Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced - Things You Need to Know

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a proper return to the golden age of Assassin's Creed, and whether you're storming a deck or sinking a man o' war, there's a lot the game just doesn't bother to spell out. So before you set sail, here are the beginner tips I wish I'd known going in - the stuff that'll keep Edward breathing, your ship in one piece, and your holds full of plunder.

Parry Is Your Best Friend

Let's start with staying alive on foot, because it all comes back to one thing: parrying. The key to parrying, and what makes it so strong, is that it works no matter what direction you’re facing.

The second you spot that blue glimmer, hit the parry button, and Edward will turn and deal with it automatically, leaving the enemy wide open for a takedown. Nailing this technique is quite literally the difference between struggling and somewhat trivialising combat in the game. This is especially useful on ship decks where you're boxed in with a dozen blokes swinging at you at once.

Yes, There Are Guns Now

In a big shift for the series, there are guns now, and they really hurt. Get shot, and you'll feel it. But if you're close enough to an enemy when one's about to fire, you can grab another poor soul and use them as a human shield. 

The game prompts you automatically the moment the shot's coming, so watch for it and let some other pirate take the bullet for you. Unfortunately, bullets are one thing you can’t parry. Edward is many things, but a Jedi he is not.

Treasure Maps Made Easy

Out on the islands, in the old Black Flag treasure maps used to be a bit of a nightmare, but the good news is they're simple now. 

Look in the bottom right of the treasure map, and you'll see a set of numbers - those are the coordinates for the treasure. Take them, sail to the island they point to, then match the little drawing on the map to the spot in front of you to work out exactly where to dig for a burried chest.

No more searching high and low, just, reading numbers. You would have thought, with how hard pirates work to get a hold of their treasure in the first place, they’d put a bit more thought into hiding it. Maybe they should consider 2 factor authentication next time.

Finding Every Chest

Speaking of loot, once you sync a viewpoint on an island, most of the chests light up on your map. If you open your map and tag the chests, the game will guide you straight there. 

A few won't show up, though, and for those, the trick is eagle vision - activate it, and any nearby chests get highlighted through walls, cliffs, whatever's in the way, as you run around.

A bit more effort for those ones, but what's a treasure hunt without a bit of hunting?

Don't Sleep on Underwater Chests

Whereas on land you’ll find plenty of chests with valuables in them, some of the absolute best treasures are found beneath the waves. You’ll find ship upgrades, the best weapons, and all the good stuff. 

These underwater chests might not always be marked, but that doesn’t mean they’re always that hard to find. Often, they are sitting right in your path if you're paying attention. 

For example, in a mission where you find yourself leaping off a cliff and into the water, take a look around right where you land. That’s a prime spot for an underwater chest. Easy to miss, but if you know how to look, easy to find too.

Read the Skies

One more for finding loot or otherwise places of interest worth your time: if you’re sailing on the seas and see smoke rising from an island or birds circling overhead, that's the game nudging you. 

Often it means there's something on that island worth stopping for, so go and take a look.

Side Quests Are Worth It

In Black Flag, you won't trip over side missions the way you do in other open-world games. Instead, they sit on your map as little diamonds. 

It's worth glancing at the map now and then and going out of your way for them, because the side quests in this game genuinely have some of the best content. From the story, activities, or rewards, it’ll be worth your time.

Obviously, the main story is sublime too, but a little detour never hurt anyone. Aside from the people you’ll inevitably be hired to hurt.

Make Friends at the Tavern

On the bigger islands, you'll often find a tavern. These are well worth your time to visit - head in, talk to the regulars and win a quick fist fight, and you'll unlock the ability to chat to the bartender.

Talking to them will get them to mark useful waypoints on your map, and you can also buy information off them for something more specific.

Just remember, if they smile at you, they’re just doing their job.

Hunt Down Convoys

Speaking of those taverns tips, many of them point you towards a nearby convoy. 

A convoy is three or four ships travelling together with one bigger, higher-level target in the middle. Defeating the convoy will give you some great loot, but obviously, that’s easier said than done. They’re certainly not a walk in the park.

Funny thing as well is that these turn up even in the starting areas, but just because you can see them doesn't mean you're ready to actually fight them. 

A lesson you’ll learn early is that If you wade into four ships at once and it goes south, there's no shame in turning tail and running.

Always Restock

Between missions, get into the habit of nipping into a local general store.

These are critical for restocking your ammo and consumables, such as tonics and potions. Something worth buying that often flies under the radar are mortar and heavy shot shells. 

Mortar is your long-range gun, super important for chipping away at ships, especially as you engage; heavy shots make nearby encounters much more tolerable. There's nothing worse than lining up a fight with some big, high-level ship and realising you've got no rounds left to actually play it out.

Hunt Everything With Fur

There's at least one animal on every island you visit, which will be marked right there on your map. Go and hunt them for their skins, which allow you to upgrade Edward all the way through the game. 

A word of warning, they hit hard, so you're far better off sneaking up and assassinating them than squaring up for a straight fight. Later on you'll unlock the sleep dart, which makes this a doddle, as you can knock the animals out from range and then sneak up to them to take them down.

As for the animal skins, you can buy them from general stores too, but if you're grabbing them as you explore, you'll have more than enough.

Naval Combat - Brace or Sink

Now let's talk about fighting ships. More specifically, how to do it and succeed.

Naval combat can feel rough at the start, but usually that’s just for two reasons: firstly, you didn't brace, or secondly, you let yourself get rammed. 

Bracing is essentially your ship's block ability and will significantly reduce the damage you take, so obviously, not doing this is a bad idea. 

Getting rammed is just a simple case of something that will really really hurt, so yeah, again, not a good idea. Learning how to manoeuvre your ship probably will help a lot with this - also, using Chain Shot and your rear barrels can stop ships from getting too close.

Aside from that, the thing to watch is the tougher ships. Once you're up against a frigate at three stars or above, they've got a serious jump in firepower and health, and they'll chunk you hard even through a brace early on. 

To take one down, hit it with mortars from a distance to wear it down, then close in and finish with heavy shots. And, of course, remember to stock up on those ammos.

If you want more detail on how to succeed in naval combat, check out our guide.

Boarding Is Always Worth It

The question of whether you should board is simple: yes, you should. Whenever you can, board. 

It's always the best option because it hands you extra rewards at the end of the fight, like repairing the ship, getting more crew, reducing your wanted level, or looting a captain’s chest.

It's not too tricky either. Make sure you use the swivel gun on the side of your ship first. Aim for the captain, who's always stood by the helm, then hit the big red barrels to take out clusters of crew in one go, and mop up whoever's left however you like. On bigger ships, there's also a flag you can climb up and cut down to drain their morale without swinging a single blade.

When you drop onto the deck, you'll potentially take plenty of hits as collateral while all the other scallywags are flailing at each other. Once you’re at the boarding stage of naval combat, your main concern isn’t you being able to kill everyone - it’s you dying in the process. So, as we said at the beginning, watch for those blue flashes and get parrying. 

TLDR: soften them up, jump on, parry, and win.