Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Essential Beginner Tips

It has been nearly 13 years since the original Black Flag was released. With a whole host of new changes made across the entire game in Resynced, you may be slightly lost on where to start. So whether you’re a returning veteran or totally fresh to Black Flag, we’ve put together some tips and things you need to know when you first jump in.

Upgrade Your Jackdaw As Soon As Possible

The Jackdaw is used constantly throughout Resynced as your primary method of navigation and naval combat. Due to this, it's incredibly important that you upgrade it as much as you can as soon as you have the means to do so

This is ever so slightly tricky to do, as most materials needed come from sinking other ships out on the sea, but it cannot be overstated just how important it is to make sure that at all times, you are the most fearsome pirate on the water. Think of your Jackdaw as an extension of Edward, as he quite literally can’t get around without it!

We’d be remiss not to mention that if you decide to upgrade, some of your most valuable material will be Metal and Wood. You’ll find these much like you will any plunder, but keep an eye out for ships carrying the most of them by using your Spyglass frequently. Other salvaged goods, such as wine and rum, can also be sold off for Reales, which will also be a major part of your upgrade process throughout.

Complete Assassination Contracts

During your journey in Resynced, you'll unlock the ability to complete an activity known as assassination contracts by picking them up in the many towns you'll come across. There are multiple contracts per location throughout the game, so make a habit of completing them.

These are short, easy-to-complete bounties with an optional bonus objective that can help you net 2000 reales each. You may be tasked with blowing up an enemy with gunpowder or hanging an enemy from a high place with a rope dart. It’s important you don’t skip these objectives if you want to earn the most Reales each time, which will aid in your progression.

Remember that if you’re finding these optional objectives too difficult, you can always come back to them later once you’ve upgraded Edwards arsenal. Don’t waste your time early on by repeatedly failing to complete missions perfectly. Especially these ones, despite how easy most of them are.

Use Sleep Darts For Hunting Animals

Hunting is a crucial part of Resynced, as no longer can you simply buy skins from general stores with Reales like you could in the original game. Now, it will require bones, and you'll need a decent amount of them.

When hunting anything from fast-moving prey such as deer, to deadly swamp crocodiles, sleep darts will be your best friend. Simply shoot one at your target, and then while they're asleep you can get up close to either assassinate them, or deliver a killing combo with your pistols and swords.

Better yet, smaller animals such as monkeys can be killed with the sudden impact of the darts. This is extremely useful for quick on-the-go hunting during missions or other side activities. When you start out, you’ll only have 5 of each dart at your disposal. To increase this count, you’ll need to purchase upgrades for Edward, which will increase capacity.

Always Board Enemy Ships, Never Sink Them

Last but certainly not least is a tip for Naval Combat. When given the option to either board a ship or sink it, you should almost never skip straight to sinking it. The reason for this is due to the many fruitful options offered to you when boarding.

There are 3 main options given to the player once morale has been depleted on the ship you’ve boarded. The first two are a split between either lowering your wanted level to get rival pirates off of your back or sending the currently boarded ship to your fleet for later use. These are great options, but early on in Resynced, you’ll most likely want to use the third option, which will repair your Jackdaw.

This is great when starting out, as your Jackdaw isn’t quite strong enough to be a one-ship sinking machine. It can be very easy during combat encounters to become overwhelmed and down on your life. Without healing as you go, the Jackdaw may be on the painful end of combat, often leaving you floating on a barrel of rum in the middle of the ocean. For this reason, always try to remember that this option exists before blindly sailing back out into what could very well be your last battle.

The final option is to take the captain’s lockbox, and it’ll only be available on specific ships. It can be a great way to secure additional loot to take home. Use this option on a case-by-case basis, as sometimes more loot isn’t as important as your own safety.

Upgrade Edward As Soon As You Can

Edward Kenway is at the centre of every part of your Resynced journey. Naturally, it's just as important to maintain his progression as the Jackdaw's. By entering your inventory menu, you'll find a crafting subsection at the bottom with many options to upgrade Edward’s abilities.

All weapons, including pistols, darts, and smoke bombs, can have their effectiveness increased by spending animal parts found in the world. You can also upgrade Edward’s overall health, which will be especially useful for players tackling the hardest difficulty. These upgrades are crucial, especially if you enjoy hunting. The menu gives a substantial buff to your darts, making hunting much easier.

While it might take a while to gather parts, a handy tip is that most required animal skins can be purchased with common bones at any general store. If hunting isn't your thing, focus on one upgrade instead of trying to do everything at once. The most important upgrade is Edward's health. In Resynced, you'll encounter a new enemy type that spices up combat. It's not fun being hit by bullets, so ensure you can withstand some punishment.

Capture Forts Early On

Assuming your Jackdaw has gunpowder ready to expend, one of the biggest tips for beginners in Resynced is to go after naval forts as early as possible. These deadly sea bases exist solely to inconvenience you, occupying a large area of the ocean and making it hostile. Getting too close to these forts will trigger a combat encounter, which can quickly become an annoyance when you're just trying to enjoy the sound of seagulls and crashing waves.

Luckily, there's a far better method to prevent forts from annoying you, and it isn't to avoid them. All you need to do is destroy the defences beforehand, which will then let you storm the gates for a final takeover. Despite forts not being too hard to conquer, you might struggle without the proper game plan. The most important thing to remember is that, aside from surrounding support ships, the forts themselves don't actually move. Because of this, the attack loop we'd recommend is to start off with a mortar shot, then combine it with a cannonball shot for maximum damage.

As for the actual sequence of storming and capturing the forts, your objective is nearly identical to boarding ships. You just need to kill enough forces to deplete the overall morale in order to 'win.' Once a fort has been successfully captured, you'll be free to sail in the surrounding area without being pinged relentlessly. You'll also unlock the captured fort as a new fast travel location, aiding you in quickly navigating the map.

Always Sync Viewpoints When Possible

Now here’s one for those of you that are new to Assassin’s Creed games - as you begin tackling the open seas of Resynced, you will find out very quickly just how much double backing you need to do for missions. But don’t worry though - it’s not all bad news. To avoid wearing your boots out at every turn, sync with viewpoints as soon as you come across them in towns. Syncing with viewpoints nets progress towards 100% map completion, and will also help you in your goal to reveal nearby points of interest.

But of course by far the biggest plus to doing it, is the ability to fast travel back to them at a moments notice, which is handy not only for stuff like hunting animals, but also refilling ammunition at general stores. There are plenty of times during the story where Edward will be asked to return to locations he has already visited. If you don’t have the means to return there properly, you’ll find yourself stuck drowning in slog instead of grog.

So the next time you come across the beckoning call of a bird up above, don’t ignore it. This is a crucial part of exploration in Resynced, and you do not want to skip it!