Welcome to the Assassin's Creed: Unity any% segmented speedrun by me, Fed981. There are 46 segments, the first one was recorded on 2015/05/17 and the last one on 2015/06/10.

Timing note: there is no in-game time for this game. I timed frames from first user input (title screen) to last user input. Then I subtracted all loading screens (double rotating white polyedra, but not saving/loading writing) to remove hardware dependence on timing. In the video you can see all footage that has been recorded after the game saves to end a segment (generally after a loading screen or when seeing / taking control of the character), but I also subtracted these parts from the time, following SDA rules. I removed all loading screens at the start of segments from the video as well.
The final time is then 2 hours, 44 minutes and 1 second. This run was done on PC, with version 1.0.0 and medium graphics settings, using a Logitech controller.

There is one major glitch used in this run called ultrablending, which consists in throwing money while blended in a group and start running when Arno starts to pickup money (blinking of blending circle). Then you can go everywhere while staying blended given you don't blend in a group again. The glitch stays through loading times and warps inside a city, but not between different cities, multiplayer memories or server bridges either. It has been removed with version 1.5.0 but works with all previous patches.

I use two ways to warp in the run ; the first one uses the multiplayer memories that you can start alone and offline in a private session. Basically, after you quit the memory, you spawn where it is meant to start. The other way is a simple save warping, that still requires a loading screen to make the game actually save ; I do that by starting the replay of a memory.

The only skills you need along the run are money pouch (for ultrablending), ranged weapon and assassin cache. You get 2000F at the start of sequence 3, which I use for the pepper shot pistol and money pouches. You don't want to upgrade anything else, in particular armor or health, because you want to take damage in sequence 11 ; also the pistol is very powerful so you don't need to change the weapon.

Last but not least, some words about movement. In order to climb faster, you want to spam the button to go up, so that Arno makes jumps along the building. Also, there are two running speeds, and the slowest happens either when more than four people are near Arno, or when you begin to run inside a building. For example you can keep running fast when coming from outside (or when changing building areas sometimes) but you will run slower as soon as you stop/bump or suddenly change direction.

I wish to thank Ectortutu for some strategies, and all people who supported me.

Part 01 - sequence 1

Segment 01 (0:07 - 6:49)

Nothing really special in that first segment, the climbing part was really good and the fights as well. You don't have to empty the full health bar of the opponent in the first fight, and in the second part, I start a second combo while he charges his attack so he doesn't dodge or deflect anything. The segment ends as soon as Elise is able to move from the pillar.

Segment 02 (6:49 - 9:27)

After stealing the apple you have to hide from the guard as soon as possible ; I tried doing that with the nearby environment (table, ramps) but no success. The segment ends when controlling Arno after the unskippable cutscene.

Segment 03 (9:27 - 13:56)

This one needed over a hundred attempts, because Hugo randomly gets stuck at the doorway where I catch him in the video, even though it doesn't happen often. For the escape after that I decided to go through the building, otherwise Arno gets shot and the alert finishes very late. The segment ends after seeing Elise in the unskippable cutscene.

Segment 04 (13:56 - 17:15)

Reloading the checkpoint brings you down the church, which makes things much faster. Going along the building is also much faster than climbing to the top, even with the elevator. Also I luckily got the fast running all the way inside the building, despite the tutorial prompt. I made the game save at the second chair you encounter near that red building.

Segment 05 (17:15 - 17:39)

You spawn to the north of the previous point, and I made the game save at the corner where the tree is.

Segment 06 (17:39 - 17:51)

That warp brings you right next to Olivier, and the segment ends just after skipping the cutscene.

Segment 07 (17:51 - 22:19)

You restart the checkpoint at the first floor, which is very convenient ; now all you can do in the office is to wait, there's nothing else to do. All the rest went well and fast, up to the start of the next memory.

Part 02 - sequence 2

Segment 08 (0:05 - 1:26)

The fight against Bellec was very good, he only deflected once in the first part and I could even chain two combos in the second part.

Segment 09 (1:26 - 6:16)

You can't go to the guard as soon as you are able to, Bellec must go with you otherwise an alert starts and the fight is terribly long. The other fights went pretty well, I managed to not interrupt combos by not killing the guards one by one ; and if you wonder I go slightly towards Bellec in order to trigger the next wave, after all guards from the first one are on the ground. In the very last fight, I let Bellec perform a stealth kill on the first guard before taking care of the others, and as you can notice, that was quite efficient. I made the game save as soon as possible after the end of the memory, while going to the west.

Segment 10 (6:16 - 7:49)

This warp brings you closer to the Sainte-Chapelle viewpoint, which I synchronised and then made the game save.

Segment 11 (7:49 - 11:59)

Reloading here brings you on the ground which makes things faster to go to the next memory. The place where you start in the headquarters is where areas change, so you can run fast all the way to the LSD, given you don't bump into anything.

Segment 12 (11:59 - 15:57)

I created a segment there because of all the shortcut jumps, which were finally fast and successful. This concludes that second part.

Part 03 - sequence 3

Segment 13 (0:05 - 6:20)

Here we start with the very first ultrablend glitch of the run, in slow motion ; it's very useful for the next memory. Before reaching the bridge, I go to the right in order to avoid a tutorial about factions. Swimming is a bit slower but less than the tutorial or more climbing. I stopped the segment after the unskippable cutscene because there's a cooldown time during which you can't access any menu ; the environment loading is actually much shorter than that.

Segment 14 (6:20 - 9:00)

Renovating the café théâtre is mandatory anyway, so I do it right away so that it can be used as a warp point (instead of warping to Versailles and back to Paris). Also, this segment features the first coop memory warp of the run, and I made the game save at the wheel of the hearse.

Segment 15 (9:00 - 11:45)

Arno spawns at a perfect location to ultrablend before the next memory, which went very well, especially the big jump and the fast assassination animation.

Segment 16 (11:45 - 17:49)

There is nothing particular to comment in this first server bridge, except the series of jumps in the wind, that are done in order to not slow down. The segment ends after making the game save where the coop heist begins.

Part 04 - sequence 4

Segment 17 (0:05 - 0:50)

This part starts with a warp to a specific point of the temple wall, where I made the game save.

Segment 18 (0:50 - 1:21)

And the same kind of warp segment right here, aiming for the corner of the white house.

Segment 19 (1:21 - 12:36)

This segment is quite long and I was lucky that La Touche didn't get stuck for a while, which happened quite often. Ultrablending is there very useful to kill some guards and thus farm creed points with stealth assassinations. There's nothing much to comment about the rest of the segment, which ends after a very long unskippable cutscene.

Part 05 - sequence 5

Segment 20 (0:05 - 2:11)

This is where I buy and upgrade the pepper shot pistol, and then use a coop memory to warp.

Segment 21 (2:11 - 7:37)

Ultrablending is really important for this next memory, and I managed to combine assassinations with available bullets to kill all the guys very quickly. After the coop memory warp, I made the game save at the corner defined by the boxes.

Segment 22 (7:37 - 10:22)

This memory could use ultrablending but it's not worth it ; you only have to be lucky to not get shot by the sniper while climbing the ladder, the rest is all scripted path. After the memory I made the game save as soon as possible, given the cooldown time.

Segment 23 (10:22 - 10:51)

Another segment dedicated to warping, where I made the game save after the wooden planks.

Segment 24 (10:51 - 14:10)

With ultrablending, this assassination is very simple and very fast too ; nothing special to comment. I get the assassin cache skill at that point since the menu pops up, and there was no use after the silversmith memory (which provides you enough skill points).

Part 06 - sequences 6 and 7 (first half)

Segment 25 (0:05 - 7:05)

It's a shame that the way to l'Hôtel de Beauvais is included in the memory, warps would have been useful there. The tailing part doesn't need ultrablending, you can take care of the few guards without La Touche to see anything. The segment ends when making the game save at the small tent.

Segment 26 (7:05 - 7:33)

Here's another segment dedicated to warp, ending between the window and the torch.

Segment 27 (7:33 - 14:39)

Because of all the enemies, ultrablending is very useful for this memory. I tried to combine assassinations and bullets efficiently ; the only problem being to not alert all nearby guards, so that Elise can assassinate some of them. In the end she was quite efficient as well. I wanted to keep the glitch for the next memory, in which you actually don't need to follow Elise, you can just run to her final position. The fights went well, despite I missed a shot with the snipers, but I had to reload once anyway. I made the game save at the lamp after the carriage.

Segment 28 (14:39 - 20:13)

I'm very happy of this segment because of the escape from Mirabeau's, which was very fast. Also, I managed to keep the fast running inside the headquarters despite the change of direction. After that you can notice that the berserk blades are very useful against fleeing targets. The segments ends after making the game save at Sainte-Chapelle's viewpoint (bypassing the cooldown time isn't worth it).

Part 07 - sequences 7 (second half) and 8

Segment 29 (0:05 - 4:35)

As it happens in the second and third phase, you can trigger the very first phase of the fight in one shot ; nevertheless I never had all three, and the video actually represents the best configuration. As soon as I could lock on, Bellec died fast since the pistol is very powerful.

Segment 30 (4:35 - 8:35)

Again, this second server bridge is nothing else than a scripted path. The segment ends when being able to move on the ladder.

Segment 31 (8:35 - 13:16)

Reloading the checkpoint brings you up the ladder, standing on the platform. Despite being a written objective, you don't have to destroy any plane to finish the memory. After that I could have used smoke bombs to reach Napoléon but ultrablending was much faster.

Segment 32 (13:16 - 16:06)

It appears that this fight never ends if you maintain ultrablending, thus the segment to loose it. Also there are fewer enemies in the first wave when doing so. I noticed that the second wave can be triggered by shooting a supplementary bullet, which has the advantage to make Arno reload right after that second wave. One last thing about these fights is that I waited a bit before starting to shoot so that the alert starts and the guards are locked on (white surrounding instead of orange) ; that way Arno can shoot without interruption. The segment ends right after the memory to bypass the cooldown time.

Segment 33 (16:06 - 19:56)

Nothing particular to say here, except that once again I stop the segment right after the memory ends to bypass the cooldown time.

Part 08 - sequence 9

Segment 34 (0:05 - 5:26)

I was in the hope to find a better way to follow the boat, but there are too many people and too many guards on the way. Bypassing the cooldown time after the memory is not worth it here.

Segment 35 (5:26 - 8:05)

This assassination segment was really excellent since I managed to do everything very quickly: ultrablending right after landing, running through the crowd, climbing in two jumps, and I got the fastest animation for the assassination. The segment ends as the memory does, which is when you get the reward.

Segment 36 (8:05 - 15:15)

You have to be as close as possible from Elise so that she goes fast to her checkpoints, but you can't go too much ahead at the end or you won't trigger the cutscene. As a side note I would like to mention that this segment was the most demanding on all hardware in the entire run.

Part 09 - sequence 10

Segment 37 (0:05 - 3:06)

I start ultrablending inside the palace so that I can jump in the haystack and through the crowd, which is faster than simply running slowly. Once again the segment ends right after the memory in order to bypass the cooldown time.

Segment 38 (3:06 - 5:06)

The choice of coop memory warp is pretty obvious at this point, since you spawn right next to Elise. The run through the crowd wa particularly good since I didn't slow down by jumping over or bumping into objects.

Segment 39 (5:06 - 7:58)

Reloading the checkpoint allows to fight less enemies in the first wave, and ultrablending is not really needed since I use the pistol. Elise has to trigger the second wave before the last guards are dead, or all of them appear again ; in the video it went pretty well. Also, you can entirely bypass the third wave if Elise doesn't notice any of the guards, which I managed to do with the help of smoke bombs.

Part 10 - sequence 11

Segment 40 (0:05 - 1:55)

I can't say much more than the fact that I managed to start in the correct directions after the checkpoints (especially when starting from the palace). In the tavern, it's faster to get some damage than fighting all the guards ; this is also why you don't want to upgrade armor and health.

Segment 41 (1:55 - 8:34)

At the beginning is the most lucky and glitchy part of the whole run. Usually I was planning to get to a some people further away, hoping for the thug to follow me (his path is random) ; but there four people appeared as a group so I could start ultrablending ewtremely fast. Also you have to shoot a berserk blade to not mess up the tackle, which results in a funny animation. All the rest went well, up to the end of the segment, right after La Touche assassination.

Segment 42 (8:34 - 13:03)

This warp brings you much closer to the server bridge portal, so it's quite convenient. The freerunning can be quite annoying sometimes, but in the video it was pretty good, and on top of that, I managed to dodge every single fireball.

Part 11 - sequence 12

Segment 43 (0:05 - 6:01)

That memory was a real nightmare in my first playthrough, but thanks to ultrablending it's very easy. When protecting Elise, I kill the second guard last so that she triggers her action (she tends to stand still when killing the group of two last), and this doesn't loose time because you have to run back anyway. I shoot a bullet in the crowd to make people flee so that I don't loose ultrablending ; and going a bit further makes her teleport, as you can notice.

Segment 44 (6:01 - 11:23)

There's really nothing to comment about that segment. Ultrablending helps a lot, once more, and I triggered it

Segment 45 (11:23 - 12:09)

This is another warping segment, the same as in sequence 4.

Segment 46 (12:09 - 24:20)

Again nothing particular to comment here. Ultrablending makes the infiltration very easy, and I triggered the fight quickly by climbing in the middle. I assassinated him from the correct direction every time, in order to shorten travel time, and that happened very well. Fun fact, when Arno runs towards Elise and Germain fighting, you don't have to touch any button.