Some Odds and Ends Part III

Right, so new Sequence and that means some new optional missions! Well, we call them optional but really they are not since we need to do them in order to complete the game 100% but still, so yeah, we got it to do! Fortunately we find ourselves back in Homestead with just one mission marker on the map – head there now.

Homestead Mission: Room at the Inn

When you arrive at the marker you discover an impromptu Inn of sorts – an Innkeeper who has found himself disenfranchised has temporarily set up the bar and feed portion – after a brief conversation you are convinced that settling them on the Homestead would be a good thing indeed. The rub is that they need you to invest $1000 (which at the time was like $100K today!) so wow, major investment, but hey in return you get a great Inn, some awesome Innkeepers and some new recipes so bonus!

Completing that mission adds some additional markers to the map so hit the Interactive Conversation marker to have a chat with the two Lumbermen, then head back to the Manor House and inside for the next Achilles Mission!

The establishment of a proper Inn at the Homestead

Homestead Mission: Manor Mysteries

Achilles is waiting for you inside the Manor and when you talk to him he asks you to follow him downstairs and on the way tells you about a Chest in a cave on the edge of the property, asking that you retrieve that chest for him, and explaining that the cave opening is blocked, and you will need Norris and his explosives to get it opened.

Go and talk to Norris at his mine (the green marker on the map) and you will recruit him to help you with this task – as you follow him to the cave he tells you that he is attracted to the Huntress (foreshadowing?) which is information that will come in handy later... When you reach the cave site Norris sets the charge down and backs away and you shoot it to detonate it. He heads back to his mine while you go inside!

The cave is extremely unstable so you should make your way in quickly as you can. Once Connor reaches the Chest you must lockpick it open and once you do he takes the contents and then you have a two minute timer to get out of the cave! Well that was exciting!

Back at the Manor you go down into the Lair and Achilles shows you the robes of the first assassin to come to the colonies! That is pretty cool as far as mementos go...

– Assassin Mini-Game Assignments –

Not to rag on you or anything but you have been sending your crew out on assignments, right? The reason that I ask is that is the only way to level them up, and you are going to want them leveled up to full Assassin Rank, and not just because there is a spiffy Achievement associated with that, but because they are better Assassins as a result. So if you have not been doing that, start now, right? Hold LB then hit X and send them out on assignments!

Now if you check your map a NEW Homestead Mission is there on the bottom left corner – so head there now!

Homestead Mission: Norris Goes Courting

You find Norris panning for gold in the river, and he tells you his problem – he needs you to help him figure out how to woo the Huntress! Yeah, saw that coming, didn't we? Wingman? Absolutely!

You go and talk to Prudence to learn what women like – and she tells you that flowers are a good start, so your next step is to climb the cliffs and get some. Ohh rah!

Once you have the flowers take them to Norris to complete the mission – you add Copper Ore to the types he can supply you as well as recipes, so well done! Now I am sure you will not be surprised to learn that completing this mission has caused a few more to pop-up, right?

Before we get to that, head to the nearby Interactive Conversation Marker and have that chat with Norris – he tells you that he really likes Myriam (the Huntress), and he wants her to like him back... Now head for the nearby quest marker to the east.

Learning the game of Bowls with friendly competition

Homestead Mission: Bowls Beginner

That's right, you get to learn a new game called Bowls! Just follow the play and you will quickly see that the point is to throw out the target ball (the little red one) and then get your balls as close to it as you can, while keeping your opponent away from it!

You do not have to win to get full synchronization for this mission – I certainly did not win as you can see in the video, but by watching the video you will see what was supposed to happen.

With that bit of fun managed, head for the next mission marker to the northwest...

Homestead Mission: Happy Expectations

When you arrive at the Farmer's home you learn that Prudence is pregnant – but they need a doctor! You learn that there is a doctor who is willing to move there – he lives in Boston – so your next step in the mission is to find the doctor's apprentice in Boston... Using the Harbormaster is fastest since you can fast-travel to him and then use him to fast-travel directly to Boston.

While you are at the Harbormaster use the book to his left and upgrade your ship since you should have a nice chunk of money at hand at this point – and upgrading the ship also unlocks the Achievement “Tumblehome” (10G) Upgrade the Aquila.

Recruiting Doctor White for the Homestead

With that done, head to Boston and you will find the Homestead Mission Marker to the south area of town – head there to talk to the apprentice and learn where Doctor White is – I am not sure if this was a bug, you will have to watch the video to tell, but it was like processing chickens...

After you take the last of the crowd down (hopefully with non-lethal attacks) you talk to the Doc who at first pretty much tells you where to head in, but once you mention Prudence he changes his attitude and it seems that you have succeeded in recruiting a Doctor for the Homestead! You get the mission resolution screen and a bit of personal satisfaction at your success.

– The Frontier –

Before you return to the homestead head to the Frontier and fast-travel to Connor's village, where you have an Interactive Conversation with the wise village elder woman, in which she tells you of the concerns that they have following your killing of Johnson...

You also chat with your brother, who tells you that he fears that the village is not prepared to deal with the coming threat. Head back to the woman to have a brief conversation and remove that marker, then talk to your brother twice to remove his marker as well.

– The Homestead –

Now fast-travel to the Homestead entrance and nearby is the next mission!

Homestead Mission: Norris Tries Again

It seems that Myriam did not think much of those flowers – she tossed them aside. You talk to Norris and vow to uncover the mystery of her rejection. You need to find the clues inside the search area without Myriam discovering that you are there – so here is a chance for you to use your ninja skills!

You learn from the clue that she recently broke her hunting and skinning knife – an obvious choice for a Huntress! Sheesh! That completes the mission and you get full synchronization as well as unlock the Achievement “Multitasking” (20G) Complete 50% of the Progress Tracker entries. Well done you!

Helping Norris find a better gift or Myriam the Huntress

Immediately after the mission you get an Interactive Chat with Norris – who tells you that he has found a large Copper Seam. You then discuss his name – and yours. With that finished head for the next mission marker.

Homestead Mission: Pig Herder

When you arrive Prudence needs your help with her pigs – basically you need to herd three of the pigs into the pen and defend yourself from a wolf attack! Sounds simple enough really, but the pigs can be a bit strong-headed so you may find that a bigger challenge than you were expecting!

Still you should get a few in and then kill the wolf, then get the last pig back in the pen in order to get a thankful CS with Prudence. Well done Pig Herder – if you ever decide to quit being an Assassin at least you know you have a trade to fall back on!

Now head to the nearby Interactive Chat marker to have a talk with Warren, who shares with you how good his life has become.

Helping Prudence herd her pigs into the Pig Pen

Now you need to head back to the Manor House and the Interactive Chat Marker there to have a chat with Achilles down in the Lair – he has set up the original Assassin's Garb on the mannequin and shares with you its history.

– Some Minor Preparations –

Now is a really good time to head to the Frontier and begin doing a series of tasks that mostly just take time and a little effort. Those are the Assassin Mini-Game in which you send your Assassin Recruits out on missions to the various colonies, and the Hunting Society Challenges, which you can easily pursue here while you are doing the Mini-game. In addition to that or rather while doing all that you should also hunt large game as much as possible to make some money as you need to finish upgrading the Aquila so we can take her out and do some Privateer and Naval Missions!

Chances are that you have completed the first set of Hunting Society Challenges, and most of the second set as well, which is:

(2) Hunting Challenges II

• Stealth-kill 5 animals while using bait.
• Skin an animal (x25)
• Kill 10 animals with the Hidden Blade.
• Capture 20 animals with Snares.
• Kill 15 animals with the Bow.

This is an easy to manage challenge and should take hardly no time at all, with a few Mini-Game missions in between your efforts, and then you unlock the third challenge set:

(3) Hunting Challenges III

• Skin every species of animal.
• Kill five animals from horseback.
• Trade hunting spoils worth a total of $2000.
• Kill 10 animals in close combat.
• Complete your hunting map.
• Have collected 50 undamaged pelts.

This should be pretty easy as you really should only have left to do the horseback kills, and the hunting map...

• Black Creek: Hare, Beaver, Elk, Bobcat
• Concord: Beaver, Hare, Raccoon, Deer
• Diamond Basin: Beaver, Deer, Wolf, Bobcat
• Great Piece Hills: Hare, Elk, Wolf, Bobcat
• Homestead: Hare, Fox, Wolf, Deer, Beaver, Raccoon, Elk.
• John's Town: Hare, Elk, Bear, Fox
• Kanien:keh: Hare, Fox, Deer, Cougar
• Lexington: Hare, Raccoon, Fox, Deer
• Monmouth: Elk, Raccoon, Hare, Fox
• Packanack: Hare, Beaver, Bobcat, Bear
• Scotch Plains: Hare, Raccoon, Deer, Cougar
• Troy's Wood: Hare: Deer, Elk, Wolf
• Valley Forge: Hare, Beaver, Raccoon, Elk

Once you complete this hunting map you should then have completed the Hunting Society Tasks (assuming you did the Horse Hunting as well) and so unlock the Achievement “In Good Standing” (30G) Complete all challenges for any of the Clubs. Well done you!

About this time if you have been diligently sending your recruits out in the Mini-Game, one (or more) should have reached full training level and thus you will have unlocked the Achievement “Magna cum Laude” (20G) Have a Trainee reach the Assassin Rank. Another well done right at ya!

– The Ship Grind –

At this point you need to start seriously hunting big time, because you need to raise the following funds to do at least these minimum upgrades to your ship the Aquila as soon as you can:

• Wooden Hull Reinforcements ($11,000)
• Iron Hull Reinforcements ($25,000)
• Extra Cannon ($2,500)
• Piercing Round ($9,000)

The rest of the upgrades are optional – do them if you like – but the ones above are key to making your ship both more survivable and more effective. The Improved Rudder I am not sure whether is really a necessary upgrade but I bought it anyway.

The reason you need to do all of these upgrades now, is because the next section of the guide covers a bunch of missions we need to use the ship for, among which are some of the Peg Leg ones – the reason we need to get those done has to do with a special item that we really really need for the coming Sequences that we can only get this way.