Bomb

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"We have many different kinds of bombs here. Some are used tactically to stop chasing guards or manipulate a crowd. Others are used to create diversions, a good way to handle guards before they attack."

―Yusuf Tazim, introducing Ezio to bombs in Constantinople.

A 16th-century smoke bomb

Bombs are explosive weapons used by Assassins from as early as the High Middle Ages. They can be employed for a variety of tactics, including escape, assault, and distraction.

History

The first known usage of bombs by an Assassin dates back to the late 12th century, when Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad wielded smoke and explosive bombs during his quest for the Chalice. He used the latter to destroy weakened walls and structures.

During the Renaissance, smoke bombs were commonly available to the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who could initially carry a maximum of three at once.. During the liberation of Rome, Ezio had to buy a new pouch from one of the local tailors in order to equip smoke bombs once again. Moreover, his Assassin recruits were able to use them to stun guards once they reached the rank of Veterano. A notable usage of explosive bombs occurred during the Attack on Valencia: after Ezio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci had sailed to Spain in their search for Cesare Borgia, they discovered their enemy was amassing a sizeable military force in the city. Leonardo instantly deviced and crafted ten hand-held bombs for his two companions; each was a small, steel ball filled with sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, which possessed a small fuse requiring lighting before the device could be detonated. The two Assassins used them to break havoc against the Borgia fleet and military encampment, effectively scattering Cesare’s forces.

Piri Reis holding a Caltrop bomb

Upon traveling to Constantinople on his quest to open Altaïr's library, Ezio gained access to a far more extensive variety of bombs, as the city's Assassin guild had recently taken a keen interest in crafting the explosives after the Chinese had introduced them to the weapons. In particular, Ezio was mentored in bomb crafting and techniques by the admiral Master Assassin Piri Reis, who had in turn been introduced to them through his uncle Kemal. Piri assigned Ezio easy tasks in order to understand the way every kind of bomb worked.

Berg sustaining injury from Maestranzi's bomb

Assassins still wield bombs well into the modern era: when a Templar strike team led by Juhani Otso Berg attacked a hideout in Florence in late 2012, the elderly Assassin Adriano Maestranzi defused a bomb to blow up the hideout, killing himself alongside most of the Templar strike team, save for Berg himself, whose face was hence scarred.

Crafting

"Crafting explosives is a new hobby, one we borrowed from the Chinese and have taken to with great passion."

―Yusuf Tazim, speaking of the Turkish Assassins' bomb-crafting.

Yusuf Tazim instructing Ezio in bomb crafting

Upon traveling to Constantinople, Ezio learned from his fellow Assassin Yusuf Tazim how to create a wide range of bombs, with up to 120 variations. In general, they could be divided into three categories: lethal, tactical and diversionary. In order to craft bombs expeditiously whenever they acquired the needed ingredients, Assassins set up bomb-crafting stations throughout Constantinople and Cappadocia.

The bombs could be customized based on their different components: casing, gunpowder layer, and effect layer. The casing affected the bomb's structure, while the gunpowder layer defined the properties of the explosion itself, with the effect layer determining the bomb's contents, such as a payload of caltrops.

Throughout his time in the city, Ezio was able to collect different ingredients for each of these bombs, and could craft or purchase from black market dealers up to a maximum of five bombs per pouch. Ingredients could be bought from Piri Reis' shop in the Grand Bazaar, doctors, and blacksmiths, but they were sometimes given to him as rewards from other cities liberated from the Templars.

Type	Effect
Caltrop Bombs	Caltrop bombs impeded enemy movement by dispersing small, pointed metal spikes across the ground, rendering its victims vulnerable during combat. They could also be used for halting or slowing enemies during a chase.
Datura Bombs	A lethal explosive designed to slowly poison anyone who breathed in its fumes, Datura bombs instilled a sense of delirium in its victims, due to the use of the petals from the datura plant.
Cherry Bombs	Cherry bombs could lure guards towards a certain area through the use of a loud, high-pitched noise, produced from using sulfur.
Smoke Decoy Bombs	Similar to Cherry bombs, these bombs lured guards to one point by creating the illusion of a fire, but only those who could see its activation. Smoke Decoys required the used of salt of Petra to be created.
Gold Bombs	Filled with pyrite coins, these bombs were used to create distractions by attracting a crowd of civilians who mistook the coins for gold. This would distract guards and occasionally start a brawl when the guards attempted to clear the area.
Splinter Bombs	Used to kill or injure targets upon impact, the Splinter Bomb could dispense with groups of enemies caught in its deadly radius with shrapnel, as well as blow away the cover on wells located around Constantinople.
Thunder Bombs	These bombs were a non-lethal method, filled with coal dust, and used to cripple targets with the force of the explosion only, as well as allowing those wielding them to break apart covers on wells.
Blood Bombs	Once detonated, this bomb released out a splatter of lamb's blood, making nearby individuals believe it to be their own, thereby scaring them away.
Smoke Screen Bomb	A tactical smoke bomb which, when exploded, created a dense, black smoke from phosphorus to daze nearby guards and civilians and block their sight.
Stink Bombs	When detonated, Stink Bombs released a foul odor, derived from skunk oil, that repelled any and all of those who came too close.

Trivia

Assassin's Creed II

• The smoke bomb pouch is labelled as "small", despite not having any upgrades available for it, where other pouches labelled the same way had medium and larger variants.
• During one of the Carnevale challenges in Venice, the three guards and Dante Moro, whom Ezio fought, were immune to the effects of smoke bombs.
• While looting Brutes, there was a high chance of obtaining smoke bombs.
• Smoke bombs are helpful for earning the achievements "No Hitter", "Messer Sandman", and "Sweeper".

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

• Cesare Borgia and pickpockets were completely immune to smoke bombs' effects.
  • Papal Guard were immune to the effects of smoke bombs in combat. However, it was possible to stun them outside of combat.

Assassin's Creed Revelations

• The achievement "Pyromaniac", as well as an extra space in Ezio's bomb pouch, can be earned upon completing all of Piri Reis' bomb missions.
  • A fifth bomb in each pouch could only be acquired if the Signature or Animus Editions of the game were pre-ordered, or if the downloadable Lost Archive memories had been purchased.
• Byzantine and Ottoman Bombmen possessed an ability to use Thunder bombs.
• All the bombs given to Ezio were always displayed as having an impact shell, with the exception of the Piri Reis' trip-wire bomb mission.

Others

• In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, smoke bombs required the reagents of gunpowder and sugar to be crafted.
• In Assassin's Creed: Rogue, grenades (Berserk, Sleep, or Shrapnel) can be fired from the air rifle. The grenades can be crafted with five bones, which can be obtained by skinning animals, and looting ammunition crates or guards.
• In Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants, Owen used an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) grenade to take down an Abstergo helicopter.

Gallery

Ezio at a bomb crafting station

Ezio aiming a bomb at a group of guards

Ezio throwing a bomb at a guard

Piri Reis showing a Trip-wire bomb to Ezio

Bomb crafting screen

Smoke bombs used by Aveline de Grandpré

A French Assassin using a bomb

Promotional art of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate smoke bombs