Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag News: Gameplay Hints for Upgrading Ship After Release Date [Trailer]

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag has a multitude of ways players can explore the game's world and partake in diverse missions. These exploration missions range from hunting wildlife and finding sunken ships, to discovering smuggler caves and finding loot. The rewards for completing these side quests can help players upgrade the Jackdaw — the ship players use to explore the Caribbean — in various ways. Players can build up the ship's armor, and add and upgrade weapons and storage for loot players find. Here's a quick guide for anyone overwhelmed by the task of optimizing their personal pirate ship.

There are over a dozen different upgrades available for the Jackdaw, and every upgrade can be further upgraded many times over. The first things players should try to upgrade are the mortars, heavy shot and ram. Not only will these upgrades help players fight enemy ships, but are needed to get 100 percent sync for various missions of the game. Upgrading the storage options for the ship is also a critical early step, as players will be able to collect more loot and resources and be able to upgrade of aspects of their ship faster.

By the time players get to Sequence 4 of the game, each basic upgrade will be available, and by sequence 6, players will be able to access the advance upgrade options for the Jackdaw. At this point, players should begin to focus on maxing out the storage for the ship, to make sure they can collect the max amount of resources on their quests. In addition, players should focus on armor as they take on more advanced missions. Players should avoid upgrading the fishing and harpooning options for their ships, as these do not necessarily help players in the main game. Once players get the combat upgrades suitably advanced, then they can begin focusing on more extracurricular upgrades for their ships.

Once you get to Sequence 9, you can finish off all the advanced upgrades for the Jackdaw. To get to the elite upgrades for the Jackdaw, players must find the plans for these upgrades in buried chests. These upgrades, while not necessary to complete the game, will help players out tremendously and make the final sequences of the game much easier.

Look out for more news about Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag right here as the release dates for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 draw near.