To beat the Legendary Ships in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, go in with a nearly fully upgraded Jackdaw and all three new officers, brace through their big volleys, and fight each one around its gimmick: punish El Impoluto’s rams, hit La Dama Negra’s bow and stern, chase HMS Prince through its fog phases, and keep the Twins’ health even. There are four encounters, one near each corner of the map, and guides agree each appears after you capture the fort in its region.
Guides report they hit harder than in 2013. Below we cover where they are, how to prepare, and how to beat each one.
Where the Legendary Ships Are
Ubisoft names the four encounters: El Impoluto, HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign (the Twins), La Dama Negra, and HMS Prince. Guides place them in the same corners as the original:
- El Impoluto: the Dry Tortuga region, in the northwest.
- HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign: the northeast, revealed by the Eleuthera fort.
- La Dama Negra: the southwest, near Serranilla.
- HMS Prince: the southeast, near Navassa.
Capture the corner forts first and the markers appear. Per Ubisoft, the ships also respawn after a while, so a loss or a rematch is never final.
Prepare the Jackdaw First
Recruit all three officers. Ubisoft says each brings a permanent perk once recruited:
- Lucy Baldwin unlocks Perfect Brace, which will “almost completely nullify incoming damage” if you time the brace correctly.
- The Padre unlocks Ram Dash, a high-speed ram. In 2013 you only earned that by beating all four Legendary Ships; now it comes much earlier.
- Tobias “Deadman” Smith lets you fire an additional broadside volley with minimal cooldown, and guides say finishing his quest adds the Deadman’s Cohort mortar mode.
Guides report Lucy’s and the Padre’s quests open after Sequence 4, while Deadman’s arrives much later, after Sequence 11.
Max the key upgrades. Guides recommend top-tier hull armor, broadside cannons, swivel guns and ram, several of which need Ultimate Plans and an upgraded Harbourmaster building at Great Inagua.
Use the difficulty setting if you need it. Ubisoft says your difficulty choice changes how much damage enemy ships deal and how often they can ram.
General Tactics for Every Fight
- Brace on the warning. Guides say enemy cannons glow orange just before they fire, and glowing patches on the water mark incoming mortar strikes. Hold X on Xbox, Square on PS5 or Space on PC, and time it late for a Perfect Brace.
- Slow them with chain shot. The bow chasers’ chain shot tears sails, and guides use it to stop Legendary Ships from ramming or fleeing for a short window.
- Punish up close. Our heavy shot guide covers the unaimed close-range volley, which does its best work right after a brace.
- Snipe weak points. When red markers appear, hit them with the swivels, as our swivel gun guide explains. Guides also suggest shooting the explosive barrels these ships drop.
- Ram Dash. Launch control lists put it on L1 plus R1 (PS5), LB plus RB (Xbox) or R (PC).
Start every fight at full health. Our repair guide covers Harbourmaster repairs and boarding repairs.
How to Beat Each Legendary Ship
El Impoluto
A hit-and-run rammer. Guides describe it charging head-on, firing from its bow as it comes, then circling just outside your range. Brace or Perfect Brace the ram, slide along its side as it passes and unload broadsides before it pulls away, then mortar it while it circles. A chain shot to the sails buys a window where it cannot ram. Guides say its later phase adds long sweeps of flaming cannon fire, so brace early.
La Dama Negra
The armored one. Guides report metal plating on its sides that cuts your damage and blocks swivel critical hits, so work its bow and stern instead. They also describe it as relatively slow, which helps. Watch for its fast incendiary mortar and brace once the orange patches appear. In later phases it drops explosive barrels behind it; shoot them with swivels as it sails away.
HMS Prince
A mortar ship that plays hide and seek. Stay at medium range and trade broadsides while it is visible. Guides describe it running into the fog after losing each health segment and shelling you with mortars. They differ on the answer: some say to ride out the barrage until it reappears, others to sail on an angle to cut it off rather than straight at it. Either way, keep moving and brace for the barrages.
HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign
Two Man-o-Wars at once. Guides note each has less health than a solo Legendary Ship. Do not sail between them. Pass along one side, drop barrels, fire broadsides and mortars, and chain shot one ship to split them up. Guides agree that sinking one first sets the other ablaze and makes it far more aggressive, so wear both down evenly and finish them close together. One guide adds that neither can be boarded, so there is no mid-fight repair.
What You Get
Per Ubisoft, each win rewards “unique cosmetic skins for The Jackdaw, for the figurehead, hull, wheel, and sails.” Guides also report 12,000 Reales and a ship model per encounter. Beating all of them unlocks the Devil of the Caribbean achievement.
Guides also describe a newer Man-o-War, the HMS Ipswich, fought once at the end of the endgame chapter A World Without Gold. It does not respawn. Guides say its armor shrugs off most attacks and that shooting its own fire barrels with your swivels is the way to damage it.
For more of the series, see our Assassin’s Creed Shadows guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Legendary Ships are in Black Flag Resynced? Ubisoft lists four encounters and five ships, since HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign fight together. Guides also describe the story-only HMS Ipswich.
Why can’t I find the Legendary Ships? Capture the fort in each corner region first. Guides agree the Legendary Ship markers appear only after that.
Do Legendary Ships respawn? Yes. Ubisoft says they respawn after a while, so you can refight them for their rewards.
Do you still get Ram Dash for beating them? No. Ram Dash now comes from recruiting the Padre much earlier. The Legendary Ships reward cosmetics, Reales and a ship model instead.