Assassins & Spies

Introduction

Spies and assassins can be a very powerful tool in this game. In fact if overused and developed in large numbers they can be overpowered and can unbalance the game, wiping out entire factions quickly and too easily. I really try to avoid this as it removes the enjoyment of beating tough opponents on the battlefield. However used well and in moderation they are a useful tool to support your campaign without making things too easy.

Caution: Spamming excessive amounts of high quality agents can make the game ultra easy and ruin your overall enjoyment of the game. e.g. If a player prepares well enough and trains a large number of assassins to Master Assassin level before the Mongol and Timurid invasions it is possible to wipe out both factions by character assassination alone without fighting a single battle against them.

Assassins

Agent Cost Upkeep Assassin 500 200

Assassins can be recruited from the following buildings.

Culture 1 2 3 4 Christian Inn Tavern Coaching House Pleasure Palace IMuslim Shisha Den Shisha House Wayfarer's Rest Pleasure Palace

Hungary, Scotland, Denmark and Poland can construct an Academy in their castles which allows them to recruit Spies, Diplomats and Assassins from these locations.

Christian factions can begin recruiting assassin's after an Inn has been constructed. Muslim faction's need to build a Shisha Den. Inn's can only be built in a settlement were you have already built a brothel, Shisha Den's can be built after the Shisha Bar has been constructed.

Select an assassin, select your target by right clicking on it. The chance of mission success will be displayed as a percentage. If you wish to proceed with the attempt press the relevant button. The chance of success is based on the assassins traits, skills, retinue and subterfuge level.

Agents with a higher subterfuge level will have a greater percentage chance of success than low level assassins. If the assassin is caught it's certain death and war between your factions (if you're not already at war).

Obviously the higher the percentage the target has the greater the chance of a successful assassination. It's best to start training new assassins on rebel units as the success rate is higher and there are no adverse consequences (apart from agent death) if the mission fails. If you get caught trying to kill another factions character/agent it could mean depending on the faction: war, broken alliances or excommunication.

Nobody cares if you get caught trying to kil a bandit. Once their skill and rank increases move them on to killing rival agents such as diplomats, merchants, priests/imams/heretics spies and assassins. You want to level them from a hired blade up to the rank of master assassin (highest).

Bear in mind that killing people will effect your reputation (who'd have thought?) your faction leaders chivalry will decrease and his dread will increase. If you really develop your assassins your leader will be named "The Tyrant". So if you're not bothered about chivalry feel free to murder away to your hearts content. I'm not as I usually execute or ransom my prisoners anyway.

An assassins skill level is measured and displayed by a rating. The higher his subterfuge rating the greater his chance of mission success. This is displayed as eye symbols next to his portrait. The rating can go up to ten eyes. The assassins retinue and personal traits can increase his subterfuge and his chance of success.

The subterfuge level will increase as a result of successful missions. Sometimes the agent will get a new follower to join his retinue or he will receive a special weapon after a successful mission. These rewards will increase his rating and improve the agents effectiveness.

Upgrading Inns will also make new ancillary followers available to agents. The different levels of Assassins Guilds also provide perks for agents (higher level guild buildings provide global perks). Late game recruiting an assassin in a city with a gunsmith will provide the agent with a prototype handgun. Continued failure may result in negative character trait penalties.

Do not destroy all rebel forces, if they are blocking a road, force them to retreat but do not finish them off. These rebel units are great for quickly levelling up your assassins at minimal risk of failure and death. Weak enemy armies that are not led by a general are also low risk targets.

The same group of assassins can repeatedly attack the same rebel unit turn after turn and be almost guaranteed to receive a higher rank, ancillary or bonus trait. As they grow in skill they can then be moved on to attacking enemy agents, religious agents, diplomats etc. A large force can be created by constantly recruiting each turn (like an assembly line) and sending them to attack the rebel unit.

The number of assassins you are recruiting and their missions will mean you get offered Assassins Guild buildings, your ultimate goal is to get the HQ building. This means your assassins capabilities skills and traits will be further along the line when recruited and the journey to master assassin is much shorter.

Muslim factions can build racing tracks in cities. If a spy or an assassin is recruited in a city with a track they will get a horse . This greatly increases movement range. If you're not playing as a muslim faction it's a good idea to capture one of these cities (your new agents recruited there will still get the horse). Never destroy a racing track, they're too useful.

Assassins can also be used to sabotage enemy buildings/facilities. These missions are generally a lot easier than assassinations. Say you've got your eye on a rival factions big fat wealthy city but you don't want to go to war over it. First of all infiltrate the city with your spies to stir up unrest. Then use your assassins to sabotage public order/happiness/public health/religious buildings such as military barracks, town halls, taverns/churches/mosques.

As law and order declines squalor increases and people lose their playgrounds they'll start to riot and eventually the city will revolt. Make sure you have a large army nearby within range ready to attack the city before you start the sabotage so you're the first to react to any revolt. Your spies should have the city gates wide open by the time you arrive.

If you're trying to convert a region to your particular brand of religion sabotage the church/mosque as well as sending your religous agents. This speeds up the conversion rate and stops the enemy from recruiting priests/imams in the local area. As soon as they repair it burn it down again.

Spies

Agent Cost Upkeep Spy 350 100

Spies can be recruited from the following buildings.

Culture 1 2 3 4 5 Christian Brothel Inn Tavern Coaching House Pleasure Palace Muslim Shisha Bar Shisha Den Shisha House Wayfarer's Rest Pleasure Palace

Hungary, Scotland, Denmark and Poland can construct a library in their castles which allows them to recruit Spies and Diplomats from these locations.

The Brothel is the basic building required for spy recruitment in Christian factions. In Islamic factions it's a Shisha Bar.

Select a spy, select your target by right clicking on it. The chance of mission success will be displayed as a percentage. If you wish to proceed with the attempt press the button. The chance of success is based on the agents traits, skills, retinue and subterfuge level. Agents with a higher subterfuge level will have a greater percentage chance of success than low level spies. Failure may result in death.

The lowest risk spying target for a new spy is an allied faction agent like a merchant, priest, diplomat or princess. Sending new spies on repeated missions against these agents will quickly level their skills and traits. Look for allied agents with a high mission success probabilty e.g. 95%. Merchants are a good target to start off with.

The spies skill level is measured and displayed by a rating. The higher his subterfuge rating the greater his chance of mission success. This is displayed as eye symbols next to his portrait. The rating can go up to ten eyes. The spies retinue and personal traits can increase his subterfuge and his chance of success.

Spies will start to pick up traits followers equipment and other items which will increase their skills/subterfuge and chance of mission success the longer they remain undiscovered in a rival factions settlement.

Muslim factions can build racing tracks in cities. If a spy or an assassin is recruited in a city with a track they will get a horse . This greatly increases movement range. If you're not playing as an muslim faction it's a good idea to capture one of these cities (your new agents recruited there will still get the horse). Never destroy a racing track, they're too useful.

Spies can be sent to infiltrate enemy settlements. Once there they might lower public order enough for the city to riot and revolt. They can also open the gates for your army.

Placing your own spies with your generals and in your settlements can protect your family members from enemy assassins and prevent infiltration by spies by increasing the chances of the enemy agent being discovered and killed.

It's a good idea to keep a spy in your own settlements as it can stop hostile agents stirring up trouble in your cities, lowering public order, carrying out sabotage and opening your gates to the enemy. There is no need to place a spy in every city, just in particularly vulnerable settlements e.g. border cities or those newly conquered. If skilled enemy spies lower public order enough the population can riot and eventually revolt. Keeping a "counter spy" in your cities and with your armies can increase the chance of enemy agents being captured and killed.

If you can't understand or find a logical reason why public order is dangerously low in a city it's usually a sign that enemy agents have entered your city. The best way to discover and eliminate these agents is to send one of your best spies to the city.

The Assassins Guild

Recruiting enough assassins from a certain city and carrying out missions will catch the attention of the Assassins Guild who will offer to open a Guild house in your city if you pay for the construction. The chance of an upgrade offer will occur if you continue to recruit and use assassins. Also you will only be offered an upgrade after you have constructed the next city level.

Constructing guild houses will result in your assassins capabilities skills and traits being higher and more advanced when recruited. This means that you will spend less time manually training them on weaker opponents. The higher the tier of building the better the skill of the new recruit. The higher tiers even have a global effect on your assassins no matter were they are recruited in the world. The higher the guild level the shorter and quicker the journey to master assassin.

There can only be one Assassins' Guild HQ in the world, so keep recruiting focusing on your preferred city and keep sending them on missions. Go for a rapid growth strategy for this city so you can quickly access the next city level and be offered the Guild upgrade. Also upgrade your Inn in this city to the highest tier so your assassins get ancillary characters in his retinue which improve his mission success chances.

City Level Christian Muslim Cost City Assassins' Guild Hashashin's Guild 1000 Large City Master Assassins' Guild Master Hashashin's Guild 2000 Huge City Assassins' Guild HQ Hashashin's' Guild HQ 3000

For more detail on guilds check out this guide:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256234465

The Thieves Guild

Very much along the same lines as the Assassins Guild. Recruiting enough spies from a certain city and carrying out missions will catch the attention of the Thieves Guild who will offer to open a Guild house in your city if you pay for the construction. The chance of an upgrade offer will occur if you continue to recruit and use spies. Also you will only be offered an upgrade after you have constructed the next city level.

Constructing guild houses will result in your spies capabilities skills and traits being higher and more advanced when recruited. This means that you will spend less time manually training them. The higher the tier of building the better the skill of the new recruit. The higher tiers even have a global effect on your spies no matter were they are recruited in the world. The higher the guild level the shorter and quicker the journey to master spy.

There can only be one Thieves Guild HQ in the world, so keep recruiting focusing on your preferred city and keep sending them on missions. Go for a rapid growth strategy for this city so you can quickly access the next city level and be offered the Guild upgrade.

City Level Guild Tier Cost City Thieves Guild 1000 Large City Master Thieves Guild 2000 Huge City Thieves Guild HQ 3000

For more detail on guilds check out this guide:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256234465

Conclusion

The power and abilities of the spy and assassin should never be underestimated. If the player invests time and resources in their development they can become highly trained/skilled and extremely dangerous.

Spies can destabilize rival cities even encouraging them to revolt and can open the gates to your armies. Assassins can wipe Crusader/Jihad armies off the map in a couple of turns by killing their general's, the troop's in these religious armies will desert en masse if they are left leaderless.. They can also be used to enhance your night attacks by preventing enemy reinforcements arriving by killing enemy night fighter generals.

Used on a large scale assassins can stop Mongol/Timurid waves in their tracks and utterly destroy them. By using your spies to track down rival faction family members and then sending your assassins after them you can also destroy entire factions. They can also help you seize control of the Catholic Church by assassinating rival Bishops and Cardinals.

When properly trained they are a devastating weapon. Personally I tend to resist faction destruction by assassin because it can really make the game too easy if you just assassinate every faction you encounter. Used in moderation they can enhance the game. If they are overused, overdeveloped and overpowered they can ruin it.

Finally

This is only a general guide more detailed and exhaustive breakdowns of how assassins & spies function in this game are available on the various total war forums.

However, If there's anything I've forgotten or ommitted or if you wish to add your own tips for new players feel free to comment below .

More Wrath Of Santa Guides

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=876478247

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1419870134

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1077314383

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=516731929

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=819119509					

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