You're riding through the Centro District, dodging a Borgia courier, and you realize your armor looks like garbage. You want the Seusenhofer set. You want that fast-swinging Spada Lunga. But when you visit the Blacksmith, he won't take your Florins. He wants Shrunken Heads. He wants Tomato Sauce. He wants Aconite. This is the frustrating, grindy, and weirdly addictive world of AC Brotherhood shop quests, a system that turned every Renaissance dumpster-diver into a strategic hoarder.
If you played Assassin’s Creed II, you were used to just buying your way to victory. Brotherhood changed the math. It introduced a barrier between you and the best gear in the game, forcing you to engage with the economy, the brotherhood recruits, and the RNG (random number generation) of loot chests.
Honestly? It's kind of a headache if you don't know what you're looking for. You might spend ten hours selling off "vendor trash" only to realize you just sold the one item required to unlock the best sword in Rome. Don't do that.
The Shop Quest Grind Explained Simply
The system is basically a trade-in program. Five specific shops in Rome—the Blacksmith, Tailor, Art Merchant, Doctor, and even the Bank (later on)—have "Trade Quests." Instead of just paying cash, you provide a shopping list of rare items. Once you turn them in, the item becomes available for purchase.
It sounds simple. It isn't.
The problem is the rarity. Some of these items, like the Shrunken Head or Aconite, are notoriously hard to find. There are only two Shrunken Heads in the entire game world that are guaranteed in chests. If you sell one to a merchant for a quick 100 Florins, you have effectively locked yourself out of the Seusenhofer Pauldrons unless you get extremely lucky with a Bandit loot drop. That is a massive price to pay for a tiny bit of pocket change.
Most players approach these quests the wrong way. They wait until the end of the game to start looking. By then, they've already cleared out the chests and sold the loot. To win at the AC Brotherhood shop quests, you have to play like a pack rat from the very first memory sequence.
The Blacksmith Quests: Forging the Elite
The Blacksmith is the most important merchant for your survival. He handles the "Exotic" quest, which is what most people are actually looking for. Completing this unlocks the Seusenhofer armor set and the Spada Lunga.
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To get these, you need:
- Shrunken Heads (2): These are the "Great White Whales" of the game. One is in the Palazzo Laterano (during the "Sixth Day" mission in the Followers of Romulus shrines). The other is in a chest on a cliff in the Antico District, near the border of the map.
- Elephant Ivory (3): Usually found in chests or by looting Borgia Couriers.
- Indian Diamond (3): These are rare. You'll mostly find them through the Assassin Contracts (sending your recruits on missions) or by tackling the Cento Occhi bandits who jump you at night.
The Seusenhofer armor isn't just for show. It has the highest durability and health boost in the game outside of the Armor of Brutus. But unlike the Brutus armor, which looks like a bear-skin rug, the Seusenhofer gear actually looks like something a master assassin would wear.
The Doctor’s Deadly Recipe
The Doctor has a quest called "Venomous." It sounds cool. It is. Completing this unlocks Fast-Acting Poison.
In the base game, poison takes a few seconds to work. With this upgrade, the guard is down almost instantly. To get it, you need Aconite.
Aconite is the bane of many players' existence. It doesn't appear in chests reliably. You have to hunt for it. The best way? Finding the Borgia Couriers. These guys in the red capes who run away from you. You have to tackle them—not kill them—to loot their pouches. If you kill them, the loot table changes, and your chances of getting Aconite drop. It’s a weird quirk of the game’s engine that many veteran players, like those on the old Ubisoft forums or the AC subreddit, have debated for years.
You also need Pomander and Cardinal's Sin. These are slightly more common in chests around the Vatican area. If you're struggling, send your recruits to cities like Moscow or London in the "Mediterranean Defense" minigame. The rewards there often include these rare medicinal ingredients.
Tailors and the Art of the Cape
The Tailor quests are mostly about aesthetics and capacity. The "Trendsetting" quest unlocks the Vatican Cape, which makes you look regal but, more importantly, keeps your notoriety at zero while in Rome.
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For this, you’re hunting for:
- Silk (5)
- Cardinal's Sin (2)
- Velvet (3)
Velvet is surprisingly annoying to find. You’d think a city like Rome would be swimming in it, but you'll mostly find it in the chests located in the richer districts like the Centro or around the Castel Sant'Angelo.
The Art Merchant quest is often ignored, but it provides the Map of the Vatican, which reveals all the hidden chests in the Pope’s backyard. You need Pomander and Ambergris. Ambergris is whale vomit. Seriously. And for some reason, the Art Merchant wants it. You'll find it by looting bandits (Cento Occhi).
Why Most People Fail These Quests
The biggest misconception is that you can just "grind" these items. You can't. Not easily.
The loot system in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is heavily weighted toward your first time opening a chest. Once the chests are gone, your only sources are Couriers and Bandits. If you've reached the end of the game and you're still missing a Shrunken Head, you are in for a long night of waiting for bandits to spawn in the fields of the Antico district.
Another tip: Assassin Contracts are your best friend.
When you go to a pigeon coop to send your recruits on missions, look at the rewards. Don't just look at the XP or the money. Look at the icons. Missions in further-flung cities often have a "Loot" icon. These are the most reliable ways to get Indian Diamonds and Silk without having to run circles around the Colosseum.
What Really Matters: The "Sold Items" Trap
Let's talk about the mistake that ruins save files.
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When you go to a shop to sell items, there is a "Sell All" button for trade items. Never press it. The game doesn't distinguish between "junk" items (like the Yarn or the Salt) and quest items (like the Shrunken Head). It will let you sell your quest-critical items for a pittance. 100 Florins is nothing by the midpoint of the game when your bank is pulling in 10,000 every twenty minutes. Keep everything. Even the stuff that sounds useless. You never know when a specific quest might require five pieces of Nutmeg.
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
If you're currently playing or planning a jump back into the Ezio Collection, follow this protocol to make the AC Brotherhood shop quests painless.
First, renovate the shops immediately. You can't even see the quests until the shops are open. Focus on the Blacksmiths first.
Second, save your Shrunken Heads. There are only two in chests. One is in the "Sixth Day" Romulus shrine (Palazzo Laterano) in a small room off the main path. The other is in the Antico district, sitting on a cliffside right near the edge of the playable area. If you have these two, you are golden.
Third, farm the bandits. If you need those last few ingredients, stay out at night in the rural areas. When the Cento Occhi (the guys in the masks) attack you, loot every single body. They have a much higher drop rate for quest items than the standard Papal Guards.
Fourth, use your recruits. Always have your assassins out on missions. Even the low-level missions have a chance to return with trade items. By the time Ezio is ready to buy the top-tier gear, your recruits should have already done the heavy lifting for you.
Forget the Florins. In the underground economy of 1500s Rome, it's the weird stuff in your pockets that actually buys power. Keep your heads, tackle the couriers, and don't sell a single thing until you've checked the quest board at the back of the shop.