Honestly, if you're playing Assassin's Creed 2 for the first time—or the tenth—there is one specific moment that usually makes players groan. It isn't the combat. It isn’t even the occasionally clunky parkour. It's the feathers. Specifically, the realization that there is no in-game assassin's creed 2 feather map you can just buy from a tailor or an art merchant. It’s a total contrast to the Borgia Flags in Brotherhood or the chests in later games. In 1476 Italy, you are flying blind.
Ezio’s younger brother, Petruccio, dies early. It’s heartbreaking. He was collecting feathers for their mother, Maria, who falls into a catatonic state after the family is betrayed. Ezio takes up the mantle. He decides to find all 100 feathers to give his mother some peace. It's a sweet sentiment that turns into a logistical nightmare for the player.
Why did Ubisoft do this? Back in 2009, the "collectathon" was the gold standard for padding out game time. Without a native map, you're forced to scour every terracotta rooftop from San Gimignano to the winding canals of Venice. If you miss one? Good luck. You’ll be backtracking through five cities for hours.
The Problem With the Missing Map
Most modern games give you a "map legend" or a "treasure map" collectible. Not here. If you’re looking for a way to trigger an icon on your HUD for these 100 white plumes, stop looking. It doesn't exist within the game's code. This lack of a formal assassin's creed 2 feather map in the pause menu is exactly what led to the rise of community-driven guides.
Sites like MSN Games and GamesRadar became bibles for players back in the day. We had to alt-tab or look at our phones constantly. You’d find 99 feathers and realize the last one was hidden behind a chimney in the San Marco district. It was maddening. The DNA tracker helps a little—it tells you how many feathers you have per district—but it won't show you where they are. You just know you're missing "one in Florence - San Giovanni." That’s a lot of ground to cover.
🔗 Read more: Casino Influencer Jackpot MGM Grand Detroit: What Most People Get Wrong
Breaking Down the Hunt by City
Florence is where it starts. You’ll find 27 feathers here. They are scattered across San Giovanni, San Marco, and Santa Maria Novella. Some are easy. They sit on top of the beams sticking out of buildings. Others require a bit of a leap of faith to reach.
Then there’s Monteriggioni. Only 4 feathers. You can snag these in about five minutes. It’s the "easy win" section of the quest. After the stress of Florence, it feels like a vacation.
Tuscany (San Gimignano) has 11. The towers make this vertical. You’ll be climbing a lot. If you hate the climbing mechanics, this part will test your patience. The towers are tall, and the feathers are often perched right at the peak, mocking you.
Forlì is the swampy, depressing bit. 12 feathers. Most are on the city walls or near the docks. Watch out for the water; Ezio can swim, but it slows the process down.
Finally, Venice. The big one. 46 feathers. This city is a maze. The feathers are tucked into alcoves, on top of masts, and under bridges. This is where most people give up. Without a dedicated assassin's creed 2 feather map from an external source, Venice is a 10-hour project on its own.
What Do You Actually Get?
Is it worth it? Sorta.
At 50 feathers, you unlock the Condottiero War Hammer at the Villa. It’s a decent weapon, but by the time you have 50 feathers, you probably already have something better.
At 100 feathers, you get a cutscene. Ezio places the last feather in the chest. Maria finally speaks. She hugs him. It’s a genuine "oof" moment for the soul. You also get the Auditore Cape.
The Auditore Cape is a double-edged sword. It makes your notoriety level stay at "Incognito" no matter what you do... but it actually makes you "Infamous" everywhere except Monteriggioni the moment you put it on. It’s basically a challenge mode. If you want the "In Memory of Petruccio" Trophy or Achievement, you have to do it. If you want the Platinum trophy, you have no choice.
How to Do This Without Losing Your Mind
If you're going for the 100%, don't just wing it. That's a recipe for disaster.
First, use the DNA menu. Go to Options > DNA > Feathers. This is your only official tool. It breaks down the count by city and then by district. If your total says 98/100, check the DNA menu to see which city is the culprit.
Second, don't collect feathers randomly while playing the story. This is the biggest mistake people make. If you grab 3 feathers here and 5 there, you’ll lose track of which ones you've taken when you finally look at an external assassin's creed 2 feather map. Either ignore them entirely until the end of the game or follow a guide from the very first one.
Third, use a checklist. Digital or paper, it doesn't matter. Cross them off. There is no worse feeling in gaming than following a map of 100 locations and ending up with 99 because you "thought" you grabbed one earlier.
The Legacy of the Feather Hunt
Looking back at Assassin's Creed 2 in 2026, the feather quest feels like a relic of an older era of game design. It was meant to make the world feel "lived in" and to give players a reason to see every corner of the incredible architecture Ubisoft built. While it’s tedious, it does force you to appreciate the detail in the Venetian gothic style or the Romanesque structures in Tuscany.
However, the lack of an in-game map remains a point of contention. Later games fixed this by allowing players to buy maps with in-game currency. It’s a quality-of-life improvement we now take for granted. Doing it the "old way" in AC2 is a rite of passage for series fans.
Your Action Plan for the Platinum
If you are serious about clearing this out today, here is the most efficient way to handle it.
- Finish the main story first. You need all the movement upgrades (like the climb-leap) and all areas of Venice unlocked before you can reach every feather anyway.
- Open a high-resolution community map on a second screen. Look for the ones that number the feathers 1-100.
- Go city by city. Start with the small ones like Monteriggioni and Forlì to build momentum.
- Clear one district at a time. Don't leave a district until your DNA menu confirms you have found every single feather listed for that specific area.
- Keep the Auditore Cape on once you get it if you're going for the "Show Your Colors" trophy, which requires you to wear it in every city.
The hunt is long. It's often boring. But seeing Maria finally smile after years of silence in the game’s timeline? That’s the kind of closure that makes the slog feel like a true Assassin’s journey.