Assassin's Creed II/Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities

In this sequence you find that Girolamo Savonarola has infiltrated your home city of Florence and is attempting to take it over. His brand of religious zeal includes forcing the populace to burn objects of sin, cutting off travel and food, and instituting long prayer sessions for penance. He has used the Apple of Eden to sway the minds of nine lieutenants, who control different sections of the city. To restore peace and regain the Apple, you'll need to take out his henchmen before getting to him.

New to this DNA sequence is the opening of the Oltrarno district across the river to the south, including seven more viewpoints, and the introduction of springboards that allow you to fling yourself across great distances. The springboards look like short metal rods, marked with maroon drapery, sticking out from the sides or corners of rooftops. To use them, simply run out along them to fly a good distance in the direction the springboard is pointing.

Version differences
For the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, this DNA sequence must be downloaded separately to be played. If you finish the game before getting this DLC, you will go straight to Sequence 14 from Sequence 11 or Sequence 12. If you already have the DLC installed, you must complete it before moving on, just like any other sequence. If you don't have the DLC, the in-game reason for its absence is due to a corrupted data stream, though Shaun will give you some info on what went on during the missing years. When you install the DLC after having already completed the game, Rebecca will inform you that she's repaired the DNA sequence.

There are two versions of the DLC available – one has just the DNA sequence and the other also includes the three Templar lairs that can only otherwise be acquired by purchasing the Black or Master Assassin's editions of the game. Although the Windows version comes with both Sequence 12 and this one as part of the basic game, only the Black edition also includes the Templar lairs.

Florentine fiasco
Machiavelli is waiting for you on the eastern bridge in the south part of the city, but first you have to get through the line of guards at the gate into the city. In a nod to the first game, blend with a group of monks heading into the city to pass by them unnoticed to the marker inside. You are notorious, so you'll want to avoid being seen by the city guards. They're busy fighting, so it shouldn't be hard to get away from them if you are spotted. Once you're through the gate, head south and run along the inside of the city wall to the other end, which will keep you away from guards or let them be drawn into one of the armed conflicts if they chase you. Keeping your eye on the minimap for red dots, head west along the south end of the district through the streets to the bridge. Climb up to the roof of the building adjacent to the bridge, and you'll be able to jump down to it and head over to Machiavelli on the other end.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker outside the eastern gate in Florence, on the road to the mountains.
 * Reward: 1,000ƒ

The last part of the mission is where you follow Machiavelli through the new Oltrarno district as he fills you in on current affairs within the city. Once you get to the pile of bodies and learn that they are Borgia's men, he will follow you to the next objective to the southwest. There are a lot of guards on the way, but whether they attack is keyed off of your alert status; as long as you stay anonymous, no one will bother your small group. You have to be anonymous to enter the white marker to end the memory, so finish any fights that you are your allies are still engaged in.

Doomsday
The preacher is in the courtyard below you, talking to a crowd in front of the church. You're automatically notorious and the plaza below is crawling with soldiers as is the roof of the church. If the preacher spots you, he will take off running. When the courtyard below is clear of roving soldiers, drop down to the small platform on the side of the building you're on facing the preacher. From there, quickly jump to the hay cart and hop inside. There are groups of soldiers standing on both sides while you do this, so you have to be fast to avoid setting off their alerts. If one of the seeker guards comes poking around the hay cart, just stealth assassinate him. Hop out of the cart and quickly join the crowd where you can pick your time to run over to the preacher and take him out. Don't wait too long, because when his speech is over he walks back into the guarded courtyard next to the church and it will be harder to take him out. When you've killed him, escape from the guards and become incognito again.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker on the roof, southeast of the large church at the south end of the Oltrarno district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Still life
When you start the memory, you'll see the artist down on the ground by the bonfire to the southeast. You also get a small cutaway, showing you the springboard. Head over to the northern end of the roof and air assassinate the soldiers below when the roving guard is at the opposite end of the lower roof from the pair you want to assassinate. Quickly sprint off the springboard to the east and free run along the wooden platforms and beams attached to the inner wall of area where the artist is. These will take you around to a platform above the target where an archer is keeping watch. Get to him and quickly assassinate him before he can sound the alarm. From this vantage you'll be just out of range of the guards and won't raise a full alert from them. When you have the target highlighted below you, air assassinate him, then lose the guards and become incognito to end the memory.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker on the roof of the Palazzo Pitti in the southeast section of the Oltrarno district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Arch nemesis
The target is on the roof of the building on the west side of the bridge, due north of you. There are guards on all the rooftops along the way, so you'll want to find a way to bypass them. When the guard on the roof northwest of you starts walking away, drop down to the roof below and quickly cross the wires above the street. Run up onto the roof and dive off the other side of the flat section into the water on the other side. Swim over to the climbable bricks leading up directly below where the condottiero is speaking from his balcony. Climb up below his balcony and perform a ledge assassination when he comes near. If anyone saw you kill him, just jump back out into the water and swim outside the alert area for an easy getaway.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker on the roof just south of the main bridge going between the Oltrarno and San Giovanni districts.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Port authority
If anyone sees you in this memory you'll desynchronize, so you have to be extra careful. Your target is on the ship in the water below you, and he's in the center protected by walls on three sides and two brutes on the other. Your plan of attack should be to climb up the back side of the ship and assassinate him from the railing above and behind him. In order to pull this off, you'll first need to take out the soldier walking the wooden pier in front of the ship so you can approach from the east without being seen. When the memory starts, head east across the rooftops until you see the soldier on the roof below. When his back is to you, jump down and quickly go assassinate him before he sees you. From there, dive into the water below and hang off the side of the pier until the roving soldier walks by and you can assassinate him.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker on the roof overlooking the water at the south end of the Santa Maria Novella district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

When none of the guards on the ship are looking, get up and jump to pole in the water at the rear of the ship, then over onto the ship itself. Shimmy around to the side so you can climb up, then head back around to the back. Climb up directly below the side of the ship and ledge assassinate the two guards that come walking back there. When they're taken care of, you're free to hop the side of the ship and double-assassinate the two guards in front of the ship's wheel, then climb the railing there and air assassinate the target. When you're done, run up the wall behind you (the one you just jumped from) and jump backwards over the heads of the brutes to the main mast. Climb up a ways, then jump backwards again to the ship's wheel. This neatly escapes the remaining guards (if you don't want to fight them), and from there you can run or swim away to become incognito and end the memory.

Hitting the hay
This is another mission where you don't want to be seen. You start on a rooftop with two guards on the rooftop below you. Head to the south and when the guard on that side starts to walk away from you, jump down and quickly run over to him and take him out. From there, jump down to the west and run around the building with the single soldier on top to the other side. When there are no roving patrols around and the guard on the north side of the little building comes around closer to you to inspect the hay cart, go assassinate him and leave his body in the open. Climb up the north side of the small building and ledge assassinate the lone soldier up there, then wait for the farmer to come by and inspect the bodies. When he's below you, make sure you're locked on to him, and air assassinate the target. If you want to try another method, there are plenty of opportunities in this area to leave a guard's body out in the open near a building or hay cart and then jump out and assassinate the farmer. When he's dead, escape the remaining soldiers and become incognito again to finish the memory.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker on a rooftop by the fields next to the western wall in the Santa Maria Novella district, just north of the west gate.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Alternative way:

From The roof your start on, kill the guard just below you with an air assassination. Then hop on to the one story building roof, just in front you. Stay at center and even if the guards spot you, you will return to incognito status. Use eagle vision, and follow your target, when in range take out the gun and kill him from where you are standing.

Upward mobility
Just like other chase missions and when you try to tackle the Borgia messenger, your target will be free running away from you on the city's rooftops. You can end this mission very early (under ten seconds) by free running right up the crates with the white sheet on them directly to your right when the memory begins. When you get to the first roof, climb up to the next one, then either target the nobleman and take him out with your knives, or climb up once more to the top of the building and assassinate him up close with your hidden blade. Like other memories, you'll have to escape the guards and become anonymous again to finish the memory.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker at the entrance to the southeast corner of the Mercato Vecchio on the eastern border of the Santa Maria Novella district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Climbing the ranks
You start the memory surrounded by soldiers and archers. The former follow you around and try to chop you apart, while the latter stand around the outside and let arrows fly into you. Don't bother fighting all these guys – just head up and take out the target. As soon the memory starts, run up the ladder to your right (east) and then over to the guard captain. If you can't catch him before he starts moving, just follow him up the ladders to the top roof and kill him there. Like always, escape the guards or fight them all to end the memory.
 * Memory start: Head into the white marker down in the little courtyard on the south end of the San Lorenzo in the north end of the Santa Maria Novella district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Last rites
You'll have to climb to the top of the Duomo and take out the priest without being spotted for this memory. Head over to the Santa Maria del Fiore and start climbing up the southwest corner of the building, right next to the first blue door you see there. At the top, ledge assassinate the guard up there, then hop the railing the free run up to just below the next highest roof. When the soldier that patrols along that edge of the roof comes by, ledge assassinate him as well. Drop down and head east along the outer railing toward the guard by the haystack while he's walking away from you. Just before you get to the little alcove he stops at when he walks back west, hop over the railing and climb down a little bit so he won't see you when he comes back. Ledge assassinate him as well when he comes over, then jump up and hide in the haystack.
 * Memory start: Head into the white marker in south end of the plaza in front of the west side of the Santa Maria del Fiore in the San Giovanni district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

On the roof where you assassinated the second soldier, there is another guard that patrols back and forth, north and south almost right above the haystack. Use you contextual camera to watch him, and when he starts walking away from you, climb up the side of the Duomo right next to the haystack. Climb up the large circular window there, then shimmy to your right, in a counterclockwise direction around the building to the south side of the Duomo. Here you'll find a window and some handholds where you can start climbing up. At the top you'll come to a wooden platform where you can see the target and two guards that patrol near him. When they're both facing away from you, climb the rest of the way up, then run over to the preacher and assassinate him. If the guards didn't see you or you already took them out, then you'll be incognito and the memory will end.

Surgical strike
The doctor is addressing a large crowd in the plaza with a bunch of roving soldiers, four in front of him and a brute patrolling behind him. The fastest and safest way to do this mission is to climb up to the roof directly above where you start the mission (from the outside), then head over to the opposite end of the plaza where the doctor is talking by first running south, then back east along the roof on the side. You'll see there are two guards watching him from above, so there's no chance of an air assassination while he's talking. Instead, either use throwing knives to take out the archer patrolling back and forth along the south side of the little courtyard behind the doctor, or just run behind him when he's not looking. Either way, make a leap of faith down into the hay cart below. (If you don't enter this courtyard, you have wait for the doctor's very long speech to end before he heads back there.) Once you're inside, the doctor will walk in and start walking around the path along the walls. Either jump out of the hay cart when he comes close and assassinate him, or head over to a bench and wait for him to walk by.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker at the western entrance to the courtyard in front of the Ospedale Degli Innocenti in the northeast corner of the San Marco district.
 * Reward: 2,000ƒ

Power to the people
During the cutscene before the memory start, you'll have a quicktime opportunity (with the armed hand button) to knock the Apple out of Savonarola's hand with a throwing knife. If you don't do it, then Machiavelli will. A pursuit guard will grab the Apple of Eden and make a run for it, so chase him down and assassinate him to retrieve it. It's pretty easy to catch him, by just following him through the archway to the street on the other side of the rail, then up some crates to the roof where you'll be close enough to chase him down. When you assassinate him there's no kill scene, so just keep running if there are guards nearby and become incognito to end the memory.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker in front of the Palazzo Pitti in the middle of the Oltrarno district.
 * Reward: 4,000ƒ, Apple of Eden

Mob justice
You'll have 40 seconds to kill Savonarola before he burns to death. Just push your way through the crowd to the platform to trigger the cut scene.
 * Memory start: Enter the white marker at the western entrance to the plaza in front of the Palazzo della Signoria on the east side of the San Giovanni district.
 * Reward: 7,000ƒ

Moving on
See X marks the spot at the beginning of Sequence 14 for the requirements to progress to the final DNA sequence.