Look, let’s be honest. Collecting 100 feathers in Assassin's Creed 2 is a chore. It just is. You’re doing it for Maria, who’s been staring at a wall for ten years, and you’re doing it for that sweet Auditore Cape, but Venice? Venice is the final boss of feather hunting.
The city is a literal labyrinth. One minute you're sprinting across the Rialto Bridge, and the next, you're stuck in a tiny courtyard because the canal is too wide to jump. When you’re hunting for the Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations in Venice, you aren't just looking for white glowy things; you're fighting the architecture itself.
There are 46 feathers in Venice. Forty-six. That’s nearly half the game’s total collection crammed into one city of bridges and gondolas. If you’ve spent three hours circling the San Polo district and you’re still missing that one last feather, I feel your pain. I’ve been there. We’ve all been there.
Why Venice is the hardest part of the Auditore collection
The verticality of Venice is what makes it so tricky. In Florence or Tuscany, you can usually see a feather from the street because the buildings aren't that densely packed. Venice? Venice hates your line of sight. Most feathers are tucked behind chimneys or sitting on the very edge of a wooden pole sticking out of a canal.
The city is split into six districts, but for the sake of the feather hunt, you really need to think about it in terms of the DNA strands in your pause menu. The game breaks them down into San Polo, San Marco, Dorsoduro, Castello, and Cannaregio. If you aren't checking your DNA progress every ten minutes, you're going to end up with 45/46 and no idea where the straggler is hiding.
Most people mess up because they assume a feather is on a roof. It isn't always. Sometimes it’s on a beam halfway down a building, invisible from the street and invisible from the rooftop. You have to be okay with taking it slow. Leap of faithing into a pile of hay only to realize the feather was on the ledge you just jumped off is a classic Ezio moment. It’s frustrating. It’s Venice.
Diving into the San Polo and San Marco clusters
San Polo is usually where players start their Venice journey. It’s the smallest district, but it’s dense. There are 9 feathers here. One of the sneakiest ones is right near the Rialto Bridge. You’d think it would be prominent, but it’s tucked away on a wooden beam over the water. You have to time your jump perfectly or you’re swimming back to a dock. Honestly, Ezio’s inability to climb out of deep water quickly is the real enemy here.
Then you hit San Marco. This is the heart of the city. There are 9 feathers here too. The Basilica di San Marco is an obvious landmark, but don't just look at the big cathedral. Many of these feathers are on the smaller residential buildings surrounding the square.
The Campanile trap
The Campanile (the big bell tower) is a nightmare for collectors. It’s huge. It’s tall. It’s iconic. But the feathers aren't always at the peak. You’ll find them on the lower balconies or the ornamental ridges. I once spent twenty minutes trying to find a feather that was actually just sitting on a pole near the base of a nearby building, shadowed by the tower itself.
The Dorsoduro and Castello grind
Dorsoduro is the southern district. It has 9 feathers. This area is bridge-heavy. If you’re looking for Assassin's Creed 2 feather locations in Venice in this area, check the masts of the ships. Ubisoft loved putting feathers on the very tips of boat masts. It’s a platforming test. If you miss the jump, you’re in the drink.
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Castello is the beast. It’s the largest district and contains 10 feathers. This is where most players give up. The eastern part of Castello is a mess of alleys. There’s one feather specifically located on the northern wall of the Arsenale. The Arsenale is a restricted area, so you’ve got guards shooting at you while you’re trying to balance on a beam. It’s not fun. It’s high-stress bird-watching.
Cannaregio: The northern stretch
Cannaregio rounds out the list with 9 feathers. It’s a bit more spread out, which actually makes it harder because there’s more ground to cover between points of interest. One feather sits on the roof of the San Geremia church, but others are scattered across the docks on the northern edge of the map.
I’ve found that the best way to tackle Cannaregio is to move in a zig-zag pattern from the canal-side houses inward. Don't just follow the main paths. The AI pathing for guards is predictable here, so use that to your advantage while you’re staring at rooftops instead of the road.
The technical reality of the 100-feather reward
Let’s talk about why you’re doing this. You get a trophy/achievement at 50 feathers (and Maria says a single line of dialogue). At 100 feathers, you get the Auditore Cape.
Is the cape worth it? From a gameplay perspective, barely. It makes your notoriety stay at 100% everywhere you go. It’s basically "Hard Mode." But for the completionists, it’s the ultimate badge of honor. It’s proof you survived the Venice rooftops.
Interestingly, the game doesn't actually tell you which feathers you've collected on the map. This is 2009-era game design. There are no map markers for these. You either use a third-party map or you spend hours in Eagle Vision.
Using Eagle Vision effectively
Eagle Vision is your best friend. In the remaster (The Ezio Collection), the feathers glow much brighter than they did on the PS3 or Xbox 360. If you’re playing on modern hardware, it’s significantly easier to spot that white glimmer against the red clay tiles of Venice.
Common misconceptions about Venice feathers
People think some feathers are locked behind story missions. They aren't. Once you have access to the district, you can get the feather. If you can see it, you can reach it.
Another myth is that feathers "respawn" if you fall into the water before hitting a checkpoint. Luckily, the game saves the collection the moment Ezio’s hand touches the item. If you grab a feather and then immediately get tackled into a canal by a guard, you still have the feather. Small mercies.
The missing feather problem
If you are at 99 feathers, you are likely missing one in Venice. Statistically, it’s almost always Venice. Usually, it’s one of two spots:
- The Arsenale: Because it’s a restricted area, people rush through it and miss the feather on the outer scaffolding.
- The very bottom of a bridge: There’s a feather in the Dorsoduro district that is practically at water level under a small footbridge. You won’t see it from the roof. You have to be on a gondola or swimming to spot it.
Actionable steps for your hunt
Stop wandering aimlessly. It’s the fastest way to burn out.
First, open your DNA menu. Go to the "Feathers" section and see exactly which district is missing items. If San Marco says 8/9, stop looking in Castello. It sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people just run around the whole city hoping to stumble onto them.
Second, use a reference map but don't just look at the dots. Look at the altitude descriptions. Most good community maps from sites like IGN or old Assassin's Creed forums will specify "on a wooden beam" or "top of the chimney."
Third, clear the Borgia towers—wait, wrong game—clear the Viewpoints first. Synchronizing doesn't show feathers on the map, but it gives you a clear overhead view of the neighborhood. Spend a minute in Eagle Vision while standing on the perch before you leap down. You can often spot two or three feathers just by spinning the camera 360 degrees.
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Finally, do this in one sitting per district. If you collect four feathers in San Polo and then turn off the game for a week, you won't remember which ones you already grabbed. Finish a district, see the count hit the max in the menu, and then move on. It’s the only way to stay sane in the canals.
Once you hit that 100th feather, head back to the Villa in Monteriggioni. Put them in the chest next to Maria. Watch the cutscene. It’s a quiet, somber moment in a game filled with explosions and stabbings. It’s a nice bit of closure for the Auditore family tragedy. Then put on that Auditore Cape and try to survive the guards. You’ve earned it.