Crafting returns for Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Here's how it works

Ah yes. AC. Assassin's Crafting. It all makes sense now. As revealed in my Assassin's Creed Syndicate preview last week, this Victorian slice of stabby action sees the return of crafting. Assassin's fans will be used to chests being OCD-inducingly scattered across open world cities but the contents thankfully now have more of a point than clearing the map of icons.

Metal, leather and other ingredients are necessary for creating weapons but in a post on the Ubi Blog the team has revealed that we'll need them for making knife belts and medicine and bomb pouches. Some items will require schematics to be discovered just like Black Flag and these, of course, need special ingredients that come from completing specific missions around London. For instance, finishing missions for vehicle enthusiast Ned Wynert will reward you with rare crafting items such as Fire Opal or Golden Spider Silk.

Also revealed in the post is Jacob and Evie's unique customisable gear. While you can happily switch out gauntlets, boots and the all important colour of your outfit as we did with Arno in Unity, the twins have their own personal customisation options. Evie has a unique cape, while Jacob has a belt. Both can be switched out for defence and stealth bonuses. Yep, I always feel extra stealthy when I'm wearing a cape. And don't worry, when you're getting all Ezio deprived, an Ubi Club item will let you dress Jacob as the Renaissance Batman.

Finally, Ubi has released the unique skills for both Jacob and Evie. There are very few things that the brother and sister can't both do but Evie has her chameleon skill that renders her undetectable when she stands still, while Jacob has an added Gunslinger skill that means auto headshots when countering. Jacob also has Defence III for taking less damage when in close combat and Mutilate II which means bringing enemies - and I quote - "into a near death state much more quickly."

Evie's a little more sneaking based and has Knife Master II and Stealth III skills for holding more throwing knives and staying extra quiet during assassinations. Don't worry if you don't favour stealth though. From my playthrough Evie is just as blade happy as her brother and puts those throwing knives to excellent use in close combat too. Sorry, was that your eyeball?

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Louise Blain

Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.