Assassin's Creed II/Equipment

Ezio has many types of equipment to help him, and more come along as the game progresses. Some equipment like weapons, armor and pouches can be bought at stores in the city, while others will be gained for bringing back codex pages to Leonardo from assassinations.

Weapons
There are 22 weapons in the game, all of which can be purchased at a blacksmith. Each weapon is rated from one to five stars by damage, speed and deflection. Damage indicates how powerful the weapon is; a larger damage rating means it takes less hits from the weapon to defeat an enemy. Speed is how fast Ezio can attack with the weapon. Deflection is how well the weapon can fend off enemy strikes. Bigger enemy weapons hit harder and are harder to parry, so higher deflection is needed.

In addition to purchasing the weapons when they become available, you'll also need to collect 50 feathers to unlock the Condottiero War Hammer. Both the Condottiero War Hammer and the Sword of Altaïr can only be purchased at the Monterrigioni blacksmith.

Armor
There are five different sets of armor, each containing four pieces that protect different parts of the body. Armor can be purchased at the blacksmith, except for Altaïr's armor, which can only be acquired by finding all six assassin's seals and bringing them back to the Sanctuary under your villa. Different pieces can be mixed and matched, except for Altaïr's armor by equipping different pieces in the armor room of the villa. Equipping a piece of Altaïr's armor will put the entire set on you, and equipping a piece from another set while wearing Altaïr's armor will equip that whole set.

Armor is judged on its resistance to damage, which determines how much damage Ezio takes from enemy weapons, and the health the armor adds, which is shown as the number of squares that are added onto Ezio's synchronization bar. In addition to its natural resistance and added health, Altaïr's armor can't be broken and never needs to be repaired at a blackmsith.