03 - The Observatory | Sequence 10 AC IV: Black Flag Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE- incapacitate all guards while unarmed
OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE- incapacitate five guardians from stalking zones
Although long and, seemingly, difficult, this mission is quite easy. First of all, make sure that you have your weapons concealed and you are using your fits only. After you start, follow Roberts and the other pirates deeper into the area, where you will soon notice the first one of the guards. After he sees you, he will run downstairs. From now on, it is best to push forwards slowly and with your eagle vision active.
While keeping to the right, you will find the first one of the guards. Take advantage of the cat that he is standing in thickets and sneak up from behind to him. Then, incapacitate him.
Directly below, there is another one. Use the elevation of the terrain on the right in the screenshot and jump down behind him. Then, sneak up and knock him down also.
Around, there are two more guards. One of them is directly across the "road" and, the next one at the road above. Knocking down one of them will clear the area (the other one will disappear). Note, that you do not need to be hidden, as a matter of fact so, if you failed to sneak up, simply defeat the enemy in a fist fight. Once you have cleared the entire zone, continue deeper into the isle.
You are safe, up until the moment when you reach the next green zone. Once there, go right, where you will find another two in the thickets. After you have surprised them from behind and knocked them down, you should have already knocked down five. If, for some reason, you are short, you should continue your attempts to sneak up to consecutive guards, there are plenty of opportunities. But, if you have already met the requirements of the optional objective, there is really no point in sneaking and methodical elimination of the enemies, because this makes the mission unnecessarily longer. From now on, you can actually go ahead without worrying about how to sneak up to an enemy from behind. It does not matter for this mission if you are detected or not. Also, neither the order, nor the path you take do not matter that much because there are greater numbers of guards in each zone than you actually need to eliminate to clear the area. Additionally, the guards here come solo or in pairs, in most cases so, if you get into a fight, you will have no problems winning it at all, even f you fight unarmed. Simply, push ahead deeper into the area and spot them with the eagle vision. Then, run into them to knock them down, or defeat in a traditional fight (it is a good idea to disarm them to knock their blowguns off their hands). Once you have cleared the area, go ahead into the next region; then into another one.
Further areas, especially caves, are bigger and you can have some problems there to locate guards. You should then note that the green zone, on the minimap, will start getting smaller in size, which will point to the regions where there is someone left. It is also a good idea to explore all of the branches while in the caves , where there are treasures, etc. because there are quite a few guards hidden there. Finally, you should also remember that, although you can use no weapons, against the enemies, if you want to complete the optional objective, you can use them for different purposes, e.g. to lure enemies from their hangouts with the sound of a gunfire. It is a good idea to use this trick in situations in which you have problems finding guards hidden here and there.
Once you have cleared the entire area, Roberts will arrive with the rest of the crew. After a moment, he will open a door. When the conversation finishes, pick up the chest follow him deeper into the Observatory. Once you get there, put the chest down in the appropriate spot. Watch the holograms. After the entire show finishes, Roberts will throw you down.
Climb over the columns to return where you used to be. Then, approach, more or less, the middle of the wall on the right and reach the rooftop using the notches.
In the spot shown in the screenshot, you will have to jump over to the left side. You need to be sufficiently high. Then, a hint on how to jump back will appear. From here, the path is relatively simple. Move to the left, grab an Animus fragment along your way and you will get onto the surface soon.
After you get back to the surface, slide down towards your crew. Along your way, you will get severely wounded, and you will be bleeding out once you get down. It is absolutely normal and you do not need to worry about that. Once your healthbar reaches zero, a cutscene will start and the mission will end after that.