Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood/Weapons

Weapons are purchased at blacksmiths, picked up off the ground, wrested from enemies, or awarded through cut-scenes or other tasks. Ezio can carry a multitude of weapons for both melee and long range combat. Weapons you receive by playing through the game or from buying in shops will show up in your armory at the hideout on Tiber Island. When looking at weapons at your armory or in stores, the weapon's vital stats will be displayed and compared against your currently equipped weapon of the same type.

The three characteristics you will get information on are damage, speed and deflect. Damage measures how badly you'll hurt an enemy if you make contact during an attack. Speed measures the quickness with which Ezio can attack with the weapon, and deflect is how well Ezio can block or parry an oncoming attack with the weapon. Damage is better for combat styles that don't rely too much on execution streaks and timing, while quick weapons can move you from target to target before your streak gets ruined. Deflect is the least important stat, as you'll want to counter or dodge incoming attacks rather than take the brunt of the force on your weapon.

Most melee weapons also have a secondary or power attack that you can activate by holding down the armed hand button. This moves takes longer to set up, but will make Ezio perform a different attack that might benefit you in a fight.

Hidden Blade
Your standard weapon, the hidden blade is your bread and butter device for stealthy, up-close assassinations. Secreted away up your sleeve, you can quickly and silently take someone out without drawing attention to the murder, even in the middle of a crowd. Although it has no secondary attack, the hidden blade can counter any other melee weapon and it is very fast. Unlike your other weapons, the hidden blade is also capable of being upgraded by Leonardo to make it even more deadly.
 * Hits for execution: 4
 * Secondary attack: None

Small weapons
Your small weapon is great if you know how to set up and maintain your execution streak. With generally weak damage, the small weapon is only very useful as a finisher and only requires three hits to start an execution streak. Besides the low damage, you'll also have a hard time performing counters on bigger weapons, unless you're using the Dagger of Brutus, which can counter anything.
 * Hits for execution: 3
 * Secondary attack: Throwing knives

You should acquire the Butcher Knife early in the game and stick with it until you get the Dagger of Brutus, saving you the money you would spend on other weapons until you've got the florins to complete your collection. The Butcher Knife, while not as powerful as the Notched Cinquedea, is faster and has better deflect for the rare times you'll need it.

Medium weapons
Medium weapons share a slot in your inventory with heavy weapons, but trade power for speed. With their reach and speed, the medium weapons are a balance between the small and heavy weapons, although until you unlock the Sword of Altaïr their somewhat pointless since you can have one of each of the others.
 * Hits for execution: 3
 * Secondary attack: Pistol

Heavy weapons
While small weapons are fast and medium weapons are balanced, heavy weapons bring the power. Although you'll mainly want to perform execution streaks and counters in a fight, there are also many times when you didn't realize you were getting into a fight or you only have one or two attackers. In these cases, it only takes a couple hits with a heavy weapon to finish them off and continue on your way. If you use the secondary attack to throw your weapon, be sure to go pick it up again when you leave or you'll have to go re-equip it at a blacksmith or your hideout.
 * Hits for execution: 2
 * Secondary attack: Throw weapon

If you are serious about renovating Rome—which you should be, considering all the benefits you get—acquire the Spadone early and keep it for the rest of game until you get the Sword of Altaïr. With the Butcher Knife or Dagger of Romulus ready for when you're surrounded by 10 enemies, the Spadone can be used in less uneven fights to quickly mow through your opponents, many times with a single hit, even without an execution streak going.

Besides the weapons you can possess permanently, there are also a couple weapons wielded by Seekers that you can pick up and use. The Spear and Halberd are very long, giving you a nice range advantage in combat. They also have a special secondary attack in combat where Ezio will sweep it around in a circle.

Ranged weapons
Throwing Knives and the Pistol are back from previous games, but you'll likely rarely use them with the addition of the Crossbow. Holding a lot of ammunition and capable of performing silent kills, the Crossbow is your go-to weapon for taking out those pesky rooftop guards or taking out someone you're not able to sneak up behind. If you regularly loot the guards you kill, you'll always be stocked up on Crossbow Bolts as well.

Fists
Your fists come in handy in many cases where you are tasked with not killing your target or when facing a Seeker. Bare-handed you can beat your opponents into submission, although it will take a while and you can't block. An advantage of using your fists is your speed, which helps to get up to the five hits necessary to start an execution streak. Once you upgrade your glove, you'll do some decent damage and the easiest way to handle those annoying Seekers is usually to disarm them bare-handed and use their own weapon on them.
 * Hits for execution: 5
 * Secondary attack: Throw sand