How to Use Healing Items and Increase Max Health in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

Healing Items in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced work very differently compared to the 2013 original. Health does slowly regenerate when you’re completely out of combat, but the rate is so slow that you can’t rely on it in the middle of a fight. That’s where Remedies and crafting upgrades come in. This guide covers everything you need — from refilling your Remedy stock to unlocking every max health upgrade.

• TL;DR
• Remedies are your main healing item. Press Up on the D-Pad to use one during or after combat.
• You start with only 3 Remedies. They don’t refill automatically.
• Refill them by looting dead enemies or buying from a General Store.
• Health regenerates very slowly only when fully out of combat — much slower than the 2013 original.
• Equip a special trinket from a shipwreck to bring back faster passive regeneration.
• Increase your max health via the Crafting menu using Iguana Leather and Shark Bones.
• Each health upgrade adds 25% more HP. Maxing it out doubles your total health pool.
• Food, berries, and drinks found on tables, crates, or wild bushes (highlighted by Eagle Vision) also restore small amounts of health for free.

How Healing Changed in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced vs the Original

If you played the original Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the healing system in Resynced will feel noticeably different. Here’s a quick side-by-side to help you understand what changed:

The key takeaway is this: health does regenerate in Resynced, but only when you are completely out of combat, and it’s very slow. In the original game, you’d duck behind a wall, break line of sight, and watch your health tick back up at a decent pace. In Resynced, that regen is so sluggish that you really can’t count on it in any serious situation. Remedies and crafting upgrades are what actually carry you through the game.

How to Use Healing Items (Remedies) in Black Flag Resynced

To use a Remedy in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, press Up on the D-Pad on PlayStation or Xbox. On PC, check your keybindings for the consumable use button.

You start the game with three Remedies in your inventory. That’s your total supply at the beginning. Once they run out, they don’t come back on their own. A lot of players get caught off guard by this early on.

The big upgrade over the original? You can now use Remedies in the middle of combat. In the 2013 version you had to disengage from the fight first. In Resynced you can patch yourself up between enemy hits, which makes tougher encounters far more survivable once you know this.

Want to get more out of every early fight? Check our AC Black Flag Resynced beginner tips for more advice on surviving the early game.

How to Refill Healing Items in AC Black Flag Resynced

There are two main ways to restock your Remedies:

• Loot defeated enemies — After combat, check the bodies of fallen guards and soldiers. They often drop Remedies, making post-fight looting a good habit.
• Buy from a General Store — Any General Store across the Caribbean sells Remedies directly. This is the most reliable method and works at any major island hub.

General Stores are available in most major locations including Nassau, Havana, and Kingston. If you’re planning to explore smaller, more remote islands, stock up on Remedies before you leave a big hub. Running dry mid-mission is not a situation you want to be in.

You can grab the game on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store, or Xbox if you haven’t picked it up yet.

Other Ways to Heal in Black Flag Resynced

Remedies aren’t your only option. The game has a few extra healing sources that are easy to overlook.

Food, Drinks, and Berries

Scattered around the world are interactable food items, drinks, and wild berries. These are found on tables, crates, and wild bushes in towns and across islands. When Edward’s health bar isn’t full, interacting with them restores a small amount of health.

The easiest way to spot them is with Eagle Vision — it highlights these interactable objects so you don’t walk past them. It’s not a dramatic heal, but it’s completely free and saves your Remedies for actual combat situations.

Out-of-Combat Health Regeneration

Edward does regenerate health passively in Resynced, but only when you are fully out of combat with no enemies actively targeting you. The problem is the rate is very slow. It is nowhere near as fast or practical as the original 2013 game. You’ll feel the difference immediately if you’re coming from the original. It’s there, but don’t count on it to keep you alive in serious fights.

Health Regeneration Trinket (Shipwreck)

If you want faster passive regeneration similar to the original game, you need to find and equip a specific trinket hidden inside a shipwreck location. Once equipped, Edward heals over time at a much more useful rate — no activation required, just wear it.

The exact wreck isn’t marked on your map, so you’ll need to explore underwater shipwreck sites to track it down. Want to get between locations faster while searching? Our AC Black Flag Resynced fast travel guide will help you cut down travel time significantly.

Abyssal Pendant Trinket

The Abyssal Pendant is one of the best survivability trinkets in the game. It restores health every time you kill an enemy, with no special activation condition. Just fight normally and you’ll stay topped up. You can find trinkets through chests, Anomaly Events, quests, and certain vendors across the Caribbean.

Lock of Hair Trinket

The Lock of Hair converts perfect parries into healing. If you’re comfortable landing parries consistently during combat, this trinket essentially lets you heal through aggression rather than spending Remedies. It pairs well with a more technical combat style.

How to Increase Max Health in AC Black Flag Resynced

Keeping your Remedies stocked helps in the moment, but the real long-term solution is increasing Edward’s maximum health pool through crafting. More max health means you survive more hits before going down — and on harder difficulties, that’s often the difference between winning and losing a tough fight.

Each health upgrade adds 25% to your maximum health. Max out all four tiers and you’ll have double your starting HP. That’s a massive improvement that carries you through the rest of the game.

How to Open the Crafting Menu

1. Open your Inventory.
2. Navigate to the Crafting option — it’s shown as a small iron ingot icon.
3. On the crafting grid, find and select the healing potion icon on the second row.
4. This shows you all available health upgrades and the exact materials needed for each one.

The crafting system becomes fully available after you progress into Sequence 3, when the game formally introduces you to hunting and crafting mechanics.

All Health Upgrade Levels and Materials Required

Here are all four health upgrade tiers with the exact materials needed for each one:

• Health Upgrade I — x2 Iguana Leather: Hunt Iguanas on Great Inagua near the Villa or on Abaco Island in Eleuthera. One of the easiest upgrades to get early. Adds 25% to your max health.
• Health Upgrade II — x4 Hammerhead Shark Bone: Requires Harpooning. Hammerhead Sharks appear through harpooning events across open waters. Try the seas around Gibara and the Eleuthera region. Adds another 25% to max health.
• Health Upgrade III — x4 Jaguar Pelt: Hunt Jaguars on Sacrifice Island, west of Havana in the Conttoyor Sea. Jaguars are aggressive animals — be ready for a fight. Adds another 25% to max health.
• Health Upgrade IV — x4 Great White Shark Bone: Requires Harpooning. Great White Sharks can be found through harpooning events on the south side of Serranilla, often directly south of the enemy tower. Adds the final 25%, bringing you to double your starting health.

As you can see, the health upgrade chain mixes both land hunting and sea harpooning. It’s not just about hunting island animals — getting your health fully maxed requires you to engage with harpooning properly.

Where to Find the Animals and Sea Creatures You Need

Here are the key locations for animals that directly feed into health upgrades:

• Iguana (Health Upgrade I) — Found on Great Inagua near the Villa, and on Abaco Island in Eleuthera. Easy to find early in the game. Use Eagle Vision to spot them quickly in dense areas.
• Hammerhead Shark (Health Upgrade II) — Harpooning events across open waters. Commonly found in the seas around Gibara and Eleuthera. Visit a Harbormaster to upgrade your harpoon before attempting if you’re struggling.
• Jaguar (Health Upgrade III) — Found on Sacrifice Island, west of Havana in the Conttoyor Sea. Jaguars are hostile and will attack on sight. Shoot them a few times first to drain their health before closing in.
• Great White Shark (Health Upgrade IV) — Harpooning events, commonly on the south side of Serranilla. The Great White moves fast, so make sure your harpoon ammo capacity is upgraded beforehand to avoid running out mid-hunt.

A handy tip for all hunting — always activate Eagle Vision first. It highlights animals in red, making it much easier to spot them in thick jungle or underwater. This is especially useful for smaller targets like Iguanas that are easy to walk past.

If you want to explore these hunting zones faster, you can check our treasure map locations guide which covers many of the same remote islands you’ll be visiting for materials.

Can You Buy Animal Skins Instead of Hunting?

Yes — for certain materials, you can trade animal bones for skins at a General Store. Bones drop as a secondary resource when you skin land animals, and they work almost like a secondary currency. Upgrade the General Store at Great Inagua to higher levels to unlock access to rarer pelts for purchase.

This tip is one that a lot of players miss and it’s genuinely useful, especially if you’re missing one or two skins and don’t want to grind a specific animal. That said, save your bones carefully. They’re also needed for other purchases like the Skeletal Crew armor, which costs 100 bones. Don’t burn through them all on skins alone.

Note: Shark Bones used in Health Upgrades II and IV are sea animal drops from harpooning — these are separate from regular land animal bones and cannot simply be traded for at a store. You will need to actually harpoon Hammerhead and Great White Sharks to get them.

Tips to Stay Alive While You Build Up Your Health

Until you’ve stacked a few health upgrades, the early game can feel punishing. These habits will keep you going:

• Don’t hoard your Remedies. Use them during fights. Dying and replaying a section wastes more time than using a potion.
• Restock at every General Store visit. Make it a habit to top up your Remedies whenever you dock at a major island.
• Prioritize Health Upgrade I immediately. Hunt two Iguanas on Abaco Island or Great Inagua as soon as crafting unlocks. A 25% HP boost this early makes a real difference.
• Upgrade your harpoon before chasing Shark Bones. Visit a Harbormaster and upgrade harpoon damage and ammo capacity before attempting Hammerhead or Great White hunts. It makes the process much smoother.
• Equip the Abyssal Pendant early if you find one. Restoring health on kills keeps your bar topped up through longer combat sequences without spending a single Remedy.
• Use Eagle Vision when exploring towns and islands. It highlights interactable food items and berries that give free health, so you’re never walking past a heal by accident.

Curious how much content is left once you’ve got your health maxed? Check our how long to beat Black Flag Resynced breakdown. You can also browse the full main and side missions list to plan your crafting and hunting around story progression.

If you picked up the Deluxe Edition, some trinkets that help with combat survivability may already be waiting for you. Check our guide on how to claim pre-order and Deluxe Edition items to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

For PC players, make sure the game is running well before jumping into combat-heavy sessions. Our best graphics settings guide and PC requirements page will help. And when you’re sailing between hunting spots, the crew shanties make the trip a lot more enjoyable — here’s how to get and change shanties in Black Flag Resynced.

Frequently Asked Questions