Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag - Pro Tips for Sailing & Naval Combat

[@KonohanaShuffler]

A useful tip when boarding and using the swivel gun is to use Eagle Vision when you get close. It makes it much easier to spot groups, especially with the Spanish because their yellow clothing blends in fairly well with the wood of the ships

[@ThallanarRabidtooth]

Also try to hit the black powder barrels, they explode when your swivels hit them and can easily wipe out the enemy crew before you set foot on their ship.

[@TiaVaylik]

I feel silly for asking I play Xbox how do u drop anchor?

[@port_lumiere]

@@TiaVaylik i dont have an xbox but i think you need to keep pressing the red button until your ship stops and hold to release to the wheel so you can free roam

[@jeannieh3661]

Omg this!

[@dudeurodude3845]

@@TiaVaylik Hold b after stopping the boat

[@xXxAlmightyForcexXx]

Heres a crazy tip i did to beat high level ships. I get close enough to the ship and get off the ship and swim towards them and kill everyone on the ship. When you swim back to your ship just shoot at the ship and youre ready to board the ship with out fighting the ship.

[@kingklipo]

Geez that works for man o wars?

[@xXxAlmightyForcexXx]

+Captain Obvious It was a long time ago but I'm sure it still works. Cause the huge ships were a pain to beat head on.

[@gajrajsingh51]

It still works

[@mrBytemare]

lol good to know thanks! :D btw this game still looks amazing, on PC max settings.

[@rajeevgupta5492]

Bytemare77 u still plays it😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@0NET0MB]

6 years later & still helping Black Flag noobs like me 💀 Thanks a million! ❤️

[@acqually5364]

9years later still helping noobs like me

[@ammarhebat3220]

@@acqually5364fr

[@A1Kamon]

A decade and 9 days later, still going strong

[@Kattoe]

Me too! 😂​ I like the game a lot so far. @@A1Kamon

[@NOMANNERZ84]

10 years 😂

[@KingKamal47]

19:02 I know this is 8 years too late, but if you send a ship to your fleet, you can then choose to scrap it for materials in the fleet menu. You get more out of the ship that way. It's a bit of a waste if you just use it for extra health when you are full, in my view.

[@ethanupnext9545]

Facts

[@ethanupnext9545]

You never know who might pick up the game at any time

[@gordalot]

I’ve played 4 days now and am at the 30k upgrade for ship armour. Great game! Stayed up way too late.. taken out a couple fortifications and have my home harbour built up to getting the “house of the Rising Sun”. Get ideas! Lvl. 38 frigates are still doing more same than I like, but small gunboats are great for a health boost when hitting large ships. Think I’m going for a swim tonight and messing up the crew! 🙌🏼😂

[@jakegibbs7886]

i can’t access the fleet as it keeps saying cannot connect to ubisoft server, although i can access online activities. any fix? haven’t found one yet and probably won’t

[@KingKamal47]

@@jakegibbs7886 Honestly, I'm not sure about that one. Are you playing on the backwards-compatable console version, or the remaster?

[@rookieroo24]

Don't lower your wanted level, just repair or keep the ship for the fleet. Once the Pirate Hunters show up, you will always get metal from them. Most I've seen a ship carry is 100 metal/wood, but when you get nine of those in a row it builds fast.

[@JR05-1]

I don't know if he mentions it in this video (I've yet to watch the whole video) but when battling a fort, take out the boats that attack, but do not board them yet. Leave them until you need health and then go back and board them and select to repair the jackdaw that way you have a health supply sort of. Also those boats will do a lot of damage while you are tackling the fort so its best to get them out of the way in the first place.

[@cmoore1369]

That's actually a great strategy, I leave them waiting to board in huge fights and for taking forts too.

[@travis100182]

Any tips on how to separate them? I mean, when I get close enough to the fort they both start firing on me.

[@CydoNia]

@@travis100182 a year late but thought I’d answer for anyone else reading these comments. When taking a fort keep moving, the fort will mostly attack with a mortar, if you keep moving you should be able to sail thought the yellow and red mortar indicators before the mortar rounds land which means you can focus on the ships around you. Combine this with travel speed turning and you’ll have no problem

[@gooeyreacts3357]

A great tip to make fire barrels useful is when a ship tries to ram you, you can just go as fast as you can, and when they miss you and go behind you, you can literally just shoot fire barrels onto the ship

[@Majin-Dat]

The best tip I can think of that I didn’t even realise the first time I played this in 2013 - upgrade your broadside cannons and round ball strength and just sail next to a ship and tap R2/RT for the quick shot. It really does sink a ship really quick

[@justincardiel2101]

I enjoy picking fights with other ships more than playing the main story. I haven't won a battle against a Legendary ship yet. I was obliterated last time I tried fighting one of those big bastards. I'm going to fully upgrade my ship before fighting them again.

[@warriorwayp4480]

Here is a idea When u reach legendary ship stop sailing come to front of ship dive in water and reach legendary ship take out ship,s crew return ur ship sync the ship no need fully upgraded jackdraw 🎉🎉

[@R4eWclan]

you have the best ram! your ship must have a good prosseser

[@radioactive120]

R4eWclan corny af lol

[@R4eWclan]

@Yeetus Yeetus Kermit self deletus I like trains damn I was retarded

[@andytoskovic]

R4eWclan what a legend lol

[@musabthegreat]

Lol

[@fingok]

Imagine having a bad computer back than. Actually I had a shitty pentium 4, now changed it to Ryzen.

[@StonerNinja]

You CAN aim heavy shot, it's just a bit tricky. What you do is aim your round shot like normal, and after you've lined up your shot, release the aim button just before firing. Works like a charm.

[@kylenepeter448]

why waste successfully captured ships with repairing the Jackdaw when it is full health? I would suggest at least adding it to your fleet and then salvaging it.

[@Chubzdoomer]

Yep, this is the best option for sure. Unless your ship is damaged to the point of having lost one or more "bars" (or is very close to having lost one or more in the middle of combat) don't bother repairing it -- it's 100% useless and a complete waste of gems that you could've gotten by capturing the ship for your fleet, then later salvaging it. Lowering your Wanted level is quite pointless, too, unless the Wanted level is so high that the Hunter ships are kicking your ass. Otherwise, Hunters are more or less like free resources!

[@weeb_kun5432]

How do you salvage ships for money? I'm almost broke

[@Norb_]

@@weeb_kun5432 when they're really low health you need to get close to them then it lets you hold A to board the ships

[@dudeurodude3845]

Actually when you salvage ship it repairs itself with the resources it had. I tried to get wood for 3 hours and my wood level never went up even though I got at least 1000 wood because I pressed go to Edwards fleet. When I pressed repair the jackdaw even if my ship health was full it finally gave me the materials.

[@Tonystarkfil]

you didn't talk about how you can effectively use ships, especially smaller ones as "health Packs" when taking down forts or big ships. Enemies all leave you alone once you start boarding, then just complete the boarding, choose repair, and get back to it. Also, repairing fixes one bar on your ship's health, but if you had say, a fraction of health left in your second bar, repairing fixes the second and third fully. Not so if you had only your first bar remaining, even if it's full.

[@Dr7Dumb]

When you upgrade the haul armor all the way your ship is basically metal

[@vitoconigliaro7926]

Facts 🥳

[@Anagh1701]

It's hull armour, not haul

[@finnlay3888]

@@Anagh1701 u replied to a comment that’s 7 years old

[@Anagh1701]

@@finnlay3888 I know, going to buy ac 4 soon, watching for tips

[@finnlay3888]

@@Anagh1701 yea same the only thing i don’t like about replaying black flag is getting all the ship upgrades again

[@thecat3908]

Here's another tip: Go to 'options' and turn everything off except updates if you want a clear screen without the minimap and all the other clutter. Use 'custom marker' on the main map to pinpoint your destination.

[@uberthegamer8030]

I would recommend that as long as you don't need repairs and aren't trying to lower your wanted level, you should send the ship to the fleet because you can salvage the ships you don't want for gems, which are used to repair ships and speed things up. This way you actually get something out of one if the three options instead of uselessly repairing the ship. Another good point is that if one if the three bars is partially damaged it will regenerate, but if one is taken down completely you need to go to a harbour master or board a ship to repair it.

[@eimran1178]

Kind of a cheap trick but you can also just stalk the ship without attacking. Once close enough (you can't be in open conflict) you can leave your steering wheel and swim towards the ship, climb it and kill everyone on it. Afterwards go back to the jackdaw and you'll be able to defeat it with a single shot. (Doesnt work with legendary ships since touching them will result in instant death)

[@Copper_Dragon07]

Man, I just got BF today and have been struggling with the naval battles. This is really helpful, so thanks for making this video!

[@wherareI]

The game is great and I liked Kenway as a character. I liked seeing his evolution as a character. Really the first character we actually see change significantly in the course of one game (Ezio changed plenty but it was over a much longer course) though he was never really a full fledged assassin in my mind. He could be very stealthy when the mission demanded it or he wanted to but he still felt more like a pirate than an assassin at the end of the game. I also thought it was funny that the templars were apparently actually losing for once until apparently you screw the assassins over by helping (sort of) a traitor assassin screw them over by giving information to the Templar (Sorry to anyone who hasn't started playing this yet but seriously it's the first thing that happens in the game so I don't consider it much of a spoiler.)

[@championskyeterrier]

The main thing missing here is a demonstration of how to use the swivel guns during ship to ship combat (before the boarding sequence)

[@devenstone256]

How?

[@loretime]

Very helpful, thank you. Prior to this, I was as much use on the ocean waves as a glass drum-kit.

[@markomus1]

I know this is 11 years out, but one tip for deciding what to do with a ship after it's been boarded (in order of priority): Repair Lower wanted level Add ship to fleet Interestingly, in the same order they're presented. If I've taken no damage, I don't repair. If the wanted level is above one, I lower it (unless I'm spoiling for a fight with a hunter). Otherwise, add ship to fleet. It can always be scuttled for gems if you already have a full and strong fleet.

[@Osiris_OJ]

I barely upgraded the jackdaw when I played through the campaign for the first time All I did was upgrade broadsides cannons and hull armour and also bought the mortar and I just camped Somewhere and sniped man o wars with my mortars and when I run out I just attack head on to finish them off SO MUCH FUN 🤤

[@konas937]

Im currently about 25% since with the game, and if i take down a ship with a good amount of durability instead of repairing my almost full health ship, I'll send them to the fleet so i can sink them for gems to finish filling out my dock

[@EldritchRaccoon]

Chain shot still destroys the sails, you just need to aim it at the sails. I've done it several times before.

[@colecorley8021]

I loved the game ages ago and for anyone like me who’s playing again on Xbox one, I recommend instantly getting all but elite ram as well as heavy shot then just ram and follow up with heavy shot... I’ve been doing this and managed to take out some frigates without taking half a bar of damage

[@gosteronlinecourses]

Just started playing the game a couple weeks ago - great tips thanks for the post!

[@tasman1934]

Same bro. I’m having my first play through and having a blast with it

[@JeremiJylMarkusCalayan]

When i got this game on the switch i quite literally just grinded until i got all the ship upgrades idk what i was doing but im gonna play it again on the ps5 i wonder if i still got that dedication🤔

[@trentbailey0yiaytokens]

I have found that if you are battling a brig, you should use ur heavy shot as they r coming to u and when the r close but not to close go into travel speed for a second or 2 or until it looks like he won't hit u wait for him to be right behind you fire your fire barrels and all 3 should hit

[@ClashinRobbie]

Havnt played this game in years can’t wait to get back into it

[@Milaox05]

10 years later and helping me. i failed 8 times and dont know what to do. thank you for the video

[@randumbfish8778]

Elite hull is in the first wreck you go to to use the diving bell its located in one of the ships

[@J.Allen_]

Quite good. I actually have almost maxed out my ship without realizing a couple details you put in here. Thanks.

[@crankypauper]

The elite upgrade plans can be obtained by using the diving bell near shipwrecks(you can locate them on the map, search for dive bell icons) and i believe they can be found when you find treasure with treasure maps

[@heisspencer]

21:50 "yeah it was either at salt lagoon, or marijuana island"

[@maximilianmusohyeahyeah215]

*Mariguana island"*

[@keenanpaul8968]

That’s the joke

[@brandonbarefoot7588]

I absolutely love that you're playing the Wii U version of this game! (You can see by the button icons) I think it's a really undervalued version of the game for those who can't quite afford "next gen" consoles.

[@PeterDB90]

He's not, the buttons are for Xbox - A,B,X,Y Take another look.

[@brandonbarefoot7588]

Yep, realized that after I had left the video >.

[@shawzy28]

Definitely the best assassins creed ever made... So much freedom it just seduces you...

[@X3MISTgaming]

I'm starting to really get into Black Flag & this aspect of the game is deeper than I originally thought. I spent almost a day trying to get a convoy with no upgrades to my ship; obviously I was unsuccessful. Thanks for this video; it's really helpful.

[@sirbalsac]

That dropping-anchor-and-turning motion is called "Club-hauling". It's a naval move where you get a ship that's chasing you on one of your sides so you can blast her belly into kingdom-come.

[@aesirgod7818]

haven't played this since release having a blast I missed this game

[@Lacerated1DJ3]

Thank you for this guide, I just bought the game and am enjoying it immensely!

[@desertrose0601]

Thank you! This was super helpful. I’m playing this game for the first time and didn’t even realize I had different types of guns on the ship. 😂 This was very informative!

[@gosteronlinecourses]

I just started playing a couple weeks ago and I keep discovering things like this !

[@tapp3r109]

Hehe, It took me a whole playthrough of the story before I realized how to use the Swivel Guns! They really do a bad job of explaining it in the game. I was holding shift and then pressing the left mouse button, which instead fired the heavy shot lmao.

[@foxtrotsierraproductions8626]

pc controls for Assassins Creed sucks console controls are better and handable

[@qusaisati856]

Edward Kenway how do u use them on contriller

[@Doncroft1]

@@foxtrotsierraproductions8626 Mouse is way better for aiming though. And there's a fair amount of aiming in the game.

[@marcusdy1974]

thanks for the video i just got back to playing this started it over didn't even know the different cannon options

[@RockyLXXXVIII]

to be ultimately brutal, get right behind a ship, fire the chain shot just before you ram them, then heat shot, then just as you pass them, unleash fire barrels, I almost never just put them down, I typically wait until they are right behind me then I basically throw the barrels at them, and that does a ton of damage

[@Biz41269]

This game's amazing. Glad i found this before i started sailing. Thanks alot

[@heisspencer]

as someone who played pirates of the Caribbean online when i was younger, it was unbelievable satisfying to play a game with similar sea combat that has so much greater graphical fidelity and much more engaging and intense fighting.

[@TheGeneralCheesie]

How long ago did they remove pirates of the caribbean? I tried to go back to it a while ago and was pissed when I found out it was gone

[@georgepottasium3133]

That literally was the BEST game I ever played as a child. It was immensely exciting and fun-especially when Jolly Rogers? attacked Tortuga, and the different islands, and everyone had to quickly sail there to stop him.

[@mrboonski1]

Fukin love this game. Was £7 in the PlayStation store last week so I brought it 🤜✌️💯

[@albertoenn1777]

10 years later 🗻🌑

[@Algo2-2-3]

So crazy this game is over a decade old and i only started playing

[@TheLothoDE]

One tip I would suggest is to actually send every ship you can to the fleet when you start out in Uplay and just scrap all the ones that sell for less than 300 gems till you get all your docks unlocked. The game doesn't really explain how to get gems and once I figured that out I am doing better. It's a different system though so maybe you have a video that explains all that. Liked the video though I didn't know about the shotgun feature lol

[@vigneshkr7072]

they should have added the feature of autopiloting the ship using your crew.

[@dominicclark3755]

Its 2024 and im still playing ACBF.

[@StefanLorde]

This video was very helpful for me in terms of knowing what to do with the Legendary Ships. I believe now, that I know what to do, because when I first went up against a Legendary Ship, I died 3 times trying to run away. Now, BEWARE THE JACKDAW!

[@rogereverett4467]

I’m finally playing this game that I got 10 years ago after forgetting that I bought it, lost it, then recently found.

[@theloothoarder4935]

Ayo yes i may be still playing this game in 2024 odyssey is fun but boats weren't as fun to me and ya know being a pirate is cool...kinda the whole reason im playing it again and having a blast this video caught me back up to what i remembered as a child

[@shadowgouhl5000]

I would advise not to keep putting man-o-war's into your fleet. Remember that there are ships that can out sail them.

[@rtb2k6]

Only had this game a week and i cant stay off it.love the sea stuff.great video.learnt a lot of usefull stuff to try next time.never even realised about the close up cannons.having fun at the min trying to take down a fort.amazing and eye opening game.a credit to Ubisoft.

[@BradleyCoopertest]

Your voice sounds exactly like professional bodybuild coach Lee Hayward. good vid by the way!

[@jjsaturn93]

I just started playing AC 4 Black Flag and this video was very helpful.

[@iiamkn1ght121]

EASY WAY TO KILL A MAN O'WAR: - as soon as you are in range, mortar it as often as you can, till you are close - When you are close, use your regular cannons and Heavy shots. - If you are facing front to it, fire your chain shots and ram it.

[@enasty1867]

No shit lol that’s how you do any ship

[@8888chubbs]

if you dont need the ship for repair or wanted level send it to your fleet even if you dont need it so you can salvage it for the diamonds you use to repair your fleet and open new ports. and when you sink a ship you get half of the cargo it was carrying

[@CarpeNoctem135]

I did a 4 piece on a boat, it wasn’t hostile and was turned broadside to me. I hit it with a mortar, chase cannons, rammed it, and then heavy shot it in one move. It was a frigate and sunk outright didn’t even get a shot off

[@Lethal_Venom]

Thanks a lot! I was lost as far as how to best use the Jackdaw and did not even know how to use my mortors! Looking forward to fully upgrading my ship

[@XOceaNX]

many people dont understand that heavy shot is the strongest weapon for battle against big ships, i personally go around a ship in circles and spam heavy shot and if it gets far from me i use mortars and keep going with heavy shot, aint that simple? correct me if im wrong. im talking about people who look for glitches and swim to take down legendary ships.

[@bnate5]

Cowboy, this is the best video I have ever seen! You Are the Man! I am Subscribing. You explain if better then the manual, O Wait what manual?

[@RockyLXXXVIII]

the chain shot immobilizes them for half a second but it also slows the ship down after that

[@Shingeki__]

Pro Tip (White Whale): Upgrade your harpoon once, then upgrade the number you can carry. When the whale goes under water and is about to come up, look for bubbles then a rupture (will look like foam), that's where it will rise. Pelt that area with harpoons the moment you see a little of the whale and continue to hit the whale as it emerges from the water. If you connect 3 times with a harpoon it will real away from you, thus taking no damage.

[@owenkilleen]

Just recently bought the Game, thanks for this.

[@DJJsquared]

Man, id love to live on Marijuana island!!! XD

[@trikkerman1]

whatever you do, don't go to "Drug Test Island" they will PHUCK you up.

[@meonly1674]

I take frigates and man of wars out just by swimming up to them. Sometimes they stop. I climb up on them. I use plenty of smoke bombs. And I kill everybody. Then I swim back to my own boat. I t bone them and board. Then sometimes I get their flags and powder kegs. It won't let you do this on rogue though. But I like the puckle gun on rogue.

[@greennblue10]

Started playing this recently. Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@loganfunderburk2424]

Tell me why I can't charge with my ram

[@andrewiceshard8483]

Getting AC4 today and this video has already helped.

[@flexibil]

In Assassin's Creed 3, chain shooting was done from the side of the ship.

[@chesterthe3rdmofo]

Great video (clear and to the point). I'm finally able to get the game on PC in...13 hours. Nice to know that, thanks to your pointers, I won't be blown out of the water.

[@sligacheese6470]

My top 5 games. Maybe this is number 1. Be nice if AC did another naval game. I’m on Xbox but the PC version would be sweet.

[@mlgbeeler420]

Skull and Bones, coming soon

[@sligacheese6470]

@@mlgbeeler420 yes it looks awesome 😎

[@Sammydoctord]

the elite hull plans need a map you get of a cadaver at nassau which will tell you where the upgrade plan is

[@oliverlindgren4447]

If you press and hold l2 you can zoom with your swivel gun while boarding

[@Srparisher]

I hope that they get a good area that shows how empty the sea is, I don't want to always be able to see land or other ships sometimes i just want to feel the spite and loneliness of the lovely sea

[@joelrodrigues8809]

Im playing it now because i don't have money for new version 😅

[@swallowedinthesea11]

I uninstalled Odyssey to play Black Flag!

[@anthonyweston5588]

Wow what version of skull and bones is this? It looks way better!

[@miltonbuu]

Switch Edition

[@Yoghurt_UK]

Your guides are very useful, Cowboy. I do hope to see more from you with guides of Assassin's Creed Unity. Subscribed. :)

[@mightytoon]

Thanks for the great video... used the tips u have and managed to get the elite upgrade for the ship n also take the 4 legendary ship...cheers!

[@theflutefreak]

Thanks for this, I just started playing and found the ship combat tutorial so fast and confusing and I was getting so frustrated.

[@davidlloyd1474]

Best ac4 gameplay on KZbin keep up the good work

[@nissarnajib]

Just started the game ,excellent break down on game mechanics !

[@eggsacuteme3456]

I used my barely upgraded Jackdaw to board the man of war, I just stick around a battle between 2 countries and be the clean up. But my crew surrendered when I need to kill two more enemies. Lel

[@TheJonesy1991]

Would be nice to see your technique on facing a ship like a man o' war without the ram. My ram is n't particularly strong and this technique would lead to obliteration as their cannons are ridiculously powerful.

[@cmoore1369]

That was a very well spoken and concise video brother. I didn't realize you could tighten the grouping on the round shot. Have you noticed on when boarding bigger ships your counters are glitchy? It happens when there is a lot going on, really annoying when you have a brute and dagger guy fucking you up while you hit counter, lol.

[@cob00927]

I couldn't have enjoyed this vid more! Great stuff - Subscribed

[@cptmorgans]

Fantastic guide, many thanks for taking the time.

[@wherareI]

PlayaYoungThugz Just as he says in the video set yourself up for a broadside shot at close range but instead of aiming just click the shoot button.

[@travis100182]

New to AC4. Can anyone give me any tips on how to fight fortifications as well as ships at the same time? Strategy maybe?

[@situatedillness]

Interested to see how this performs on my 13900k and 4090. 🤣🤣. Also why does this game look so damn good?! Fun wise I mean.

[@Ludeapnakamkar]

I'm playing on mobile

[@ShadowmarkReturns]

Oh cool, didn't know trading was in it, will probably just be a merchant vessal when I install the game.

[@Filip_M]

How do you trigger the 3-cannon balls shots/short distance and the mortier/airstrike shots?

[@matteli539]

this is incredibly useful. thank you very much

[@prodigysticprodo5422]

I wish you could upgrade your sails to make your ship faster. Or upgrade your rudder

[@Trashcanman81]

I agree

[@ThallanarRabidtooth]

Yeah, the turning on the Jackdaw is abysmal. Legendary Ships and Man O' Wars turn much quicker and in a smaller radius than the Jackdaw.

[@zzodysseuszz]

Geez the ram tactic is insanely effective