User blog comment:SupremeAssassin/Assassin's Creed 3: Combat System/@comment-4374396-20120531035533/@comment-5088097-20120531132106

Well when I was a Novice (Assassin's Creed 2) I can tell you I died a few times in combat with Ezio, especially while freerunning because I would be jumping off buildings without making sure there wasn't a huge drop. Novices I am sure have died quite a number of times. By the time I became a Master Assassin (Assassin's Creed Revelations) dying in combat became an act of scarce rarity. In Assassin's Creed, the combat was difficult because of the timing. Even countering with the hidden blade was almost impossible, the window of opportunity was hard to come by (Though I've pulled off some counterkills with the hidden blade).