well as taking over the various Forts and restricted areas in order to scoop up the remaining collectibles, so let us tackle those now, shall we?

Note that when you run into trouble that raises your notoriety - and you WILL do that - markers will appear on the map for nearby Town Criers and Printer's Shop so that once you have removed active pursuit you can duck into a Printer's Shop or chat up a Town Crier and bribe them to lower your current notoriety level... Just to remind you there are three levels of Notoriety that you can have – with the second being more or less suspicions-on-sight and the third being Kill-on-Sight!

Part II: Clearing all of the Faction and Optional Mission Map Markers

Once you have cleared all of the Collection Item Map Markers from the Map it is time to clear the Optional Mission and Faction Markers, which entails completing their activities. You can do them in any order that you like and prefer – they are listed below in the logical order that I approached them, which was to handle the optional stuff first to get it out of the way, and then deal with the important faction and story-related items last, bearing in mind that once we complete all or the marker-based quests in Boston we will want to check the Frontier for anything new that popped up there, and then head back to the Homestead both to check that, and to pay a visit to Mr. Peg Leg himself, now that we have acquired a significant number of his Trinkets...

– Boston: Boston Brawlers –

Bearing in mind that a lot of the line items that are part of the challenges both for this faction and the others happen to be actions that we will end up doing (for the most part) anyway as part of the regular game play, focusing upon them here as intentional actions will likely end up being more of a completing the already started sets than starting new ones...

While the Boston Brawlers are technically a 18th Century representation of what was called “Fight Club” in the 21st Century, the fact that in addition to containing elements of what we traditionally think of as “fighting” activities (challenges) it also includes actions that result in death, so I suppose it is fair to say that this 18th Century version of Fight Club is a bit more deadly!

The missions are found by seeking out the white marker depicting a raised and clenched fist which is strategically placed in the very heart of the Boston Central District very nearby to the central Harbormaster desk making it relatively easy to reach.

A Brawl with Peter Bunyon

As you are just starting this faction mission series you are presently completing Challenge Set I - and it should be noted and acknowledged that at least one or more of the activities that are part of the Challenge Set will have been ticked as the process of passively flagging this faction quest-line requires it.

(1) Challenge Set I

• Meet with Harold Ring at the old brewery in Boston;
• Disarm enemies (x5);
• Kill five enemies affected by a Smoke Bomb within 10 seconds;
• Kill enemies with your Hidden Blade (x25);
• Stealth-kill enemies without being detected (x10);
• Kill an enemy Officer (x10);
• Achieve a 5-enemy kill-streak.

The first step for this faction is to open your map and select the Brawler Marker at the Old Brewery, and then head there to meet with Harold Ring – there is a Harbormaster nearby you can fast travel to – when you arrive you start the mission and he demands that you prove yourself – and to do that he wants you to find Peter Bunyon in the Frontier Region and challenge him to a fight!

Head to the Frontier and you will see that a Boston Brawlers Marker has been added – select that and then go there and you will find him waiting there – but be aware that this is NOT a fair fight. First of all you not only have to fight him but all of his mates – and second, while you can use counters on his mates, they do not work on him, and trying will just get you hurt. For him you have to break his defense and more important you have to remember to do that and NOT counter...

Your best tactic is to use a combination of Break Defense and then direct attacks until you have him KO'd at which point you win!

Unfortunately the next fight you need to complete is in New York City, so that wraps up the quests for the Boston Brawlers for the time being... So return to Boston to finish up the other quests there.

– Boston: Frontiersman –

As with the other faction quests, once you flag this faction (which you probably did on the Frontier come to think on it) you are presented with the first Challenges list:

(1) Frontiersman Challenges I

• Perform a Leap of Faith (x10)
• Discover Underground Network Entrances (x5)
• Reach a High Point
• Discover the Location of every Fort (x7)
• Explore the Canopy by traveling 100m through the trees.
• Collect a Feather (x5)

Most of these will come naturally, but you will not be able to complete the first set of Challenges in Boston right now, since you cannot find all of the Forts at the moment. Still do what you can that you have not already done in regular game play just to be done with what you can do...

Look for a Marker in the south part of the Central District around the Fort area, head there and you find them waiting inside the pub there. When you approach the table you flag the quest Monster of the Sea, and Danial Boon tells the story of a sea monster – and following that announcement you need to eavesdrop on conversations around town (in the northern section) to learn what you can... Once you hear the three conversations you need to speak with the old lady, who is tending a grave nearby.

The Saga of the American Sea Monster

She tells you that her husband was a good man – and you get the clue to investigate the Trader's Workshop, which is marked on the map! Heading there you discover a piece of technology – a deep diving suit – that adds a new entry to the Database and solves this mystery! The entry is “The American Sea Monster” and you can now head back to the Pub to flag the next mission...

The next quest is Unidentified Flying Object – check the map and on the west side of town you will find that a new marker has been placed. There is a nearby fast travel spot so hit that and then run to the marker where you find a search area. There is nothing on the ground but if you climb up on the outhouse and then jump into the nearby tree and work your way through the trees you will find a clue up in the branches that solves this mystery and gains you the Database Entry “The UFO” – I will not spoil the surprise for you, you have to learn the secret for yourself :)

This completes all of the Frontiersman missions and you should also only have discovering the forts left on the first set of Challenges...

– Thief’s Club Challenges –

As with the other faction sets these are passively flagged – you just have to have done any one of the actions and then encountered a faction member on the streets of Boston. After you do that and the quests are flagged, you are presented with the first Challenge List:

(1) Thief Challenges I

• Loot a dead body (x10)
• Perform an Air Assassination (x25)
• Catch a Courier*
• Pickpocket a total of $200
• Kill an enemy from a hiding place** (x25)

* This is accomplished specifically by catching a courier and NOT killing them. That is to say when you notice a courier on the map or in the crowd, begin to give chase but be SURE that you set your active weapon to HAND and not Sword or Hidden Blade, so that way when you do catch up to and tackle the bugger you do not assassinate them!

You will only get credit for the capture if you do not kill them, and you should be aware that enemy troops will react to you chasing the person, AND the neutral troops (such as the rebel/Colonial soldiers in a fort that you have captured for them) will ALSO react to you chasing them in a negative fashion – that is to say that they will aggro you. That means you are much better off finding a courier in the streets of Boston rather than say, in a fort, or near the Redcoats.

** This may sound confusing but it really is not – you just need to do kills from Hay Piles, Hay Wagons, any brush you are concealed in, that sort of thing. You should find once you start to get serious about racking up this stat that it is not really that difficult if you find the right place or you make use of luring techniques in the game.

The only item from the Challenges that you can think of as intentionally completed would be chasing down a Courier, and the doing of that basically means wandering around town until you find one of them and then chase it down...

The Underground Travel System

As previously noted, the Boston Freemasons have created a system of tunnels that are largely entered through what appear to be normal bulkheads that lead to the cellars of existing buildings. Each tunnel is built more like a maze, connecting the cellars of different buildings together, and to assist you in finding your way, include oil lamps affixed to the walls that you can light as you progress, which will help you to see where you have been.

The first two entrances for the five separate tunnel systems are shown to you as part of the mini-tutorial you get when you are escaping from Boston after the shopping trip for the Homestead, during which your Father and his Templar mates are up to no good and your dear old Da fingers you as the scapegoat for the massacre. Finding the two entrances for the remaining four tunnels is on you, however, but with a little patience and some hints here, you should be able to manage the ten in Boston (there are others in New York City but we have yet to visit there so we can ignore those for now).

All of the tunnels are connected to each other inside, so since you already have two entrances you can suss out the rest by exploring the tunnels and following the tips that are provided inside of them!

– Tunnel Tips –

First Tip: Look for signs inside the tunnels – the Freemasons were kind enough to put signs in to let you know when one tunnel set branches off into another, for example as you watch the video you will note that the sign for the Coffee House is easily visible – so yeah, look for those.

Second Tip: Follow the rats if you get lost as they know where the exits actually are.

Third Tip: The dead-ends do not have anything for you to get so there is no point in exploring them, however if you don't explore them you cannot reveal them on the map, so it is Hobson's Choice here.

Fourth Tip: Look for arrows on the walls AND use your Eagle Vision to see the secret arrows on the ground that are left for people like you (who have Eagle Vision)...

Fifth Tip: Puzzles will appear to guard some of the entrances, and usually they include all of the clues that are required to solve them, so pay attention to what is there, and use the resources that you are provided!

The Coffee House Exit Puzzle

– God and Religion and the Magic Lamp @ the Coffee House –

When you arrive at the puzzle before you use the Magic Lantern Projector, read the nearby book as it is your hint. The objective here is to re-arrange the shapes in order that they belong, and the book here will explain that – pay particular attention to the phrases in all Caps.

The shapes that are part of the puzzle are:

1. Buddhist Wheel
2. Christian Cross
3. Balance Scale
4. Globe of the Earth

The parts in the text that are all in caps are:

1. UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES- OBEY AND BALANCE MORAL LAW
2. THE GLOBE OVER
3. BE IT CHRISTIANITY OF THE WEST
4. BUDDHISM OF THE EAST

That should be a dead simple clue for you – but if not, do the following:

1. Globe is in the North
2. Buddhist Wheel to the East
3. The Scales to the South
4. The Cross to the West

Having rearranged these as above, you get the notice that you have discovered entrance 1/5 and well done! Outside you will see that you are at an entrance near the shore on the east central side of the area.

Re-enter the Underground and then look at the map and you will see that you now have three marked entrances. We want to make our way to the middle entrance (the one to the east) and, once you are there, follow the branching path to the north from it, where you will eventually reach a square chamber in which there are three exits, each with a sign above it – they read:

• North: Green Dragon Tavern
• East: North Port
• South: Crown Coffee House

We want to take the east exit (North Port) and, when you reach the T-intersection just ahead, instead of heading north into the unexplored area – which is a dead-end that you can explore if you want to just to complete the map – head south to the exit we already know about, but rather than use the exit instead head north, and explore the tunnel ahead until you reach an intersection that has two lamps near each other. On the floor of the intersection is a masonic symbol that, in Eagle Vision, points the way to the next exit!

The Old North Church Exit Puzzle

– The Old North Church Entrance Puzzle –

When you reach the end of this section of the tunnel you will arrive at the Old North Church, and another puzzle to be completed in order to unlock the entrance to the tunnel and the outside!

This may look harder than it actually is – what you need to understand is that the direction that you push either Joystick in has a different effect on the wheels – the goal is to align all of the crescent shapes on the right side matching, and you do this by experimenting with the different directions you can push the two Joysticks. I think this is different for everyone, or maybe it is a set of a dozen different starting combinations, so I cannot tell you precisely which moves to make for your game, but I can say that paying attention to what moves for each direction will quickly see you solving this!

Once the puzzle is solved you emerge in the street next to the Old North Church. Once you see where that is, head back into the tunnels.

Looking at the map you now have four exits revealed – we next want to locate the northern-most exit, which means that we need to follow the tunnels to the west and south to reach the entrance that is in the northwest corner of the ones that we can now see.

– The Barred Chamber –

To accomplish this, backtrack to the square chamber with the three exits and signs, and take the North exit (to the Green Dragon Tavern) and backtrack all the way to the exit to the Tavern but do not actually use it. From there head west and north through a larger chamber that you need to set the lantern down to unbar the door for (be sure to pick the lantern back up) in which you clearly need to exit via the western tunnel, but it is blocked by a barred door that is locked from the other side!

Basically what you need to do here is set the lantern down then use the well in the corner to drop down to the level below, move west and use the well in that corner to climb up on the other side of the barred door, unbar it, open it, and then pick up the lantern and continue to the west and south, where you will quickly encounter another barred door that, yes, is barred from the other side.

To get past this you need to find a spot on the wall behind you that you can climb, then work your way around to the other side of the chamber and jump to the wooden platform, let yourself gently down on the other side of the door and unlock it from that side, retrieving your lantern and then continuing along the tunnel!

The Beacon Hill Exit Puzzle

– The Beacon Hill Exit/Entrance –

You will reach a small chamber that serves as the next major intersection, with signs for King's Chapel and Beacon Hill. You want to take the exit from here to Beacon Hill (North) and follow the tunnel to yet another barred door in which you are on the wrong side. But this time unlocking it is not quite as easy as it was with the previous ones, because after you set the lantern down and drop down the well you find yourself in a dark and partly flooded area that has a lot of jumping and climbing spots but no clear direction as to how to proceed! Did I mention it is dark? And partly flooded? Yeah...

When you reach the end of the poles you are at a rock face that if you jump at it ANYWHERE except the LEFT side, you fall into the water. Pay attention here – as long as you jump to the left, you get to climb up the rock face, otherwise you take a bath in that icky water with only God knows what nasty no-see-ums that will do you in by any sort of minor scratch in this era without antibiotics I am just saying!

At the top of the area you will now encounter what seems like a dead-end – it is not – you just need to do a jump and swing session back in the direction you just came from, which will then have you climbing the wall around to the left and up, where you reach the chamber with the barred door and then can unbar it, and good on you!

Be sure to grab your lantern and continue along until you reach a room with a ghostly soldier who as it turns out is NOT a ghost and attacks you! Two additional soldiers drop in for this little battle in the sewers, and once you are done be sure to pick up your lantern and continue along, and you reach what looks like a dead-end chamber, but it is not...

If you look in the corner there is a wall you can obviously climb – and at the top is a small passage that leads to the actual exit, which you have to lockpick open, but that emerges at Beacon Hill and well done mates!

Now that you have passed through that, go ahead and re-enter the tunnels and you will magically appear below in the tunnels, your trusty lantern in hand! Backtrack to the room with the signs and along the way have another battle with the resurrected soldiers (try not to get shot, right?) and this time take the south exit, which leads to the King's Chapel!

– The Kings Chapel Exit/Entrance –

As you progress along the tunnel you will hear someone talking and then have to battle some soldiers, one of which you may need to shoot. If you do shoot him be sure to reload your pistol and be sure to loot their bodies to get your shot back. Grab the lantern and continue – there are a fair number of dead ends ahead, you can explore them if you like, but eventually you will reach a chamber that looks like a storage area that someone is using for junk and, up a short set of stairs on the right is a door with a lock puzzle – solve that and you exit outside to the King's Chapel entrance/exit and, before you go back in to the tunnels, look on the wall above the bulkhead entrance for a yellow flag that is a well-known historical artifact. I am not really sure that this would have been found here, at this time, but it sure does indicate that the bulkhead should be examined!

Right so you probably thought that reaching this exit would take more work... Not really right? Still we are far from done, as we have only reached the center of the tunnels and half the exits. So, back inside, head down the stairs and right to take the west exit, light yet another lamp and notice the Freemason symbol here that tells you that you need to turn left. If you go right you will just find a pair of dead-ends but you can if you like. It will not take long.

Following the marked path you come to a T-intersection, and if you need direction go into Eagle Vision and watch where the rats go, which is to your right. Heading left here will just lead to a dead-end, while following the rats leads to an intersection chamber that has signage for you to consult!

The west exit leads to the East Fields, the north exit leads to the South Commons, the east exit (the one we entered by) leads back to the King's Chapel, and the south exit leads to Fort Hill. Since I already know how the tunnel map looks, we will go north here first, in the direction of the South Commons as that makes the most sense to me...

– The South Commons Exit/Entrance –

Following the path leads to a barred door and you are naturally on the wrong side. Set the lantern by the door and then use the well in the corner, make your way around to the other side and unbar the door, grab the lantern and head inside, where you find a fairly large chamber with a wheel on the wall that, when you use it, seems to raise a lift.

If you did what I did and raised the lift upon discovering it – boys will be boys! – you now need to climb up to the top level and use the wheel there to lower it so you can place the lantern ON it, then raise it again! LOL.

Once you do that, climb back up and get the lantern then set the lantern by yet another barred door, and then look in the alcove nearby (you duck to get in) for the path to climb up and around, drop down, then climb up and around again to reach the bar-side of the door, open it and retrieve your lantern! Hey, you are getting good at this!

You now reach an intersection with three other exits – two of them (west and south) lead to dead-ends, while the north exit leads to the actual exit... So explore or not, your call, then backtrack to this chamber and take the north tunnel, and you will have another surprise battle with a soldier, before you encounter a blocked passage and the instructions to “Shoot the exploding barrel to clear the way” which, of course, you do!

At the end is a book you need to read – another Masonic writings that is titled “Of the Civil Magistrate Supreme and Subordinate” and as with the previous one, has clues in Caps for you to follow... They are:

1. A MASON IS A PEACEABLE SUBJECT UNDER THE CIVIL POWERS
2. SO ANCIENT KINGS AND PRINCES FROM ON HIGH
3. WHOEVER FLOURISH'D WHEN THE SUN SETS IN TIME OF PEACE
4. HOWEVER HE MAY BE PITIED AS ANY UNHAPPY OR RIGHT MAN

Before we continue this puzzle I want to explain something to you... I am a Freemason. I don't find the use of Freemasonry in this game offensive, in fact I find it rather interesting, but truth be told they sort of focus on the myths that are associated with the Craft rather than the truths. That is OK though, after all this is a game, and it is entertainment... But if you are curious about Freemasonry or you have ever wondered what it is about, what it would be like to belong to the oldest Fraternity of Men in the United States (or the world for that matter) I personally think you should seek out a Mason and ask about joining. Freemasonry does a lot of good in this world, helps a lot of people, and it can also help you in so many ways that I cannot even begin to list them here. Nobody will every ask you to join Freemasonry – to join you have to ask yourself, three times, and only then will the light be shown to you...

The writing that they chose to use here is accurate in that Masons were not political, were not criminals, and did not participate – as Freemasons – in acts against the government (any government). Now having said that there were plenty of Masons who were also members of the Sons of Liberty, members of the Continental Congress, and actively involved in the Continental Militias. But when they did those things and took those offices they did so as men, not as Masons.

As you can see when you use the Magic Lantern you are now seeing four symbols:

1. Masonic Symbol
2. A Crown
3. A Feather
4. Da Vinici's Vitruvian Man

If you compare those to the clues you will see that:

1. The Crown is in the North
2. The Vitruvian man is in the East (right)
3. The Masonic Symbol is in the South
4. And the Feather is in the West

Placing these images in that manner unlocks the exit! When you pass through it you find yourself in the South Commons (or near them rather) at the powder storage bunker tower thingy. Head back into the tunnels now, then backtrack to the junction chamber. You will need to blow up the barrels of gunpowder to get in mind you... When you reach the lift chamber you may find that it is blocked off above, so you need to set down the lantern, lower the lift, then go down and raise it to remove the blocking gate, then put the lantern on it and lower it, climb down and grab the lantern to continue to the chamber.

– The East Fields Exit/Entrance –

Next we head west to the East Fields exit/entrance, so follow the tunnel west and you will find a pair of soldiers to fight, more lanterns to light, and lots of dead-ends, but eventually you will find your way to another glowing Masonic Symbol on the floor that points the way... Here is the thing, if you did find that, then you went the wrong way but also the right way... It is the right way in terms of finding the farther exits but the wrong way in finding the closest exit, if you see what I mean?

So if you encountered this head back north and east and work your way back to the chamber with the railing and water (or if you realized that this was a significant chamber and are there now, well all to the better!).

Set the lantern down and go over the rail, onto the pole and onto the far deck, then pick open the lock on the door with the sign over it that reads “East Fields” and exit. You will find yourself next to a house facing the East Fields – note that in your head then go back into the tunnels, and you will be back on the main path and holding the lantern!

The Boston Gate Exit Puzzle

– Boston Gate Exit/Entrance –

From here head north then east and immediately south at the first tunnel, then follow that to reach the Masonic Symbol in the floor. Continuing south from it will take you down a long dead-end, so turn right and head west, following the tunnel to another encounter with a pair of soldiers! After you beat them, the path all the way to the west is a dead-end, so head west but take the juncture south as soon as you can, and then when you reach the T-intersection (there is another Masonic Symbol on the floor that points the correct way) head south (north is a dead-end) and then west at the next intersection and you reach another point where you have to shoot a barrel of gunpowder to clear the way.

At the end of this tunnel is another Magic Lantern Puzzle, and another book to be consulted – this one called “III. OF LODGES” and is another “Masonic” text.

The important phrases here are:

1. A LODGE IS A HIGHEST OF PLACE WHERE MASONS ASSEMBLE AND WORK
2. AND TO BE SUBJECT AND UNDER ITS BALANCED BY-LAWS AND THE GENERAL REGULATIONS
3. A LODGE MUST BE GOOD, TRUE AND RIGHT MEN
4. NO WOMEN LEFT TO ENTER

Now activate the Magic Lantern and you will see the following Symbols:

1. Female Symbol
2. Balance Scales
3. Masonic Symbol
4. Male Symbol

Following the clues that are provided in the text, the symbols should be arranged as:

1. North: Masonic Symbol
2. East: Male Symbol
3. South: Balance Scales
4. West: Female Symbol

After you exit from the tunnels you find yourself outside of the Boston Gate. If you open the Map you will note that you have now found 9/10 of the entrance/exits. The final one is the one to the south in the last junction room (the one for Fort Hill / East Fields / South Commons / King's Chapel), and then select the south exit from the chamber, the on leading to Fort Hill!

– Fort Hill Exit/Entrance –

Following the tunnel you reach the first Masonic Symbol on the floor that points to the right (to the left is just some dead-end) and shortly thereafter you hit a T-intersection and you want to go right again, then follow that to another T-intersection and right again, to reach a room with falling water and a barred door (we are on the wrong side of the bar again).

Set the lantern down and jump over the rail towards the water on the right, climb the wall and cross over above and then drop down, open the door, and retrieve your lantern!

At the end of the tunnel you find another door puzzle in which you need to line up the crescent shapes – do that and you emerge at the Fort entrance, having completed all of the Underground entrance/exits and having unlocked ALL of the Fast Travel Markers and well bloody done mates!

You can check the Map>Logbook>The Underground to verify this, which as you will note just leaves the New York City end of it to be fully completed, but as that is not one of our current goals, that does not factor into this section of the guide!

Now that you have completed this bit, you should have all of the Collections done! That means it is time to address the other Markers on the map!

The Central Boston Assassination Contract

Boston: Assassination Contract

As with the previous Contract that we did in the Frontier Region once we accept this mission the targets are marked on the map – that is a good thing too because this city is full of bloody people and without the marker and the special icon over the head of the target we would not know who to kill!

As with the previous Assassination Contract you need to find and kill all five Templars, who are widely separated in the town. Doing this on the run is easy enough, as you can see from the video...

Boston: Courier Mission

The Courier Mission is called North Boston Letters, and once you flag it from the quest giver you need to deliver and then check the map for the locations – with all of the fast travel markers you now have available this should be very trivial and take no time at all...

Boston: Delivery Request

Unlike the Courier Missions the Delivery Request are a bit more complicated – as they largely consist of obtaining a list of items that you must then deliver to the customer. The Delivery Requests for Boston are:

Central Boston Request

• Paper (x3)
• Hair Accessory (x2)
• Toy Dolls (x2)
• Golden Ring (x1)
• Soap (x2)

South Boston Request

• Raccoon Pelt (x5)
• Deer Pelt (x5)
• Beaver Pelt (x5)
• Fox Pelt (x3)
• Buttons (x2)

The nature of these missions are such that you should flag them and then using the crafters at the Homestead and your hunting skills, obtain the orders and then deliver them later.

Boston: Homestead Mission: The Brawler

Right then this is the last mission (besides the Main Mission Marker which we are igoring for now) that we need to do here in Boston, so head to the marker and you will find that your services are needed to help defend potential residents of the Homestead! A quick battle later and you have recruited Norris for the Homestead. Well done you!

– Back in the Frontier Region –

Now that we have completed all of the things that we can do in Boston, it is time to head back into the area outside, which as you know is logically divided into Hunting Regions inside the main Frontier Region. That will become important in a moment, but for now let's deal with the obvious first...

The Patriarch Hunting Society Quest

Hunting Society Quest: The Patriarch

When you check the map you will notice that there is a Hunting Society Marker on the map... This is for the quest The Patriarch, which is a deer you need to track down and kill. The icon for it appears in the north area, so head there and you will find clues that lead you to the deer. Just run it down and kill it and voila! Mission completed!

Hunting Society Quest: The Pack Leader

The next hunting quest is to take down the Alpha Leader of a notorious wolf pack – so once you have that flagged simply head to the marker and you will engage some regular wolves, and after you kill three of them, the Alpha Leader comes out, and you kill it in a standard Quick Time Button Event. Head to the Cabin for the next mission...

Hunting Society Quest: Acute Cat

They tell you about an evil Cougar that needs to be put down – so head to the marker and look for a clue to narrow down the search area, then kill the Cougar in a QTE and skin it to take its pelt. Now head back to the Cabin for the next mission!

Hunting Society Quest: The Elk Bachelor

The Hunter tells you the story of King Edward the Elk – and sends you out to kill it! Head for the marker and then follow the clues and narrow the search until you find and kill it in a QTE. That wraps up this mission – the final one.

Note that with each of the trophy animals you killed you added a trophy to the Manor House back at the Homestead - you should go there now and check those out! In fact do that.

– Return to Homestead –

When you return to the Homestead area the first thing you will notice when you check the map is that there are a number of missions available here now – but before you do those, head to the Manor House and go inside, and you will notice the different Outfits you own (more if you bought some in town) and if you have it, Ezio's Outfit from uplay. Sweet! Upstairs in your bedroom is a new bookshelf with the different Almanacs you have rebuilt, and in the opposite room on the wall are the Mementos you earned for killing the special animals. Well done you!

Now that we have reveled in our glory leave the Manor House and head for the closest mission...

Prudence Primrose Mission

It seems that Prudence has gone missing – head to the marker at the woods and then begin tracking clues to narrow the search area – eventually narrowing it down to a Bear that has her pinned! Rescue her from the bear and then carry her back to her husband to end the mission, earning a reward that veggies are now available from the Farmers! Good on ya!

Now check the map for the conversation marker and head there to talk to Prudence and her husband – it seems that they are wanting a baby, but you assure them that they should let nature take its course rather than look for ways to hurry the process along...

Now head to the nearby quest marker to the southwest...

White Trophy Mission

Your hunter is after a Cougar – she yells at you to be quiet and you offer to help – head into the search area and look for clues that reveal the Cougar's trail – you chase it down to Norris' house – you go in to “draw it out” and do a QTE that allows Myriam to shoot it. That completes the mission and adds additional pelts to the ones she sells.

Burglar on the Homestead Mission

As you approach the marker the Lumberers wife runs up screaming that some armed man is trying to break into their home! You chase him down and kill him, having a confrontation with the Lumberers that results in them having an argument with each other... Walnut lumber and other items are now available from the lumberers.

Check the map now for another mission marker and head south to it...

The Fight Mission

The two Lumberers are fighting and you need to break it up – you do that by separating them using the two Joysticks. It can be tricky but you need to nudge both lines over all the way opposite each other. Do it a little at a time and then once you separate them go and talk to each one at their marker, and you are assured by both that there is nothing to worry about. This unlocks Spruce lumber and other items, and with that sorted head to the Harbor Master and then on to Peg Leg!

Peg Leg's Mission

Walk up to Peg Leg and have a chat with him to trade the Trinkets you have and you will gain another letter and another part of the quest – so you now have three of the quests unlocked but as we are not at present pursuing those, we are just unlocking them, we can move on...

That wraps up the second Odds and Ends Section, so it is time to head back to Boston to do the mission that initiates Sequence 6!