Assassin apprentice

"The liberation of Roma has begun. If you choose to flee, do so now, but if you choose to fight, stand with me against the Borgia."

- Ezio Auditore to one of the rescued civilians, after saving him from corrupted Borgia guards.

The apprentices are Assassins who were saved by Ezio Auditore from the rough streets of Rome during the war against the Templars. They have subsequently devoted themselves to learning the ways of the Assassin Order, motivated by their lust for revenge against the Borgia for corrupting the beautiful city of Rome.

Operating out of the Tiber Island headquarters, the apprentices were sent on missions across Europe in order to improve their skills and combat experience beyond their traditional training. However, the apprentices did not always survive these missions. When not on missions assigned by Ezio outside Rome, the apprentices would support the efforts of Ezio and his allies, providing reinforcement during Ezio's own missions.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
In-game, Ezio has the ability to train up to twelve apprentices (which can be both male and female recruits) at a time, and is able to have up to six support him during his missions. After recruiting someone for his cause, Ezio sends them to Niccolò Machiavelli to become an Assassin. On the field, Ezio signals these Assassins by raising his arm and clenching his fist, indicating that they should strike. This signal, followed by an eagle's screech, is known as a "B.A.M." or a Brotherhood Assistance Maneuver.

During the course of the game, players have the opportunity to send the apprentices to different cities across Europe to complete tasks and assassinations. If they finish the mission, the apprentices earn experience points, but if they die, they will be lost forever. The chances of the Assassins completing the mission depend on how difficult the mission is, the amount of experience the Assassins already have, and how many Assassins you send, however, the more Assassins that you send, the less experience they receive individually.

Players can also customize the apprentices' armor, weaponry, and the colors of their robes. Each one of the apprentices also has a different personality. Later on, players can use the experience points they've gained to upgrade their apprentices' fighting and freerunning abilities. Apprentices can ride horses like Ezio, and will engage in horse chases if Ezio instructs them to.

If Ezio recruits and trains more apprentices he will gain tokens. Up to 3 tokens can be earned. The tokens represent the amount of times Ezio can use the BAM system, which makes him call his apprentices to aid him in the field. Once Ezio has used a token, the token won't be usable until roughly one minute has passed, and using all three of them will not allow Ezio to use the BAM until the first one has recharged.

Ezio can train the apprentices to specialize in a specific skill. Some can specialize with long ranged weapons like the crossbow, while others in melee weapons like the long sword or short blade.

There have been some confirmed moves:

The Arrow Shower: This move is shown when Ezio is blocked by a bunch of Brutes. He signals to the apprentices and they shoot arrows at the targets. If there is a large number of apprentices to aid Ezio then all the guards will get killed together.

The Air Assassination: This move is where the apprentices jump and assassinate the targets, and if there are some enemies remaining, the apprentices engage them in combat.

The Smoke Assasination: A combination of air assainating and smoke bombs, the apprentices jump and assassinate as many enemies as possible, then throw Smoke Bombs, creating a distraction and allowing Ezio to move in and attack with the help of the apprentices.

Trivia

 * While all apprentices wear default uniforms similar to Ezio's, no two of them are ever exactly the same.


 * It is implied that when one of Ezio's apprentices reaches the rank of Master Assassin, he or she can wear robes almost identical to Ezio's; as can be seen in the Brotherhood storyline trailer, in which an apprentice wearing Ezio's outfit is seen performing a Leap of Faith, under the watchful eyes of Ezio and Niccolò.
 * The apprentices are equipped with only a single hidden blade, unlike Ezio who acquires two over the course of the game, just as he did in Assassin's Creed II.
 * It has been said you can bring a "personal Assassin" with you on missions. No further information on this has been given as of yet.
 * Though you can only have twelve apprentices at a time, the ability to recruit them is infinite, which means that, even if many of them die in battle, they can be replaced by finding other citizens to save around Rome. Additionally, there are an equal number of available apprentices to the number of Borgia towers in Rome at any one time.
 * It seems that the apprentices are able to grab the horse of a dismounted enemy. This prevents its escape, and allows either Ezio or the Assassin himself or herself to ride it.
 * Gabriel Graziani, the Community Developer for Brotherhood, has implied that there will be a special cutscene when an Assassin is promoted to the rank of Master Assassin, as well as if an Assassin dies.


 * Assassins who cover their faces are denoted to a lower rank, as stated by Francesco Vecellio in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy.