How to farm Metal and Wood in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is something every player needs to figure out early. These two materials are essential for upgrading the Jackdaw, and without them, you will struggle in naval combat throughout the Caribbean.
TL;DR
- Board ships instead of sinking them — you get the full cargo every time.
- Use the Spyglass to check what a ship is carrying before you engage.
- Head to Serranilla in the south for Brigs and Frigates loaded with Metal.
- Capture Forts to get large one-time Metal payouts of up to 600 units.
- Send Brigs on Kenway’s Fleet Piracy missions for passive material income.
- Raid Warehouses repeatedly — they restock every two hours.
- Always take the Captain’s Lockbox when boarding Frigates and Man-o’-Wars for a bonus Reales payout.
- Never sell Metal, Wood, or Cloth — only sell Trade Goods like Rum and Sugar.
What Are Metal and Wood Used For?
Metal and Wood are ship upgrade materials in AC Black Flag Resynced. They are used exclusively at the Harbourmaster to improve the Jackdaw’s cannons, hull, armor, mortar, and other components. They have no use for Edward’s personal gear — that system uses animal skins and wildlife products instead.
To fully upgrade the Jackdaw, you need a total of 4,755 Metal, 2,750 Wood, and 550 Cloth, alongside 315,800 Reales and 12 Ultimate Ship Plans. That is a lot of farming, so it pays to know the fastest routes. For a full breakdown of the upgrade system and all 12 Ultimate Plan locations, see our Jackdaw ship upgrade and customisation guide and our Ultimate Plans locations guide.
The Golden Rule — Always Board, Never Sink
This is the single most important rule for farming any material in the game. Boarding a ship gives you the full cargo amount. Sinking it only gives you half. A ship carrying 180 Metal will drop only 90 units if it goes down in open water. Always board when you can.
Use your Spyglass before engaging any ship. Press down on the Right Stick while sailing the Jackdaw and move the cursor over a nearby vessel. You will see exactly what it is carrying — Metal, Wood, Rum, Sugar, and more. Only chase ships that have what you need. This saves time and keeps naval combat efficient.
When boarding Frigates and Man-o’-Wars, look for the Captain’s Lockbox option after winning the deck fight. This rewards a significant bonus of around 5,500 Reales on top of the ship’s cargo — always take it when it appears. It adds up fast across a farming session.
Best Way to Farm Metal in AC Black Flag Resynced
Target Brigs and Frigates in Serranilla
The Serranilla region in the south of the map is the best farming location for Metal. The further south you sail, the harder the ships and the more cargo they carry. Brigs in this area hold around 60 units of Metal each, while Frigates carry between 90 and 110 units per capture. They are tough but manageable once your Jackdaw has basic upgrades.
Use your Mortars to weaken targets from a distance before pulling alongside to fire a broadside volley. When boarding, use the swivel gun to hit explosive barrels on the enemy deck and clear out defenders quickly.
Hunt Four-Star Man-o’-Wars
If your Jackdaw is well upgraded, four-star Man-o’-War warships are the biggest single-haul targets. Ships like the HMS Invincible and HMS Dragon carry between 150 and 180 units of Metal in one capture. Use the Elite Mortar upgrade to chip away at their health from outside their firing range, then move in to board once they are disabled. Approach from behind to deny their broadsides and use a combination of mortars and cannon fire to bring them down safely.
Do not bother with five-star warships for resource farming. They are much tougher to take down and often carry less Metal than the four-star variants, so the effort is not worth it.
Farm Pirate Hunters When Your Wanted Level Is High
Every time you sink multiple ships in a short period, your Wanted Level increases and Pirate Hunter ships come after you. These hunters are actually great for resources. They spawn in pairs and carry around 55 to 80 units of Metal each. When you board one, the second ship stops firing, giving you a clear window to finish the boarding action safely.
A fast method here is to use the Ram Dash ability (unlocked through the Padre’s Officer questline) to destroy small Schooners quickly and raise your Wanted Level fast. Then board the Pirate Hunters that respond for a solid Metal payout.
For an advanced farming technique, sail to a captured fort — such as Serranilla or Charlotte — and anchor just inside its protective firing radius. When Hunter ships spawn and approach, the fort’s heavy mortar fire will heavily damage them for you, leaving them weakened and easy to board. This is one of the most efficient high-volume Metal farming loops in the game, especially once your Wanted Level is maxed at four red crossed swords, which spawns Hunter Man-o’-Wars and Frigates — the highest-density Metal carriers in the game.
Best Way to Farm Wood in AC Black Flag Resynced
Board Any Ship — Wood Is Very Common
Wood drops from almost every ship in the game and is generally easier to collect than Metal. The same boarding rules apply — use the Spyglass, check cargo, and board instead of sink. Smaller ships like Schooners and light Brigs in the northern waters drop decent amounts of Wood even early in the game.
Loot Floating Cargo
While sailing, you will spot floating crates and debris in the water. Sail close to these and the Loot prompt appears automatically. Floating cargo can contain Wood, so collecting it as you travel between destinations is a quick and free bonus with no combat required.
Destroy Small Gunboats
Gunboats are small vessels that cannot be boarded. Sink them and then loot the supplies they leave floating in the water. While the yield per gunboat is small, clearing them out on your way across the map adds up over time and costs very little effort.
How to Farm Cloth in AC Black Flag Resynced
Cloth is the third ship upgrade material and is needed in smaller quantities than Metal or Wood (550 total), but it is also less common. The best sources are:
- Boarding Schooners and Brigs — Cloth appears regularly in their cargo alongside Wood. Check the Spyglass for Cloth-carrying ships in mid-tier regions.
- Kenway’s Fleet Piracy missions — Brigs on Piracy routes return Cloth alongside Metal and Wood as passive income.
- Warehouse raids — Warehouses often contain Cloth alongside other materials in each raid batch.
As with Metal and Wood, never sell Cloth. It is a Jackdaw upgrade material and has no other use, but running low on it late game when you need final hull or crew upgrades is a frustrating bottleneck.
Capture Forts for a Large Metal Payout
Every Fort you capture in AC Black Flag Resynced pays out a large chunk of Metal as a one-time reward. Higher-tier Forts can give you up to 600 units of Metal in a single capture. That is a massive early boost that no amount of ship boarding can match for speed.
Capturing Forts also unlocks new mission regions for Kenway’s Fleet, which opens up passive income from material farming missions. Prioritize Forts early in your playthrough for both the payout and the strategic advantage — start with the three easiest ones at Gibara, Eleuthera, and Dry Tortuga. For the full breakdown, see our guide on how to capture Forts and our full Forts locations guide.
Use Kenway’s Fleet for Passive Material Farming
Kenway’s Fleet unlocks after completing the Sequence 4 mission This Old Cove. Once active, you can send captured ships on timed missions that bring back Reales, Metal, Wood, and other materials while you explore the open world.
Brigs are the best ship type for material farming. Send them on Piracy missions and they will bring back Metal, Wood, and Cloth alongside trade goods. Schooners are better deployed on trade routes for passive Reales. Keep at least four or five Brigs active in your Fleet running Piracy missions to generate a steady passive supply of upgrade materials.
You can access the Fleet planning table from inside the Captain’s Cabin on the Jackdaw or from the Villa at Great Inagua. Capture forts to unlock more regions and higher-value missions. For more detail on building the most profitable fleet setup, see our Kenway’s Fleet guide and our guide to adding ships to Kenway’s Fleet.
Raid Warehouses Repeatedly
There are 9 Warehouse locations in AC Black Flag Resynced, all found at plantations across the Caribbean. Each one contains a large stock of materials and trade goods. To raid a Warehouse, you need a Warehouse Key found on an enemy somewhere on the plantation.
Warehouses reset on a two-hour real-time cooldown after each raid, making them a repeatable source of materials. If you complete the raid without triggering an alarm, you also earn a bonus Reales payout. First clears can also reward Paintings for the Great Inagua Manor collection. You can speed up the cooldown by sending Frigates on Scout missions in Kenway’s Fleet. For more on getting inside, check our Warehouse Key and sugarcane yields guide.
Salvage Ships You Do Not Need
If your Kenway’s Fleet docks are full and you capture another ship, you can choose to salvage it for a small material return instead of sending it to the fleet. While this is not a primary farming method, it keeps your roster clean and gives you a trickle of Metal and Wood whenever you are flush with captured vessels you do not need.
Tips to Farm Metal and Wood Faster
- Never sell Metal, Wood, or Cloth. These three are Jackdaw upgrade materials. Only sell Trade Goods — Rum, Sugar, Spice, and Tobacco — for Reales. Running short on any upgrade material late in the game is a painful bottleneck that is completely avoidable.
- Always use the Spyglass first. Scan every nearby ship before attacking. Only chase ships with the material you actually need.
- Always take the Captain’s Lockbox. When boarding Frigates and Man-o’-Wars, the Captain’s Lockbox option gives around 5,500 Reales on top of the cargo. Never skip it.
- Stay in Serranilla for Metal. The southern difficulty tier means bigger cargo on every ship.
- Use the fort anchor farming loop. Max your Wanted Level, sail to a captured fort, and let the fort’s mortars weaken incoming Hunter ships for easy boarding runs without spending your own ammunition.
- Capture Forts as early as possible. Start with Gibara, Eleuthera, and Dry Tortuga. The one-time Metal payout from each Fort is enormous and hard to replicate through normal combat.
- Keep Brigs running Kenway’s Fleet Piracy missions at all times. Even a small passive drip of materials adds up fast between play sessions.
- Do not neglect floating cargo. It costs nothing to grab and adds Wood and Cloth totals on every sailing route.
For everything else you can do once you have fully upgraded the Jackdaw, check our guide on what to do after the main story in AC Black Flag Resynced.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to farm Metal in AC Black Flag Resynced?
The fastest active method is boarding Brigs and Frigates in the Serranilla region in the south. Brigs carry around 60 units and Frigates carry 90 to 110 units each. Always board rather than sink to get the full cargo. If you want the single biggest haul per ship, target four-star Man-o’-Wars, which carry 150 to 180 units. For a high-volume loop, max your Wanted Level and anchor near a captured fort — the fort’s mortars weaken Hunter ships for easy boarding.
How do I get Wood fast in AC Black Flag Resynced?
Board any enemy ship rather than sinking it — almost all ships drop Wood. Collect floating cargo as you sail, and destroy small Gunboats and loot what they leave behind. Wood is more common than Metal, so general naval combat fills your stock fairly quickly.
Does boarding always give more materials than sinking?
Yes. Sinking a ship only gives you about half the cargo. Boarding and winning the deck battle gives you the full amount every time. Never sink a ship you planned to farm for materials.
Can Kenway’s Fleet bring back Metal and Wood?
Yes. Brigs sent on Piracy missions in Kenway’s Fleet return with materials including Metal, Wood, and Cloth. Schooners are better for passive Reales on trade routes. Keep Brigs deployed on Piracy missions at all times for a steady material supply.
Do Warehouses give Metal and Wood in AC Black Flag Resynced?
Yes. Raiding Warehouses gives a batch of crafting materials and trade goods. They have a two-hour cooldown per raid and can be farmed repeatedly throughout the game. There are 9 Warehouses in total across the Caribbean. First clears can also reward Paintings for the Great Inagua Manor art collection.
How much Metal and Wood do I need to fully upgrade the Jackdaw?
Fully upgrading the Jackdaw requires 4,755 Metal, 2,750 Wood, and 550 Cloth in total, alongside 315,800 Reales and 12 Ultimate Ship Plans. Nothing is missable, so you can complete the grind at any point including after the main story ends.
Ready to get back on the water? Pick up AC Black Flag Resynced on Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox, or Epic Games Store.
For more AC Black Flag Resynced guides, see our crafting guide, beginner tips, how to beat all 6 Legendary Ships, Kenway’s Fleet guide, and the full Mayan Stelae locations guide.
