How to Upgrade and Customise Your Ship in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

Upgrading and customising your ship in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is one of the most important things you can do in the game. The Jackdaw starts as a basic brig that struggles against anything bigger than a schooner. Left untouched, you will get outgunned and sunk in the mid-game. Properly upgraded, it becomes one of the most dangerous ships in the Caribbean.

This guide covers everything: how the upgrade system works, where to go, all four upgrade categories, how to unlock higher tiers, how customisation works, how to recruit Officers, what materials you need, and exactly what to buy first.

TL;DR — Ship Upgrades Quick Summary

• Upgrades are bought from the Harbourmaster at any friendly port — you can no longer upgrade from the Captain’s Cabin at sea.
• The upgrade menu unlocks during the Prizes and Plunder mission in Sequence 3.
• Higher upgrade tiers require you to upgrade the Harbourmaster at Great Inagua (500 / 2,500 / 5,000 Reales for each level).
• There are four upgrade categories: Weapons, Ship, Storage, and Harpooning.
• The top three upgrades to buy first: Round and Heated Shot, Broadside Cannons, Armored Hull.
• Materials needed: Reales, Wood, Metal, and Cloth — farmed mainly by boarding enemy ships.
• Always board ships instead of sinking them — sinking gives only a tiny fraction of the resources.
• Cosmetics are changed from the Captain’s Cabin on the Jackdaw or at any Harbourmaster.
• Three new Officers can be recruited — each gives a permanent perk to the Jackdaw.
• Legendary ship cosmetics (sails, hull, figurehead, wheel) are earned by defeating the four Legendary Ships.

How to Unlock Ship Upgrades

You get the Jackdaw early in the story, but the upgrade system does not open up until Sequence 3, during the Prizes and Plunder mission. The game walks you to a Harbourmaster at that point and requires you to buy your first upgrade as part of the tutorial. After that, the upgrade menu is permanently available at any Harbourmaster across the map.

Important change from the 2013 original: In the Resynced remake, ship upgrades can only be purchased at a Harbourmaster while you are docked at a friendly port. The original game let you upgrade from the Captain’s Cabin at sea. That option is gone. If you need upgrades mid-voyage, sail to the nearest friendly port and find the Harbourmaster there — look for the ship icon on your map.

Where to Find the Harbourmaster

Every major settlement in the game has a Harbourmaster. Look for the ship anchor icon on your map when you are in or near a port. Any Harbourmaster gives you access to the full upgrade and customisation menus. Common early locations include Nassau, Salt Key Bank, and Havana.

The most important Harbourmaster in the game is the one at Great Inagua — your personal hideout. This is the only place where you can spend money to unlock higher upgrade tiers for the Jackdaw. More on that below.

How to Unlock Higher Upgrade Tiers — Upgrading the Great Inagua Harbourmaster

When you first visit the upgrade menu, you will notice several upgrades are locked and greyed out. They are not unlocked by story progress alone — you need to upgrade the Harbourmaster at Great Inagua to access them.

Great Inagua becomes your hideout during the This Old Cove mission in Sequence 4. Once you have access to it, go to the docks and speak to the NPC standing beside the Harbourmaster there. You will see options to upgrade the Harbourmaster building itself through three levels:

• Harbourmaster Level I — 500 Reales: Unlocks Tier II Jackdaw upgrades.
• Harbourmaster Level II — 2,500 Reales: Unlocks Tier III upgrades.
• Harbourmaster Level III — 5,000 Reales: Unlocks the full range of Jackdaw upgrades — only Ultimate Plans act as a final barrier after this.

Buy Harbourmaster Level I as soon as you arrive at Great Inagua. It is a cheap investment with an immediate return. Work toward Level II and III as your Reales build up. Do not wait on this — the locked upgrades include some of the most effective improvements in the game.

All Four Upgrade Categories Explained

The Jackdaw upgrade menu is divided into four categories. Here is what each one covers.

Weapons

This category increases the damage output of all the Jackdaw’s offensive systems. Upgrades here cover your broadside cannons (the main port and starboard weapons), round and heated shot ammunition, heavy shot, mortar, front cannons, swivel guns, and rear weapons. The more you invest here, the faster you can disable and board enemy ships.

Resynced also adds new weapons not in the 2013 original:

• Shrapnel Barrels: Unlocked by capturing Fort Charlotte. Fires four barrels at once and creates extra hazards. Best triggered by following up with your Swivel Gun for bonus damage. This is a Hard-tier fort, so you will need a well-upgraded Jackdaw before attempting it.
• Deadman’s Cohort Mortar: A new mortar variant added exclusively to Resynced. It fires with a narrower, more precise pattern — most useful in tight engagements where ships are clustered together. Unlocked through Officer Tobias “Deadman” Smith’s quest.

Ship

This category covers the Jackdaw’s structural improvements and special equipment. It includes hull armour (your health pool in naval combat), broadside cannon count (how many shots fire per volley), crew quarters (crew capacity, which matters for boarding), the Ram (increases collision damage), and the Diving Bell (unlocks deep sea diving for underwater shipwrecks). Most of these upgrades are bought from the Harbourmaster, but the Diving Bell is unlocked through story progression.

Storage

This category expands your ammunition capacity for weapons that have limited rounds — such as heavy shot, mortars, fire barrels, and harpoons. Your round and heated shots and front cannons have unlimited ammo and do not need storage upgrades. Only buy storage upgrades for weapons you are already actively using — buying storage for a weapon you have not upgraded yet is wasted money.

Harpooning

This category improves Edward’s harpooning abilities. When you spot a whale or large shark in the Caribbean, Edward boards a small rowboat and enters a mini-game where you use finite harpoons to kill the creature before it kills you. Harpooning rewards high-value resources used for crafting upgrades to Edward’s personal gear rather than the ship. Upgrading this category improves your harpoon damage and rowboat durability.

What Materials Do You Need?

Most Jackdaw upgrades require a combination of:

• Reales — the main currency, earned from boarding ships, selling loot, completing quests, and looting chests.
• Wood — dropped from boarding and sinking ships.
• Metal — dropped from boarding and sinking ships, especially larger vessels.
• Cloth — dropped from ships and available at plantations.

Late-game upgrades also require Ultimate Plans — rare blueprints found in underwater shipwrecks (accessed via the Diving Bell), inside buried treasure chests from treasure maps, and as rewards from certain quests. The Harbourmaster menu will show you exactly which plan is needed for each locked upgrade. For the full treasure map list, see our treasure map locations guide.

How to Farm Materials Efficiently

The single most important rule for gathering ship upgrade materials is this: always board ships instead of sinking them. Sinking a ship gives you only a tiny fraction of the resources on board. Boarding it and looting the crew gives you the full haul — Wood, Metal, Cloth, and Reales all at once.

Here is how to build resources fast:

• Use your spyglass before engaging. Zoom in on ships from a distance to see what cargo they are carrying. Only close in when you can see the resources you actually need listed in the spyglass view.
• Target Naval Convoys. Convoys carry the largest material payouts in the game. They are heavily guarded, so tackle them once your ship has at least a few weapon and hull upgrades.
• Board and choose wisely. After boarding a ship, you can choose to take its resources, repair the Jackdaw using it, or add it to your fleet. If your hull is damaged, use the boarded ship to repair first.
• Lower your Wanted Level after boarding. Successfully boarding ships raises your notoriety and attracts pirate hunters. After each boarding, select “Lower Wanted Level” to avoid being hunted while you look for the next target.
• Raid plantations. Cloth is commonly found at coastal plantations. Sneak in or fight through the guards and loot the warehouse to stock up.

For more tips on Reales farming and early resource building, see our beginner tips guide.

What to Upgrade First — Priority Order

With limited Reales and materials in the early game, spreading upgrades across every category at once is a mistake. Here is the priority order backed by all major guides:

Priority 1 — Round and Heated Shot

Your broadside ammunition is your primary weapon. Upgrading the damage of your shot means every volley strips more hull from the enemy, shortening fights dramatically and reducing the damage you take in return. This is always the first thing to invest in.

Priority 2 — Broadside Cannons

Upgrading your cannons increases the number of shots fired per volley. Combined with upgraded shot, this multiplies your broadside damage significantly. A fully upgraded broadside can cut down a Brig in a few well-aimed volleys.

Priority 3 — Armored Hull

Hull upgrades increase the Jackdaw’s health pool. As you move into more dangerous waters, enemy ships travel in groups and flank from multiple sides. More hull armour means you survive longer, which means more boarding actions and more resources. Buy this alongside your weapon upgrades — do not neglect it entirely in favour of offence.

Secondary Upgrades (Mid-Game)

• Heavy Shot: A powerful close-range blind-fire weapon for when enemies get too close. Cannot be aimed — fires broadside without targeting. Cheap and effective early on.
• Mortar: Long-range weapon. Can sink small schooners in one shot at Level I and heavily damage Brigs at Level II. Takes four seconds of travel time — aim ahead of where the target is going.
• Ram: Increases the damage the Jackdaw deals on collision. Useful for the Officer perk from The Padre (Ram Dash), which lets you ram at higher speed for devastating impact damage.
• Crew Quarters: Increasing crew capacity smooths out boarding actions and reduces losses. Worth buying once you are regularly boarding large ships.

What to Skip Early

Fire Barrel upgrades and Front Cannon upgrades are situational and expensive for what they return in the early game. Save those Reales for Hull and Broadside upgrades first. You can circle back to them once your core three lines are maxed.

How to Repair the Jackdaw

Two ways to repair the Jackdaw mid-game:

• At any Harbourmaster: Walk up to the Harbourmaster and interact with them. Repairs cost a flat 500 Reales regardless of how damaged the ship is. Simple and fast if you are docked.
• By boarding an enemy ship: After a successful boarding action, one of your options is to use the captured ship to repair the Jackdaw. The amount of health restored is the same no matter the class of ship boarded. This is especially useful in the middle of a naval battle where you cannot reach port.

How to Customise the Jackdaw’s Appearance

Cosmetic customisation is separate from combat upgrades and changes how the Jackdaw looks without affecting its stats. You can access it from two places:

• The Captain’s Cabin — go below the ship’s wheel on the Jackdaw at any time you are not piloting. The model ship on the right side of the table opens the customisation menu.
• Any Harbourmaster — the same customisation options are available at every Harbourmaster, so you do not need to return to the ship every time you unlock something new.

What You Can Customise

• Sails: Change the sail design and colour.
• Figurehead: The decorative carved figure on the bow of the ship.
• Hull trim: The painted design along the hull exterior.
• Wheel: The captain’s wheel design.
• Crew attire: Change the uniform your crew wears on deck.
• Ship pet: New to Resynced — choose a cat or a monkey to live on deck and pad around while you sail.

Where Cosmetics Come From

• Harbourmaster shop: More and rarer cosmetics unlock as you upgrade the Harbourmaster at Great Inagua.
• Treasure chests: Many buried treasure chests across the Caribbean reward sails, figureheads, hull designs, and crew attire. See our treasure map guide for all locations.
• Fort captures: Capturing forts rewards ship cosmetics and healthy amounts of Reales. Our forts guide covers how fort capturing works in detail.
• Legendary Ships: Defeating each of the four Legendary Ships earns exclusive cosmetic skins — figurehead, hull, wheel, and sails — that cannot be obtained any other way. These are permanent proof of beating the hardest encounters in the game.
• Deluxe Edition: Owners of the Deluxe Edition start with several cosmetics already unlocked across all categories.

Officers — The New Jackdaw Crew System

Brand new to Black Flag Resynced are three recruitable Officers who join the Jackdaw and give permanent combat perks. Once an Officer is recruited, their perk is unlocked forever — you do not need to equip them manually. Find each Officer in the open world and complete their personal quest to bring them on board.

Lucy Baldwin — Shipwright

Lucy is found during the Officer: A Proper Shipwright quest. Her perk is Perfect Brace — if you trigger the Brace command just as an enemy attack is about to hit, the incoming damage is almost completely nullified. This is a major defensive upgrade that can be the difference between surviving or sinking during tough multi-ship fights and fort assaults.

The Padre — Master-at-Arms

The Padre joins your boarding parties when you disable and board enemy ships, making him an active fighter in those sequences. He also unlocks the Ram Dash ability, which lets you ram ships at significantly higher speed — turning every collision into a devastating strike. Great for aggressive playstyles that use ramming as an intentional tactic.

Tobias “Deadman” Smith — Master Gunner

Deadman is encountered later in the game through the A World Without Gold questline. He grants the Deadman’s Cohort Mortar — a new mortar variant exclusive to Resynced with a tighter, more precise firing pattern. Most effective in close engagements where multiple ships are packed together.

All three Officers are worth recruiting as soon as they become available. Their perks are permanent and free once earned.

How Customisation and Upgrades Differ from the 2013 Original

Veterans of the original 2013 AC Black Flag will notice a few key changes in Resynced worth knowing upfront:

• No Captain’s Cabin upgrades at sea. In the original, you could upgrade the Jackdaw from the Captain’s Cabin anywhere on the ocean. In Resynced, all upgrades must be purchased at a Harbourmaster while docked.
• Officers are entirely new. The original had no crew Officer system. This is a Resynced addition borrowed from the technology developed for AC Shadows.
• New weapons added. Shrapnel Barrels and the Deadman’s Cohort Mortar do not exist in the original game.
• Ship pet. The option to have a cat or monkey on deck is new to Resynced.
• Legendary ship cosmetics. Defeating Legendary Ships now rewards exclusive visual skins in Resynced, whereas the original only gave Reales and resources.

Get the Game

• Buy on PlayStation Store (PS5)
• Buy on Xbox Store
• Buy on Steam (PC)
• Buy on Epic Games Store (PC)

More AC Black Flag Resynced Guides

• Havana Scarecrows Treasure Guide
• Forts Guide
• All Treasure Map Locations
• Blackbeard’s Treasure Map Walkthrough
• Gold Locket Quest Walkthrough
• How to Heal and Increase Max Health
• How to Fast Travel
• All Main and Side Missions List
• How to Enable Advanced Parkour
• Beginner Tips
• How to Use Photo Mode
• PC System Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions