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Here are seven tips on how to become a pirate legend in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Often in Black Flag Resynced, there'll be loot strewn around the various locales for you to pick up, and sometimes enemies you take out will also drop some goodies. By default, the game requires you to pick up each instance of loot individually, but if you go into the game settings, you can make this a little less tedious. In the options menu under the gameplay tab, there is an area loot setting, which means that if you pick up one piece of loot, you'll pick up all nearby loot as well. There are a couple of other interesting things you can toggle off and on in this menu, like unlimited oxygen when swimming underwater, so check those out, too. Plus, there are
ways to unlock automatic looting later in the game. More on that in a bit. A lot of this remake of Black Flag is the same or very similar to the original game, but there are a handful of new things that are completely optional, but also absolutely worth your time. The first are the officer quests. These are not only top-tier side quests that weren't in the original game, but they actually add new mechanics to Resynced's naval combat, such as a boosted ram attack or timing the brace for incoming fire just right to minimize damage to Edward's ship, the Jackdaw. They're worth playing for the stories they tell alone, but if you're into the game's naval combat, they are a must-play. The second are the rifts,
which continue some of the modern-day story elements set up in Assassin's Creed Shadows. These moments revolve around an alternate timeline where Edward gave up his life of piracy in order to return home to his wife, Caroline. The sequences are really interesting, but you have to seek them out as the game does not point you toward them. One can be found on the west coast of Great Inagua, the island that eventually serves as home base for Edward and the rest of his pirate fleet. Bonus tip, something else that is new are dedicated kick buttons where you can hold down the controller's right trigger and either kick forward to push an enemy back or sweep their leg to knock them over. If you're having trouble breaking
through enemy defenses, make sure to mix these kicks into your combos. Speaking of Great Inagua, once you reach this location in the game and secure it for yourself, you'll have the opportunity to upgrade various aspects of it. It is worth pouring all the resources you have at the time of unlocking the island into upgrading it as much as possible. Not only will this provide you more resources as you play, as investment in the island results in more reals, the game's currency to be deposited in a lock box for you to pick up every time you return, but it will also allow you to purchase various useful goods such as a trinket that automatically snatches up loot that you pass.
One of my favorite things about Black Flag is how the map is cut into numerous islands, which makes all of the different things you can do in the game from synchronizing at viewpoints to finding new shanties and to opening up chests much more manageable, rather than everything plopped into a single sprawling location. When in the map, if you hover over the region's icon, it will bring up the checklist of things to do within it. However, you can also bring this list up when running around the open world. Simply hold down the map key, which on a DualSense controller is the touchpad, and you can see what you have left to do if you are looking to complete the island. Bonus tip, if
you're running around and hear what I would describe as a glinty sound effect, there's a chest nearby. One of the items you can find across the Caribbean are treasure maps. While these maps will give you a drawing to work from in order to locate the hidden treasure, these maps also give you the exact coordinates of where the treasure is buried. Yes, you have to dig up the treasure. So, once you go to those coordinates, walk around in that spot until the notification pops up indicating that you can dig. These treasure chests are not marked on the island's checklist, so even if you think you've seen everything in a single location, chances are there might also be some hidden treasure there, too. When in naval combat, you'll eventually
damage a ship to the point at which it can be boarded. At this point, you can either board the ship or destroy it completely. It is almost always worth taking the time to board the ship, as not only does this reward you with that ship's full supply of resources, but after successfully taking it over, you'll have the option to either up the Jackdaw or somewhat reduce Edward's wanted level, or send the ship to his fleet to send on quests. The only instances in which it's preferable to destroy the ship outright is if it's a smaller ship, the Jackdaw is in good health, and your wanted level is low. Just blowing the ship to bits in these instances will save you a little bit of time, and won't result in any major
reduction in resource gains. But, in my opinion, boarding is more fun, so I just do that all the time anyway. When you line up your ship to board another, you don't have to slow the Jackdaw down first. Once you see the icon pop up to initiate boarding, you can do so, even if you're moving at full speed. Bonus tip, when boarding, make sure to hop on a swivel gun and take a few shots at the enemy from there. You can blow up barrels for maximum damage. Sometimes you can clear out a whole ship this way if you line up your shots right without ever having to set foot on the enemy vessel.
Not long into the game is when you unlock the Jackdaw, and soon after that you'll be able to upgrade the ship. There are three upgrades that you should primarily focus on. The first is the ship's hull. If you're not careful, you can very easily get the Jackdaw into a thorny situation that results in her being sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and the game's best resource hauls stem from going up against its biggest and baddest ships. Making sure the Jackdaw can sustain a lengthy battle is going to be crucial the longer you play. Fortunately, you can lengthen the ship's life by taking out the smaller vessels when going up against multiple enemies, boarding them and then repairing the
Jackdaw before facing off against that particular convoy's lead boat. When it comes to offensive upgrades, you want to focus on the broadside cannons and the mortars. The former are likely to be your most used weapon, while the latter allow you to deal damage from a distance without being in firing range yourself. Of course, for those looking to become the pirate king of the Caribbean, you'll eventually want to max out all of the Jackdaw's upgrades, but these three are the ones to make sure to get maxed out first. And those are seven tips to know before playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Let us know in the comments if you have any of your own, and for more on the game, stay right here on GameSpot.
