In Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the naval combat returns in all its former glory. However, with the game’s “assassin” combat getting a major overhaul, the naval combat has also received some major upgrades. For instance, you now have access to alternate modes for Heavy Shots, Mortars, and Fire Barrels.
Furthermore, the Jackdaw now has access to a few new tiers of upgrades, which you will need if you plan to take down the Legendary Vessels roaming the Caribbean.
With that said, here’s a comprehensive naval combat guide for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
All sailing types and speeds in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
Similar to the original, you have 3 sailing types, i.e., speeds in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced: half-sail, full-sail, and travel-sail. Half-sail is the starting speed and also the default speed of the Jackdaw during tailing or escorting missions. Furthermore, Half-sail also gives you the most control over your ship at the cost of reduced speed.
Full-sail is essentially the faster speed where you still retain a good amount of control on the Jackdaw. This speed is best used during combat as it lets you avoid mortar shots while also giving you enough control to aim your heavy shots.
Lastly, there’s the travel-sail, which, as its name suggests, is used to travel through the Caribbean. It should be noted that you cannot use travel-sail during combat or storms.
How to use the Spyglass on Jackdaw
On Jackdaw, you also get access to your Spyglass, which is used to locate key items while cruising through the Caribbean. By pressing R3 on your controller, you can switch to the Spyglass view, where you can press R2 to zoom and locate the points of interest, be it a ship, a fort, or an uncharted island.
All enemy ship types in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
There are a total of 4 enemy ship types in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced:
Schooners
These are the most nimble vessels, but can still deal a ton of damage if not kept in check. The Schooners always accompany a Naval Convoy or even Man-o-Wars, and serve as passive damage dealers. While Schooners don’t have access to ranged weapons, they do have fire barrels, which they use to create proximity traps near other vessels. The fire barrels can easily break your defenses if you don’t destroy them using the Swivel Gun.
Briggs
Briggs are similar to Jackdaw in size but don’t pack as much firepower as Frigates. These ships are usually meant to carry cargo across restricted parts of the Caribbean; as such, they have a lot of armor. However, a well-placed mortar shot can easily break their defenses.
Frigates
Frigates are similar to Briggs but pack much more firepower and are also incredibly fast. Frigates also always roam around with Schooners, which makes it difficult to get close to them (to use Flaming Rounds). However, Frigates can be easily taken down using Mortars, Heavy Shots, and Swivel Guns.
Man-o-Wars
The Man-o-Wars are the most powerful vessels in the Caribbean, and with a name like that, they’re also incredibly intimidating. These ships are massive in size but, as a result, are also incredibly slow. They mostly rely on heavy rounds and mortars to deal damage. As such, the best counter to these ships is Jackdaw’s own mortars as well as weak spot damage using the Swivel Gun.
All Jackdaw weapons in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
The Jackdaw has the following weapons in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced:
- Mortars: Mortars are the best combat starters in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. These weapons offer unparalleled range but don’t have any functionality for close-range combat. That said, once upgraded, a single mortar shell can easily take down a Frigate.
- Ram: Ram is the hull extension of Jackdaw, and dictates not only the integrity of the vessel but also its ramming speed and efficiency.
- Swivel Gun: The Swivel Guns are manual turrets placed on the back of the Jackdaw. While the Swivel Guns don’t do much damage, they do serve as the most powerful tool against Man-o-Wars. The Swivel Guns have only one function: destroying weak spots (created by heavy rounds).
- Broadside Cannons: The Broadside Cannons are the primary weapons of the Jackdaw, offering both Heavy Rounds as well as Flaming Rounds. The Heavy Rounds have good range but mediocre damage. Whereas the Flaming Rounds, while limited in range, deal a ton of damage and also create multiple weak spots on ships.
- Fire Barrel: Fire Barrels are the emergency weapons on the Jackdaw, best used to avoid getting rammed by enemy vessels. The Fire Barrels can also be used to create proximity traps, which you’re going to need against some of the Legendary Ship encounters.
How to board enemy ships
Boarding the enemy ship, regardless of the ship type, follows the same pattern as the original. You essentially need to whittle down the health of the enemy vessel to roughly 1% or until their HP gauge turns red. After that, you will see an anchor icon above the vessel, which denotes that it can be boarded.
At this time, you want to cease firing at the ship and get close to it. Once you’re nearing the ship’s boarding proximity, press and hold A on your controller to start boarding.
Do note that if the enemy ship is placed in a cramped location, i.e., between two rocks or near an island, you cannot board it. Also, if you end up firing at the enemy ship while it’s at low HP, you will end up sinking it. You still get some loot from the ship, but it will be significantly lower than what you would’ve got by boarding it.
All boarding rewards explained
Upon successfully boarding the enemy ship, you usually have 3 options for rewards:
- Repair: Repairs the Jackdaw for a single HP node.
- Send to Kenway’s fleet: Sends the ship to Edward’s fleet for the Fleet Missions.
- Lower wanted level: Lowers the current wanted level/progression.
If you board a Frigate or Man-o-War, you also get the option to Get Captain’s Lockbox, which increases the total loot earned (and Reales) by 10%.
Wanted levels in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
There are a total of 4 levels of the wanted status in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. The first two levels only summon a single Frigate whenever you board an enemy vessel or sink it. However, on levels 3 and 4, you’re pursued by a convoy of Pirate Hunters. Defeating the Pirate Hunters does not reduce your wanted level.
However, you do get a good amount of loot from boarding or sinking them.
How to reduce wanted levels
You can reduce your wanted level by paying a bribe to the officer near the Harbor Master. Or, the best way to reduce your wanted level is simply boarding enemy ships, ideally Briggs, and choosing the Reduce Wanted Level option as a reward.
Best upgrades for Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
At the start of the game, you mostly want to prioritize Broadside Cannons, Hull, and Heavy Shot upgrades. The Hull upgrade is incredibly important if you want to stand a chance against Frigates or even Briggs. Thankfully, you can get the Ultimate Plan for the Hull fairly early, during the very first Diving Bell quest in the main story.
Once you max out the Hull, focus your resources on the Broadside Cannons, which increase the fire rate as well as the damage of the Flaming Rounds and Heavy Rounds.
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Edited by Suman Biswas
