During development of the previous Assassin's Creed game, the developers thought it might be good fun to include ship-versus-ship combat as a sort of side activity. As it turned out, this light take on naval warfare proved to be one of the most popular sections of the game, and so the fourth entry in the series was built almost entirely around the concept.
Spread across Assassin's Creed 4's seas are a handful of particularly challenging Legendary ships which not only offer up a healthy chunk of change when defeated, but are also necessary for unlocking the Devil of the Caribbean Achievement or Trophy - depending on which swashbuckling brand of console you're rocking.
Each one of these ships typically has a special attack or a very particular vulnerability to your own attacks. Understanding these unique strengths and weaknesses is key to beating each opponent and cleaning up on each battle's cash reward.
While the rewards for destroying these vessels are excellent, make sure that you're very comfortable with the basics of naval warfare before heading out on the hunt, and ensure you've taken advantage of every upgrade available to you. As well as a nicely upgraded ship of your own, many of the tactics in these battles require quick positioning and a good understanding of your own firepower - something that you won't have if you've been skirting around ship-to-ship combat or investing your reales in other priorities.
La Dama Negra - Seranilla Region
To unlock the fight with the La Dama Negra, you'll first have to take the Serranilla fort, found in the southwestern area of the map. Be aware that this particular ship is clad in near-impenetrable armour, and you'll have to direct all of your firepower at its sole weak spot, the captain's cabin at the very rear of the ship.
Try to avoid passing the sides of the ship, as the broadside cannons of this vessel are particularly powerful. If you can maintain your rear position for as much of the fight as possible, you'll find it much easier to avoid attacks, while dishing out your own comfortably.
Nov 07, 2015 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Infinite Money and Resources Glitch Game Guide Go to Florida Island and there will be two incapacitated ships. A spanish ship and a British Ship. In Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, around sequence 8, you gain the ability to use Kenway's Fleet.This will be used in a variety of ways. First of all you can go on missions throughout the Atlantic and gain more goods and money, and s mentioned in my guide to sailing, you can now capture desirable ships and add them to your fleet.
Maintain your position at the rear of the ship and ram whenever possible. Use your chain-shot and cannons as well, both to slow the ship down and to prevent it from gaining deadly range, all the while chipping away at the enemy's hull. The idea's pretty simple here: lock it down, then knock it down.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag; Assassin’s Creed 4 Kenway’s Fleet Guide – Trading Missions and Ships. Completing the Ship Battles will get you Cargo which includes rice, tobacco, cocoa. How to upgrade your ship in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Shaun McInnis talks about the best tactics when upgrading your ship for navel warfare. By Shaun McInnis and Mary Kish on July 25.
HMS Prince - Navassa Region
'Once the ship reaches around 25% of its health, it'll begin firing its rear cannons at you.'
Once you've conquered the Navassa fort in the the southeastern quarter of the map, you'll be able to take on the HMS Prince, a ship that's heavily shrouded in fog. As well as a powerful side-cannon attack, the HMS Prince also has a devastating mortar attack - get caught adjacent to the ship, or to the front of it, and you'll have a real problem on your hands.
Move into position as quickly as possible at the start of the fight, and then use your chain-shot to slow it down, followed by your own mortar fire to chip away at its health. Just be aware that once the ship reaches around 25% of its health, it'll begin firing its rear cannons at you. If you got into the rear position right at the start of the fight, then you should have no trouble surviving through this damage until the battle ends in your favor.
El Impoluto - Dry Tortuga Region
Once you've defeated the Dry Tortuga Fort located in the northwest corner of the map, El Impoluto will appear. One of the toughest of the five legendary ships you'll face off against in Assassin's Creed 4, the crew's strategy is as simple as it is devastating: get up close at high speed and ram your ship into kindling.
The trick to beating this ship is to turn the tables and take the fight to your enemy. Stay close to the El Impoluto so that you're able to ram its hull. You can make use of your non-mortar weapons to dole out some additional damage, but the bulk of your attack will come from ramming. Just make sure you're bracing your ship whenever El Impoluto makes an attack in kind.
Don't be tempted to get away from the target and bring your mortar fire into play, as playing with range is a fast way to invite disaster in this fight. All you'll achieve is to make it easier for El Impoluto to line its special attack up against you, and then get a massive burst of speed in the tank for its devastating ram attack.
HMS Fearless & Royal Sovereign - Eleuthera Region
'As soon as you've destroyed the first ship, start moving away from the area as quickly as possible.'
These two legendary ships are located in the northeastern section of the map, and they must be tackled together. It's critical that you avoid passing between the two ships, because otherwise you'll end up being caught between both vessels' side cannons. To take out your targets, simply use your mortar attack from range against a single ship, and keep moving around to maintain your distance from them.
Once you have one of these ships down to very low health, switch to the other target ship immediately and whittle its health down bit by bit. Once both ships are close to sinking, choose one to eliminate, and then prepare for an extremely strong counter-attack from the surviving vessel.
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That attack will likely come in the form of a high-speed ram, so as soon as you've destroyed the first ship, start moving away from the area as quickly as possible, firing everything you've got at the remaining ship so that you can destroy it before it gains ground on you.
Note that you can use this fight as a source of infinite money in Assassin's Creed 4. By defeating one ship, you'll gain the reward of 10,000 Reales. Simply allow the remaining ship to destroy you and you can restart the mission, grinding out 10,000 Reales at a time. It's a cheap trick, but certainly an effective one.
One of the most fun aspects of 'Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag' is the high seas battles you will take on. There are many ways you can take down a ship, but once you're looking at fleets of them, things will get a little more complicated.
If you've just started playing AC4, you'll need to know the basics. First, lets start with the types of ships you will face:
1. Gunboat: The smallest ship you will encounter that only carries ammunition. You can't board these ships, but sink them if you're running low on ammo to collect their loot.
2. Schooner: These ships mostly carry rum and sugar. They're good to fight when you need goods to sell for Reales or a quickie ship repair as you only need to take down 5 crew members to win.
3. Brig: Once you start encountering these ships, you're in for a fight. There are not many resources on the ship, but there's no avoiding them sometimes. You'll need to take down 10 men to pirate a Brig.
4. Frigate: In order to take down this ship you'll need to make sure you've kept up with your Jackdaw upgrades. You'll have to defeat 15 soldiers and secondary objectives, including cutting down the enemy ship's flag, taking out gunpowder barrels or defeating the captain to get to the plunder screen.
5. Man o' War: This is the second largest ship you will face, just under the Legendary ships. They're big, they're powerful, and if you're outnumbered, they will sink you easily. (Tip: avoid these until you're at least mid way through your Jackdaw upgrades. Even then, they're still pretty tough to sink)
There are many battle tactics you can implement in AC4, but for this beginner Wiki we'll keep it simple. Check out IGN's steps to take down a ship (in order) below:
Stun the ship with Chase Cannons (Chain Shot): You should start the battle this way to give yourself time to maneuver into attack position. Keep in mind that with the largest vessels (especially Legendary Ships) the stunning effect caused by the chain shot will still be minimal, adding only a few seconds here and there to your window of attack.
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Maneuver the Jackdaw behind the enemy ship: Directly perpendicular, or ideally somewhere near 45 degree angle to its rear, with your broadside cannons facing its rear and hitting a a large amount of lower hull.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Mod Ship Blueprints
Fire: Stay there, carefully speeding up and slowing down and rotating and firing Heavy Shot at its rear and rear sides, but staying out of the firing angle of its cannons. Aim low as possible and fire your Heavy Shot at it repeatedly, firing the Swivel Guns while your Broadside Cannons recharge.
Repeat: You can repeat this process if the enemy ship outmaneuvers you, just speed away and come about, firing your Chase Cannons to stun the ship and start anew.
Need help with a specific mission? Have an easier way to take down ships? Leave a comment below to share your gamer tips. You can also email directly at z.serrano@hngn.com. Be sure to check out the related article section for more AC4 Wikis below.