The Basics

Unlocked in Sequence 03, the Mediterranean Defense metagame is both a great source of income and the means by which you can access the Master Assassin Missions: twelve significant episodes with fantastic rewards.

Once you have acquired your first Assassin, we advise that you liberate all Templar Dens in Constantinople as a matter of urgency, as this will enable you to have a full twelve Recruits working on contracts (and, as a consequence, gaining in experience and levels) from an early stage in the story.

To access the Mediterranean Defense interface, either visit a Pigeon Coop situated next to a Crafting Table in assorted locations throughout Constantinople, or interact with the maps found inside all Assassin Dens, the Assassin’s HQ, or Piri Reis’s shop in the Grand Bazaar.

When you open the interface, you have two options: Assassins and Mediterranean Defense. The Assassins menu enables you to study your current roster and spend Skill Points on armor and weapon upgrades. Assassins acquire Skill Points every time they gain a rank by accumulating experience points (XP).

The most efficient method of earning XP is to send them on Mediterranean Defense contracts. This menu features a list of cities. Select these to study missions that Assassins can be sent on.

Every potential mission has up to six primary characteristics:

Requirement: Certain unique missions require a cash investment from Ezio.

Difficulty: A general indication of how hard the mission will be to complete; this is expressed with greater accuracy in the Odds of Success rating once you assign an Assassin (or multiple Assassins) to a contract. There are two main varieties of missions.

Generic missions (marked by diamonds: ♦ ) are always replaced on completion, and are never in short supply. Unique missions (marked by stars:★) can only be undertaken once. It is an Assassin’s rank alone that governs their Odds of Success in all missions.

Money: The funds that Ezio will receive on successful completion of the mission...