(Disclaimer: I am willing to admit that I have upper-medium skill in MP, and didn't get 8000 points or something every game. However, as the general response has indicated, these tips work. I haven't covered every single ability or perk because I find certain ones more effective.)
Two words: Play Manhunt. There are several reasons I like Manhunt:
- You alternate hiding and hunting, so you'll know what persona* your pursuers have (unless they have Disguise of course).
- When hiding, you earn points every few seconds from blending (more if team members are blending with you).
- You can switch your target by pressing left or right on the D-pad. So if two teammates are being idiots and getting 100 point kills by running around, you can go for your own target and hopefully get a good kill before they show up and ruin it for you.
- You can have one profile set for defense and one for offense, instead of trying to balance the two in one profile.
- There is a 50% chance of getting either Good Start (be winning after the first round) or Team Win (win the game). Also, depending on how well other people are doing, you may get Podium (be one of the top players), Survivor (least amount of deaths), or Average Kills (highest points per kill). These are in addition to co-op bonuses like Multi-Kill, Knock Out, Diversion, etc. or even Lure if your pursuers suck.
As you continue to play and get better, you'll get more points, but even when I started out I was getting 1000-2000 points average PER GAME. On a good day I can get 3000+ points just from kills.
GENERAL TIPS:
- Be stealthy! As long as you're not in high profile at the moment you press X, you should get either Silent, Incognito or another bonus depending on how you killed the target. You can only use RT so long before your controller starts to vibrate, the incognito meter goes down, or both. If the target is far away, hold A (fast walk) and then tap RT to get there faster. When the silent meter goes down, you get a red marker above your head, which might as well scream "Watch out! I'm trying to kill you!"
- If you get good kills and get a decent amount of bonuses while hunting, a stun and/or knock out (two stuns within 10 seconds - this CAN be done by one player) will unlock Variety on top of those, earning more points.
- DO NOT RELY ON STUN. I cannot say this enough. Even if you are behind your pursuer, they can trump your stun will a kill 90% of the time. Only do it if you have otherwise incapacitated them with an ability (Smoke Bomb being the obvious example).
- If both abilities are in cooldown, RUN. You have nothing to aid in a stun, and you WANT your pursuers to go into high profile and get a kill that's worth 200 points MAX.
- Following the last tip, if your target is running around, you probably want to wait or go for someone else. Winning a chase gives you few points, and there's always the chance that they escape anyways and get 100 points (instead of you).
- If you are playing Manhunt, as soon as the round starts and you are on defense, find a group with at least one other NPC who looks like you. If they are moving, blend will let you automatically move with them, freeing up your attention to possible pursuers nearby.
RECOMMENDED ABILITIES:
Smoke Bomb - The go-to defensive ability. If you see someone with your pursuer's persona nearby, use it when they're close (but NOT close enough for a kill), then stun them, or try to run if the whole team is after you. Long Lasting and Strong bombs last one second longer and cover one more meter of ground respectively, so it's a bit of a toss up which one to go with.
Firecrackers - My go-to offensive ability. This will both blind your opponent and make every NPC crouch down (apparently they're scary?), revealing the target. Just be careful that A) you don't press X near the wrong person and B) you don't get hit by the usual counter-smoke-bomb and get stunned. This will also blind pursuers if used right, so you can experiment with it on Defense.
Charge - This is either a guaranteed stun or kill, as long as you aim the Charge in the right direction. Try to use it at the very last second when killing so you get a bonus, and if you can use it right after blending you'll get the Hidden bonus. The smoke bomb counters it though!
Mute - Works well for both def. and offense. This will keep any player nearby from using an ability. If your pursuer is being obvious, use it next to them, press B to stun, and run away.
Decoy - This depends on how good your pursuer(s) is. Lock onto an NPC with LT (preferably one who already looks like you), press the button, and they'll run away, usually getting an overly anxious player to kill it and give you Lure (which, btw, is when someone kills the wrong persona/NPC within 10 meters of the CORRECT target). If someone is glowing, they are using Templar Vision and won't fall for it. DON'T BOTHER. RUN OR USE SOMETHING ELSE.
Morph - Timing plays a big part in this - it will make several civilians nearby your duplicate. As long as one other civilian already looks like you, you can try and fool your pursuers, or use it to reveal your target.
If you want a surefire way to know which persona is your target, you can use Templar Vision, but remember that you'll be glowing and therefore obvious. I would recommend Mute in conjunction to guarantee a kill, but then you're using both abilities at once.
PERKS: These are another reason I recommend being able to concentrate on defense or offense at one point. You can only have two at a time, so use two that work for what you're doing.
Recommended perks:
Resistance - Reduces the amount of time you spend lying on the ground after being stunned. If you're stunned and lucky, your target won't even run around much, and will be nearby for you to kill them not long after getting up. Unlocks at level 27.
Blender - Remember the tip about finding a group with someone who looks like you? This does it for you. Blend with a group and this will automatically change one NPC into your duplicate. Unlocks at level 30.
Fast Getaway - If you follow my tip about running, sooner or later you'll be in a chase. This reduces the amount of time you need to hide to get the escape. Unlocks at level 33.
Chase Expert - This will improve your running speed, but apparently only in a chase (which once again doesn't get you many points). Still, it can be useful. Unlocks at level 38.
Overall Cooldowns - It doesn't unlock until level 40, but boy oh boy is this an awesome perk. It will significantly reduce the cooldown on both abilities, meaning you don't have wait long or get stunned 3 times to get them back (i.e. 3 loss streak giving you Reset Cooldowns). Use this when hunting and you can almost always get one ability back when have found your next target.
Challenges - Lastly, there are challenges. Many of them come from using X ability so many times, or miscellaneous actions like killing the current leader, getting kills with each of the available characters/personas, etc. If you use any ability enough, you'll complete one, and get either some decent XP or an improved ability. Some will come naturally with time, but if you want to rank up faster, take note of them and try to complete them.
Good luck! You could just boost, but ranking up only becomes a bit of a pain in the last 12 or so levels. Unlike Gears of War 2, you CAN reach the top rank without boosting and still have a life, it just takes a while. Lastly, it's fun, save for some obvious problems. Feel free to comment with questions, and I obviously took some time to write this up, so please say why if you vote no.
Multiplayer unlock list:
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/396/1/Assassins...* A persona is the Priest, Doctor, Courtesan, Harlequin, etc.