Crafting in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is the system that upgrades Edward Kenway’s personal gear — not his ship. It is how you increase his maximum health, unlock extra pistol holsters, expand your ammo pouches, improve your darts, and boost your carrying capacity. Everything in the crafting menu requires animal skins and parts collected by hunting on land or harpooning sea creatures. There is no skill tree in this game. Crafting is your only path to making Edward stronger on foot.
This guide explains how crafting works from start to finish: how to access the menu, the three resource types, what you can craft, how to hunt and harpoon efficiently, and the fastest ways to get every material without spending hours grinding.
TL;DR — Crafting Quick Summary
- Crafting upgrades Edward’s personal gear, not the Jackdaw — ship upgrades are handled at the Harbourmaster.
- Crafting unlocks after completing This Tyro Captain in Sequence 3.
- Access the crafting menu via Inventory > Crafting (marked by a hammer and anvil icon).
- All crafting requires Wildlife Products — skins, pelts, and parts from land and sea animals.
- There are three resource types in the game: Materials (ship upgrades), Trade Goods (sell for Reales), and Wildlife Products (crafting).
- There are 17 crafting upgrades total across 7 categories, requiring 46 animal products — 26 from land and 20 from harpooning.
- Land animals are hunted and skinned. Sea creatures are harpooned from a rowboat — five species in total.
- Every land animal kill has a chance to drop a Bone — a secondary currency you can exchange at General Stores for any animal skin you are missing.
- You can buy animal skins directly from the Great Inagua General Store using Bones, no hunting required — once the store is upgraded.
- Equip the Exotic Sea Shells trinket (found in Havana) before hunting — it doubles all wildlife product yields from both land hunting and harpooning.
- Rope Dart crafting upgrades unlock in Sequence 3. Sleep and Berserk Dart upgrades unlock in Sequence 4 after reaching Tulum.
- Do not sell extra animal skins — some shop purchases require them as trade-in on top of Reales.
Crafting vs Ship Upgrades — What Is the Difference?
Black Flag Resynced splits its upgrade economy into two completely separate systems, and confusing them wastes time and resources.
- Crafting — upgrades Edward Kenway’s personal gear. It uses Wildlife Products (animal skins and parts). You do this from the Inventory menu.
- Ship Upgrades — upgrades the Jackdaw. They use Materials (Wood, Metal, Cloth) and Reales. You do this at any Harbourmaster while docked.
The two systems share nothing. Boards and metals you farm from boarding ships go exclusively to ship upgrades. Animal skins you collect from hunting go exclusively to crafting Edward’s gear. Keep that separation in mind and you will never waste resources on the wrong category.
For a full breakdown of the ship upgrade system, see our ship upgrade and customisation guide. For how to farm the wood and metal those upgrades need, see our metal and wood farming guide.
How to Access the Crafting Menu
Open your Inventory menu during gameplay. Navigate to the Crafting tab, which is marked by a hammer and anvil icon. Inside, you will see all available crafting upgrades laid out in rows by category. Each upgrade shows the required animal materials and whether you currently have enough to craft it.
The crafting menu becomes available after completing This Tyro Captain in Sequence 3. Before that point, you will not be able to access it even if you have animal skins in your inventory.
The Three Resource Types in Black Flag Resynced
The game has three distinct resource categories. Understanding each one saves a lot of confusion.
Materials
Wood, Metal, and Cloth. Gathered by attacking, boarding, and looting enemy ships, and by raiding warehouses across the Caribbean. These feed exclusively into Jackdaw ship upgrades at the Harbourmaster. They have no crafting function for Edward’s personal gear.
Trade Goods
Sugar, Rum, Tobacco, Spice, and similar commodities. Gathered by looting enemy ships, raiding warehouses, and opening crates. They have no crafting function at all. Their sole purpose is to be sold at General Stores or the Harbourmaster to convert into Reales. Think of them as floating currency you collect during normal piracy and cash in at the next port.
Wildlife Products
Skins, pelts, hides, and sea creature parts. Gathered exclusively by hunting land animals or harpooning sea creatures. These feed exclusively into crafting upgrades for Edward’s personal gear. This is what the crafting menu runs on entirely.
What Can You Craft? — All 17 Upgrade Categories
There are 17 crafting upgrades total across 7 categories, requiring 46 animal products in total — 26 from land animals and 20 from harpooning. Everything in the crafting menu improves Edward’s on-foot capabilities. Here is a breakdown of each upgrade category and what it does.
Health Upgrades
These expand Edward’s maximum health pool, letting him survive more hits before going down. The first health upgrade requires Iguana Leather and is available as soon as you reach Abaco Island early in the game. Crafting it gives an immediate 25% health increase — one of the best early investments you can make. Additional health upgrades require progressively rarer sea creature materials, including Hammerhead Shark Bones for one of the mid-tier tiers.
For more detail on how healing works alongside the health upgrade system, see our healing and max health guide.
Pistol Holsters
Edward starts with one pistol slot. You can craft three additional holsters, bringing the total to four pistols carried at once. Having four pistols completely changes how combat flows — instead of firing once and reloading mid-fight, you can chain four shots in rapid succession, which is especially devastating against groups during boarding actions. All three extra holsters can be crafted before the end of Sequence 4 if you have the materials. This is one of the highest-value early crafting investments in the game.
Pistol Ammunition Pouches
Expands how much pistol ammunition Edward can carry. The first upgrade uses Wild Pig hides, which are available on Cape Bonavista right at the start of the open world — making this one of the earliest upgrades you can grab. Without these upgrades you run low on pistol rounds quickly when fighting groups or during extended boarding actions.
Smoke Bomb Pouches
Expands how many Smoke Bombs Edward can carry. Smoke Bombs are one of Edward’s strongest crowd-control tools in Resynced — you can throw one and chain assassinations on blinded enemies, or shoot a pistol into the smoke to trigger an explosive blast. Getting extra capacity early means you always have them available when you need them most.
Rope Dart Upgrades
The Rope Dart is available from Sequence 3 — much earlier than in the original 2013 game where it only appeared in Sequence 11. Crafting upgrades for it reduce its cooldown and extend how long enemies stay incapacitated after being pulled. Given how useful the Rope Dart is for pulling enemies off high ground, setting up chain kills, and creating distractions, upgrading it early is worth the material cost.
Blowpipe Dart Upgrades (Sleep and Berserk)
Sleep Darts and Berserk Darts both unlock after completing Sequence 4 and reaching Tulum during the mission Overrun and Outnumbered. Once available, you can craft upgrades that extend how long Sleep Darts keep targets unconscious and boost the duration and effect of Berserk Darts. These matter a lot in stealth-heavy sections and assassination missions.
Dart Capacity Upgrades
A separate upgrade category that increases how many total blowpipe darts Edward can carry across both Sleep and Berserk types. Craft these after you have the dart upgrades themselves — having more darts in reserve matters most in the longer stealth missions and assassination contract sequences where resupply isn’t available.
How to Get Wildlife Products — Hunting Land Animals
Land animals are the primary source of crafting materials. The game marks every animal location on your map — even rare ones like the White Jaguar — so you do not need to wander blindly looking for them. Every island has its own set of animals tied to its region. For a full map of where every friendly and huntable animal spawns, see our all animal locations guide.
When you arrive on an island, sync the Viewpoint first. This reveals all collectible and animal icons on your map, making it easy to plan your hunt efficiently before going on foot.
How to Hunt Land Animals
- Most land animals can be hunted and skinned after you kill them with any weapon — swords, pistols, blowpipe, or rope dart.
- Monkeys are an exception. They spend most of their time in the treetops. Shoot them down first, then skin them once they are on the ground.
- After killing an animal, approach the body and press the interact button to skin it. The pelt or hide goes directly into your inventory.
- Each land animal also has a chance to drop a Bone when skinned. Bones are not used for crafting directly — they act as a secondary currency for the General Store (more on this below).
The Exotic Sea Shells Trinket — Double All Wildlife Yields
Before you go on any dedicated hunting or harpooning run, equip the Exotic Sea Shells trinket. It is found inside a Special Chest in a small courtyard in Havana and doubles all wildlife product yields from both land hunting and harpooning. This single item effectively cuts your total hunting time in half across all 46 required materials. Always have it equipped before you skin any animal or collect harpooning rewards.
The Sleep Dart Trick
Once you unlock Sleep Darts in Sequence 4, use them to knock out small land animals like monkeys and deer before skinning them. Sleep Darts make collecting Bones significantly easier — the animal goes down cleanly, you get the full loot, and you do not waste pistol ammunition. This is especially useful when you need Bones quickly to trade at the General Store for rarer materials.
How to Get Wildlife Products — Harpooning Sea Creatures
Sea animal parts are needed for some of the most valuable crafting upgrades — particularly the higher-tier health upgrades. Harpooning is the only way to get them unless you buy them with Bones at the General Store. There are five harpooning species in total: Bull Sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, Great White Sharks, Killer Whales, and Humpback Whales — each providing different crafting materials.
Harpooning becomes available after Sequence 3. Look for harpooning activity icons on your world map. Sail toward the marked position until the 3D marker appears on the water surface, then interact with it to board your rowboat and start the activity.
How Harpooning Works
- Once in the rowboat, throw harpoons at the circling sea animal to deplete its health.
- After your first hit, the animal will begin pulling the rowboat at speed, making aiming harder. Lead your throws to compensate.
- Some sea creatures fight back — Great White Sharks in particular are aggressive. Killer Whales make unpredictable sharp turns and can dive underwater between surfacings. Stay focused and aim a little ahead of the target’s movement.
- Once the creature’s health is depleted, you collect its parts automatically as a reward.
- Avoid harpooning at night — some animals are harder to spot in the dark, and aggressive species become harder to track when they attack.
Upgrading the Fisherman’s Wharf at Great Inagua (costs 5,000 Reales) doubles the amount of skins and parts you collect from each harpooning session — one of the most efficient hideout upgrades for players who want to minimise harpooning trips. Build it before you start tackling the harder species like Great Whites and Killer Whales. See our Great Inagua upgrades guide for the full building order.
All Five Sea Animal Locations
- Bull Sharks: Northwest of Great Inagua. Easiest of the five — recommended as your first harpooning target.
- Hammerhead Sharks: Found in several mid-Caribbean locations. Slightly harder than Bull Sharks but still manageable without rowboat upgrades. Provide Hammerhead Bones used in a mid-tier health upgrade.
- Great White Sharks: Cruz Sea, east of Grand Cayman. Aggressive and require upgraded harpoons and rowboat armor to handle safely.
- Killer Whales: Southern Caribbean. The most unpredictable harpooning target — they make sharp turns and dive between attacks. Take your time and aim ahead of their movement.
- Humpback Whales: Southeast of Kingston. The largest target and easiest to hit, but requires later-game progression to access their zone comfortably.
The Bone System — Skip the Hunt When You Need To
Bones are the most useful shortcut in the crafting economy. Every land animal you skin has a chance to drop a Bone as an extra item. These are not used in crafting recipes directly. Instead, they act as a secondary currency that you spend at General Stores to buy animal skins and parts without having to hunt for them.
At the General Store, each animal part costs between 3 and 5 Bones depending on rarity. You can also buy Bones themselves from the Treasure Dealer at Great Inagua for 1,000 Reales each — expensive, but fast if you have spare gold.
The system works both ways:
- Hunt common land animals easily and collect their Bones.
- Spend those Bones at the General Store to buy whatever rarer skins you actually need for your next upgrade.
- This means you almost never need to chase a specific rare animal directly — hunt what is closest, collect Bones, and trade for what you want.
Important: You need to upgrade the Great Inagua General Store to access every pelt in the game. Each upgrade level unlocks more exotic materials for purchase. At Level 3, all animal products are available. Prioritise building and upgrading the General Store early at your hideout.
Tips to Get Every Crafting Material Fast
- Equip Exotic Sea Shells before every hunt. This Havana trinket doubles all wildlife product yields from land hunting and harpooning. It is the single most impactful crafting efficiency tool in the game — never skin or harpoon without it.
- Hunt passively while exploring. Every island has animal icons on the map after syncing the Viewpoint. Clear them while you are already visiting for other reasons rather than making dedicated hunting trips.
- Upgrade Great Inagua’s General Store first. Once fully upgraded, you can buy any animal skin using Bones. This effectively means hunting any common animal gives you access to any material in the game through the trade system.
- Build the Fisherman’s Wharf before harpooning harder species. It costs 5,000 Reales and doubles your sea creature loot per session. Do this before you start farming Great Whites or Killer Whales — combined with the Exotic Sea Shells trinket, you can collect four times the normal yield per harpooning run.
- Use Sleep Darts for small animals. Knock out deer, monkeys, and similar animals safely before skinning — avoids chases, gives clean kills, and maximises Bone collection.
- Do not sell extra skins. Some shop purchases in the game require animal skins as a trade-in on top of Reales. Selling off every spare pelt leaves you short when these purchase windows come up. Hold onto surplus materials until you are certain you will not need them.
- Craft pistol holsters early. Getting all four pistols active before the end of Sequence 4 transforms combat. It is one of the fastest crafting returns in the early game.
- Collect Iguana Leather on Abaco Island. The first health upgrade is available right at the start of the open world. Two Iguana skins give you a 25% health boost — do this immediately and you will notice the difference in every fight that follows.
What Carries Over Into the Treasure Dealer
Once you build the Treasure Dealer stall at Great Inagua, all three resource types — Materials, Trade Goods, and Wildlife Products — can also be exchanged there for trinkets with unique perks, outfits, and ship cosmetics. This gives your surplus animal skins a secondary use beyond crafting upgrades, but complete Edward’s full craft list before spending materials at the Dealer.
For a full picture of the Great Inagua hideout and what to build first, see our Great Inagua upgrades guide, which covers every building, unlock cost, and the best order to tackle them.
Get the Game
More AC Black Flag Resynced Guides
- How to Upgrade and Customise Your Ship
- How to Heal and Increase Max Health
- How to Farm Metal and Wood
- All Animal Locations
- Great Inagua Hideout Upgrades Guide
- Beginner Tips
- Forts Guide
- All Treasure Map Locations
- All Main and Side Missions List
- How to Fast Travel
- How to Enable Advanced Parkour
- Blackbeard’s Treasure Map Walkthrough
- Havana Scarecrows Treasure Guide
- Shanties — How to Get and Change Songs
- How to Use Photo Mode
- PC System Requirements
Frequently Asked Questions
When does crafting unlock in AC Black Flag Resynced?
Crafting becomes available after completing This Tyro Captain in Sequence 3. Before that mission, the crafting menu is inaccessible even if you already have animal skins in your inventory.
Where is the crafting menu?
Open your Inventory menu and navigate to the Crafting tab, marked by a hammer and anvil icon. All available upgrades and their material requirements are listed there.
What is the difference between crafting and ship upgrades?
Crafting upgrades Edward’s personal gear using animal skins and Wildlife Products. Ship upgrades improve the Jackdaw using Wood, Metal, Cloth, and Reales purchased at any Harbourmaster. The two systems are completely separate and share no materials.
What are Bones used for in Black Flag Resynced?
Bones are a secondary currency dropped by land animals when you skin them. You spend them at General Stores to buy any animal skin you are missing, including rare ones you would otherwise need to hunt specifically. The Great Inagua General Store must be upgraded to unlock access to all available skins.
What is the best crafting upgrade to get first?
The first health upgrade using Iguana Leather on Abaco Island. It gives an immediate 25% maximum health boost and requires only a couple of common Iguana skins. After that, prioritise the pistol holsters — getting all four pistol slots active before the end of Sequence 4 changes combat significantly.
Do I need to hunt animals or can I buy materials?
Both. You can hunt animals directly or earn Bones from hunting any common land animal, then trade those Bones at the Great Inagua General Store for any specific skin you need. This is the fastest method once the General Store is fully upgraded, as it removes the need to chase specific rare animals across the map. Before any hunting or harpooning session, equip the Exotic Sea Shells trinket from Havana — it doubles all wildlife yields and cuts total farming time significantly.
When do Sleep and Berserk Dart upgrades unlock?
Both become available after completing Sequence 4 and reaching Tulum during the mission Overrun and Outnumbered. After that point, their upgrade options appear in the crafting menu and can be purchased with the required animal materials.
How many animals can you harpoon in Black Flag Resynced?
There are five harpooning species in total: Bull Sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, Great White Sharks, Killer Whales, and Humpback Whales. Together they provide the 20 sea-animal materials required to complete all 17 crafting upgrades. Build the Fisherman’s Wharf at Great Inagua (5,000 Reales) before tackling the harder species — it doubles what you collect per session.
