You're running across a terracotta roof in Florence, the sun is setting, and suddenly you see it—a glowing white flicker dancing in the wind. That's a feather. One of a hundred. If you’re like most people playing Assassin's Creed 2 for the first time, or even the tenth, those feathers are basically the bane of your existence. They’re tiny. They’re often tucked away in places you’d never look naturally. Honestly, searching for Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations is less about being a legendary master assassin and more about being a very frustrated birdwatcher.
But there’s a reason we do it. It isn't just for the "In Memory of Petruccio" achievement, though that 10-point/Bronze trophy is a nice hit of dopamine. It’s about Maria Auditore. Seeing Ezio’s mother sit silently in that chair for years, broken by the loss of her youngest son, is one of the more grounded, heartbreaking moments in a game otherwise filled with ancient aliens and Pope fights. Bringing those feathers back is a way to heal the family.
Why the Map Doesn't Help You
Here is the first thing you need to accept: Ubisoft was kind of mean in 2009. Unlike the Borgia Flags in Brotherhood or the collectibles in modern Assassin's Creed titles, you cannot buy a map from a merchant to reveal the Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations. They won’t just pop up on your HUD. You have to actually find them.
This leads to the "99/100" nightmare. You spend six hours scouring Venice, you're certain you checked every bridge, but the DNA menu says you're missing one. Just one. Because there’s no in-game way to track which specific feather you’ve grabbed within a city, you’re stuck re-checking every single spot. It’s tedious. It’s annoying. But if you break it down by district, it’s manageable.
Florence: The First 27
Florence is where you start, and it’s arguably the easiest place to get turned around because the architecture is so uniform. You’ve got three main districts: San Giovanni, San Marco, and Santa Maria Novella.
Most of the feathers here are perched on the very edges of buildings or on thin wooden beams sticking out over the streets. One of the trickiest is located on the Giotto’s Campanile—the massive bell tower next to the Duomo. If you aren't looking closely while you're doing that grueling climb, you’ll miss it tucked onto a ledge. Another sneaks its way onto the roof of the Ospedale degli Innocenti.
Pro tip: Use Eagle Vision. It’s not just for finding gold-tinted targets. In the dark or against the red brick of Florence, that white glow becomes much more obvious.
Monteriggioni: The Easy Four
Don't overthink the Villa. There are only four feathers here. They are basically a gift. If you can't find these, you might need to check your brightness settings. They’re all on the rooftops of the main town area, none of them hidden in the secret tomb or anything weird like that.
Tuscany and San Gimignano: The Vertical Hunt
This is where things get vertical. San Gimignano is the "City of Towers," and the developers took that very literally when placing the 11 feathers here.
You’re going to be doing a lot of climbing. Some feathers are at the very peak of the towers, while others are halfway up on a random stone outcropping. There’s one particularly annoying feather on the wall of the city itself. If you're hunting for Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations in the countryside, remember that there aren't any in the actual fields. They are all contained within the city walls or on the immediate fortifications. Don't go wandering through the olive groves looking for them; you're just wasting time.
Forlì and Romagna: The Marshy Mess
Forlì is a gloomy, damp place, and the 12 feathers here reflect that. A lot of them are on the walls or the wooden poles sticking out of the water.
There’s a specific feather on the roof of the Abbazia di San Mercuriale (the big church with the tall tower) that everyone misses. Also, keep an eye on the lighthouse area. Because Forlì is so flat compared to Florence, it’s tempting to stay on the ground and use the horse, but you need to be up high to spot the shimmer.
Venice: The Final Boss of Collectibles
Venice is the hardest. 46 feathers. Five districts.
The San Polo district has nine, and they are a nightmare because of the bridges. Venice’s layout is a labyrinth. You’ll think a feather is on a building, but it’s actually on a pole in the canal. Then there’s the Cannaregio district. It’s poorer, the buildings are more cluttered, and the feathers blend into the laundry hanging between windows.
The hardest one? It’s arguably the one on the San Pietro di Castello. It’s way out on the eastern edge of the map. You have no reason to go there for the story, so it’s easy to forget that part of the map even exists. If you’re at 99 feathers, check the far east of Venice.
What You Actually Get
Is it worth it? Sorta.
At 50 feathers, you unlock the Condottiero War Hammer in the Monteriggioni blacksmith shop. It’s a solid weapon, but by the time you have 50 feathers, you probably already have the Altaïr’s Sword or something better.
At 100 feathers, you get a cutscene. Ezio puts the last feather in the chest, Maria finally speaks, and she thanks him. She gives you the Auditore Cape. This cape is a bit of a "troll" item from Ubisoft. When you wear it, your notoriety is permanently set to "Incapacitated" in every city. This means guards will attack you on sight everywhere you go.
It sounds bad, but it’s actually required for the "Show your Colors" achievement, where you have to wear the Auditore Cape in every city (including the mountains).
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Practical Steps for the Hunt
- Work by DNA Sequence: Check your DNA menu frequently. It breaks down feather counts by city and even by specific district in Venice. This is the only way to narrow down where you've missed one.
- Clear the Viewpoints First: It seems obvious, but don't even start looking for Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations until you've synchronized every viewpoint in that city. It clears the fog and makes navigation simpler.
- Night Hunting: It is significantly easier to see the white glow of a feather at night. If the game's day/night cycle allows it, do your searching when it's dark.
- The "L" Pattern: When searching a district, move in a grid. Start at the top left and work your way across. If you just jump around randomly, you will 100% lose track of which chimneys you've checked.
The hunt for feathers is a test of patience more than skill. It’s a relic of a time when open-world games thought "more" always meant "better," but there's something therapeutic about it. Just you, the rooftops, and the Jesper Kyd soundtrack.
Once you’ve cleared the list, take the Auditore Cape to the Mountains for that last achievement. Just be ready to fight a lot of guards on the way.
Actionable Next Steps
- Audit your DNA Menu: Open your pause menu, go to DNA, and scroll to the Feathers section. Write down the exact number you are missing per city.
- Start with Florence: Go back to the San Giovanni district and re-run the perimeter of the Duomo. It is statistically the most likely place you missed a "hidden in plain sight" collectible.
- Check the San Pietro di Castello in Venice: If you are stuck at one missing feather, fly or swim to the far eastern island in Venice. It's the most common "missing" feather in the entire game.