Counter Kills and Executions: Combat

Learn how to master counter kills and executions in Assassin's Creed Revelations. Turn the tide of battle by chaining attacks and taking down tough enemies with ease.

Alright, so you're fighting a bunch of Templars in Assassin's Creed Revelations, and they're not just standing there letting you wail on them, right? Most of them will block your attacks, and some are just too quick to catch. The best way to handle a crowd is to just hold down that block button (R1/RB) and wait for your opening. Keep an eye out for when an enemy is about to strike – their health bar will flash white. That's your cue! As their attack is about to land, hit the attack button. This kicks off an instant kill counter. You can then immediately push the analog stick towards another enemy. While Ezio is doing his thing, highlight that next guy and tap the attack button again right as the first counter finishes. Boom! You've chained an execution onto the next target. You can keep this going, chaining executions one after another. It's super effective, even against those tough Almogavar axemen – one execution is all it takes to bring them down. Plus, you can even chain executions onto Spearmen, who are normally a pain to counter conventionally.

Here's a neat trick: if you counter with your fists instead of a weapon, you'll actually disarm the enemy. Then, if you chain that into an execution streak, Ezio will use the enemy's own weapon against their buddies. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, Janissaries, especially the ones with the pistol and that mask, are a bit tougher. They'll need a few counters or executions to go down. So, you can counter one, even if it doesn't kill them, and then chain that into an execution on another enemy. Just keep alternating between them, trying to execute both until they're both down.

If you want to speed things up, the Dagger and Wrist Blades are your best friends for counters and executions. They're way faster. Just be aware that the timing window for counters is much tighter with these compared to the Sword. You also can't block as effectively, so if you mess up the timing, you're probably going to take some damage.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations also throws in the hookblade, which adds some new counter and execution moves. Press Triangle/Y to do a Counter-Steal – Ezio will snatch something right out of their pocket mid-fight, leaving them totally confused and open for more attacks. And if you press Circle/B, Ezio will throw the target to the ground, taking them out non-lethally. You can even hold Circle/B during a counter to hook an enemy and then immediately run away. Handy!