To repair your ship in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, pay a Harbourmaster in port to fix the Jackdaw, or disable and board an enemy ship and choose Repair once its crew surrenders. The Jackdaw also heals a little on its own outside combat, but only within its current health segment, so real damage usually needs one of those two.
Below we cover how the Jackdaw’s health works in the remake, both repair methods and when to use each, and the upgrades and officer that cut how often you need repairs at all.
How the Jackdaw’s Health Works
The Jackdaw’s health bar is split into segments. Ubisoft’s naval deep dive describes repairs in those terms, and player guides count three segments on the bar. That structure explains most of the confusion around repairs:
- Passive healing kicks in when you are out of combat, but guides agree it only refills the segment you are currently in. Lose two full segments and they stay lost until you repair properly.
- Boarding repairs round your health up to the next segment.
- Harbourmaster repairs restore the whole bar.
One more free source: guides report that the Jackdaw is fully repaired after main story missions and some other activities, so check your health bar after a quest before paying for anything.
How to Repair at a Harbourmaster
This is the full fix, and the one to use after a bad fight.
- Sail to a major settlement with a Harbourmaster on its docks. Guides list Nassau, Salt Key Bank and Great Inagua among them.
- Talk to the Harbourmaster and choose the repair option.
- Pay the Reales fee. Guides describe it as scaling with how much damage you have taken.
While you are there, top up your ammunition: guides note that limited-ammo weapons such as heavy shot and mortars restock at the same counter. The Harbourmaster is also where you buy ship upgrades, which we cover below.
How to Repair by Boarding an Enemy Ship
Boarding is the only way to repair in the middle of a fight, and it pays you in loot at the same time. Ubisoft’s naval deep dive walks through the steps:
- Disable the target. Wear its health down with cannons until it is crippled rather than sunk.
- Come in close and board it with your crew.
- Break its morale. Take out the remaining crew or cut down the ship’s flags until it surrenders.
- Choose Repair. Per Ubisoft, “Repairing the Jackdaw will use the ship’s resources to round up your ship’s health back to the nearest health bar segment.”
Repair is one of several choices at the end of a boarding. You can instead lower your wanted level to keep Pirate Hunters off your tail, send the ship to Kenway’s Fleet, or grab the captain’s lockbox on larger ships. Pick Repair when you are low and more enemies are still in the area, such as during a convoy raid. Ubisoft also warns that boarding battles cost crew, so a string of boardings wears down your numbers even as it heals the hull.
Before you board, it helps to scout. Our guide to using Eagle Vision in Black Flag Resynced covers Observe and the spyglass.
How to Take Less Damage (and Repair Less Often)
The cheapest repair is the one you never need. Four things make the biggest difference:
- Brace. Hold X on Xbox, Square on PS5 or Space on PC (the defaults in the launch control lists) to cut incoming damage from a broadside you cannot dodge.
- Recruit Lucy Baldwin. She is one of the three new officers, and per Ubisoft she unlocks Perfect Brace, which will “almost completely nullify incoming damage” if you time the brace correctly. Guides report her quest, A Proper Shipwright, becomes available after Sequence 4.
- Upgrade the hull. Harbourmasters sell upgrades that, in Ubisoft’s words, “bolster defense against other ships.” Guides note that hull armor raises maximum health, which makes each segment tougher. Collectible guides place the Hull Armor Ultimate Plan, needed for the final tier, in an underwater chest in the San Ignacio shipwreck.
- Upgrade the Harbourmaster building at Great Inagua. Once you unlock your Hideout, its Harbourmaster building has three levels, and Ubisoft says each one increases “the number and tier of upgrades you can purchase for the Jackdaw.” If the top hull tiers are missing from the shop, this is why.
If fights still drain your Reales, lower the difficulty: Ubisoft says your difficulty choice changes how much damage enemy ships and forts deal and how often enemy ships can ram.
The Hideout system will feel familiar if you played Assassin’s Creed Shadows, where buildings are also paid for with gathered resources; our guide to getting resources in AC Shadows covers that version, and the Assassin’s Creed Shadows guides hub lists the rest of our series coverage.
Keeping Kenway’s Fleet Repaired
Captured ships you send to Kenway’s Fleet have their own health. Ubisoft’s deep dive warns that an underpowered ship sent on the wrong mission may be destroyed, and that “keeping your fleet repaired between missions is just as important as expanding it.” You manage the fleet from your Great Inagua Hideout, so check its ships whenever you stop in to repair the Jackdaw.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you repair the Jackdaw during a fight? Only by boarding. Disable an enemy ship, board it, break its crew’s morale and choose Repair, which rounds your health up to the next segment. Harbourmaster repairs happen in port.
Does the Jackdaw heal on its own? Slowly, and only outside combat. Guides agree passive healing stops at the top of your current health segment, so it will not recover segments you have fully lost.
How much does a Harbourmaster repair cost? It costs Reales, and guides report the price scales with the damage you have taken. It is the only method that restores the full bar in one go.
Why can’t I buy the best hull upgrades? The higher upgrade tiers need the Harbourmaster building at your Great Inagua Hideout upgraded, and the final hull tier also needs the Hull Armor Ultimate Plan.
Which officer helps most with damage? Lucy Baldwin. Her Perfect Brace nearly cancels incoming damage when you brace at the right moment, which can save a lot of Reales on repairs.