u/Waste_Handle_8672

Using the AC1 version of hidden blade combat mechanics would actually be a fantastic idea to drop in Assassin's Creed going forward.

I know people do make points about the style of hidden blade combat, and they're not wrong, but it never felt quite right to me to use hidden blades in open combat in the same sense as you would, say, a sword.

Personally I would prefer it to be an assassination-only tool, like in Unity onwards, but using it as a finisher also works well too, especially if you can't spam it because the surprise of the hidden blade should be gone after the first couple of times you use it.

I like Syncbreaker's idea that it should be more like AC1, where it's a high risk, high reward instant kill tool, but I'd say it should have the added caveat that you can kill almost anyone with it, but can't use it more than, say, twice in one combat encounter, as all other enemies can be then prepared for it and counter you accordingly. Maybe the damage from that should be particularly harsh in order to make it immediately clear that you don't play the same trick too many times.

I dunno, guys. Unless the blade is specifically designed for combat support like Connor and Naoe's pivot blade or Ezio's hookblade, it shouldn't make sense to use them in open combat. Assassin's Creed Revelations especially drove the point home for me on why that shouldn't be a thing, and while I rarely used the hidden blades in combat before I saw that trailer, the trailer convinced me to never do it again.

That's it. That's the post.

God, I hate those things. On lower difficulties they aren't actually a big deal, just set them on fire and swat them with the spear. Simple.

But they change the goddamn game on Ultra Hard.

Fine, the ice doesn't do much damage if you've prepared your resistances accordingly. No biggie. Still, what they do excel at is stunning you, or stunlocking you if you're a particularly unlucky victim of being bombed by multiple stupid birds, and that opens you up for attacks from either one of their own or some other machine.

That's right. Ultra Hard magnifies the vision cone of every machine, and Glinthawks I suspect have an even bigger boost in that regard. The thing is, just like Watchers, when you get the goat from Glinthawks, literally every machine in the vicinity will come check what's going on, realise you exist, then proceed with the appropriate jumping, turning things into a complete mess of chaos I haven't felt since the likes of Doom or Far Cry.

Seriously, no machine I've ever fought has been this vexing. Challenging, sure. No biggie, also a thing. Scary - have you seen the size of a Thunderjaw, Stormbird, Fireclaw and Scorcher? The only enemy I could say was annoying to fight my first time around was Helis, and that's just the normal annoyance I feel when fighting a human with an unreasonably big health bar. He wasn't shit, beyond that.

But the Glinthawks. Dude! What the fuck! They're the most annoying enemy types I've had the displeasure of fighting. Right up there with Elves from God of War or a pack of wolves or archespores in The Witcher 3.

They're solidly top of my shitlist now. They're right up there with Ted Faro. Ugh!