Naval Combat Guide

Naval Combat is a complex affair in Assassin's Creed IV, with many weapons, tough enemies and complicated upgrade system. Once you get a handle on the basics of Naval combat, however, taking on even the toughest opponents, like Man-o-wars, Forts and Legendary Ships becomes fun and lucrative, if never quite easy.

• See our Legendary Ships Guide for more on the toughest Naval Combat opponents.

Weapons and Upgrades

The Jackdaw's defenses and offenses can be upgraded, but some upgrades are not as good as others. You can check out the list of upgrades here, as well as recommended upgrades for your ship's needs in the main game. Here we'll discuss what weapons you should upgrade purely for successful Naval Combat, and how to use them effectively.
Note that [1] require both Reales (See the Money Making Guide and Resources like Wood, Metal and Cloth, which can be acquired mainly through Naval Combat. The other two resources, Sugar and Rum, can be sold for a massive amount of money, and they can't be used for anything else. Sell your Sugar and Rum!

Early Upgrades

As you start your seafaring adventure and acquire a ship of your own, it won't be the terror of the high seas that you captain in your dreams. Focus on upgrading these items early on in your travels, as it will help you take down bigger and tougher ships despite being a substantially weaker craft.
Heavy Shot -- This is extremely powerful ammo for your Broadside Cannons. You can fire your Broadside Cannons by looking out the side of your ship, but to use Heavy Shot you have to not hit the AIM button. The game doesn't make this apparent. Just hit FIRE. You can still aim this low, extremely powerful fire by lining up your ship perpendicularly with its target, but you can't aim it vertically. Aim for the lowest part of the hull. You need to purchase Heavy Shot, unlike your normal cannon ammo, Round Shot. You can do so, after purchasing the initial upgrade, at weapon shops.
Broadside Cannons -- These cannons line the side of your ship and can be aimed vertically. Look to the side of your ship and hold AIM and then FIRE to fire them. It is preferable that you use Heavy Shot at all times, but your normal Round Shot can be upgraded to a very powerful level -- be sure to make adding cannons a priority.
Hull Armor -- The reasoning behind this upgrade shold be obvious. The further you progress through the game, enemy ships and forts will become larger and more powerful. Upgrading your hull armor may be expensive, both to your coin purse and crafting supplies, but is well worth it - especially as you encounter more ferocious opponents on the high seas. Once you discover and craft the 'Elite Hull Armor,' you'll also gain the ability to ram other ships while taking no damage, regardless of whether you brace for impact or not. It will also add cooler darker colours to your ship--always a plus 
Swivel Guns -- These guns can be used to take out small targets highlighted on an enemy ship in red and yellow. To see these targets, you must do some damage to the ship's hull with your Broadside Cannons. Once you see these weak points light up, hold the SWIVEL GUN button shown until a reticle moves of the spot, then let go to fire it. Activate Swivel Guns while your other weapons are reloading. They do a great deal of damage. Note that the Elite upgrade for these allows you to hold triangle and continuously fire the swivel guns at the targets at a much faster pace. 
Chase Cannons -- These guns fire Chain Shot, which does little damage, but temporarily stuns shipspreventing them from firing or maneuvering quickly. This is extremely important for early battles with Men o' War and Legendary Ships. You can fire your Chase Cannons by facing directly at a ship and hitting the AIM button, then hitting FIRE. Aim for masts to slow ships down and stun them, then maneuver behind the ship and stay behind it, firing your Round Shot, Heavy Shot and Swivel Guns. This tactic will help take down the toughest enemies in the game.

Secondary Upgrades

These are upgrades to the Jackdaw that are best added once you've progressed a little further through the game.
Ram -- While ramming into a ship twice the size of yours isn't necessarily the smartest idea, an upgraded ram will greatly benefit your crew once you've begun encountering mid-size ships more frequently. Brigs and frigates will sustain a considerable amount of damage from being rammed, and most schooners and gunboats will be sunk or disabled in just one hit. Paired with the Elite Hull upgrade, the ram becomes especially useful since the Jackdaw will no longer take damage while ramming enemy vessels.
Mortars -- This long-distance cannon is mainly useful for Forts, since it's hard to hit moving targets like ships with it, and it alerts enemies from a great distance, ruining an effective surprise attack. Mortars are activated by hitting the MORTAR AIM button and then FIRE, usually the left shoulder button. Pass the white aiming reticle over an enemy until it turns red and fire. However, if the element of surprise isn't exactly your style, mortars are a great way to inflict a fair amount of damage on large, slow ships at the start of a battle.
Fire Barrels -- These floating explosive should stay low on your list of priority upgrades. Unless an enemy is directly behind you, nearly touching your hull, they will avoid these, rendering them useless. Look over the rear of your ship and hit FIRE to drop them. You can use Swivel Guns to detonate them for a large blast radius, but direct contact will set them off as well.

Battle Tactics

To take out the toughest ships follows this simple formula (see video above to see it in action).
Stun the ship with Chase Cannons (Chain Shot): You should start the battle this way to give yourself time to maneuver into attack position. Keep in mind that with the largest vessels (especially Legendary Ships) the stunning effect caused by the chain shot will still be minimal, adding only a few seconds here and there to your window of attack.
  Maneuver the Jackdaw behind the enemy ship: Directly perpendicular, or ideally somewhere near 45 degree angle to its rear, with your broadside cannons facing its rear and hitting a a large amount of lower hull.
Fire: Stay there, carefully speeding up and slowing down and rotating and firing Heavy Shot at its rear and rear sides, but staying out of the firing angle of its cannons. Aim low as possible and fire your Heavy Shot at it repeatedly, firing the Swivel Guns while your Broadside Cannons recharge.
Repeat: You can repeat this process if the enemy ship outmaneuvers you, just speed away and come about, firing your Chase Cannons to stun the ship and start anew.

Other Naval Combat Tips

• The toughest ships are in the south, including Man o' Wars and other tough ships.
• Take on tough ships alone -- if you pursue a ship without firing, it may split off from its armada. However, if there are small gunboats or other weak ships accompanying the target ship, you can use them to repair the Jackdaw between attacks on the larger ship. Just board them and choose the Repair Jackdaw option after that sequence!
• Take out Forts to eliminate hostile territories for easier hunting of enemy ships.
• You don't have to battle a ship to capture it. Simply maneuver into a ship's path, climb out of the Jackdaw and board the enemy ship and you can kill its entire crew. Once this is done, return to your ship and you can pull up alongside it and capture it. This does not work if you are engaged in battle, so you'll need to sneak aboard. It takes a while, and it's not as flashy, but you can capture giant ships early using this method. Note: This does not work for Legendary Ships, which kill you if you touch their hull.

Boarding

When you use the Spyglass to spot a ship, you can see its resources/loot and then make the decision to board it. If you sink the ship, you will not get its resources -- or you will receive a minimal amount of resources that you must recover from the water. You cannot board Legendary Ships.
After seeing the sails on the ship fall, pull up near the side of the stunned ship and hold the button shown. The region you can stop in is a large rectablge on either side of the stunned ship, highlighted in the water. If you damage the ship, with your Ram or otherwise, you risk sinking it. you can order the crew to throw hooks over and board the ship. You can now swing across using a rope.
The goal is to eliminate the enemy captain. You can freely attack the ship's enemies, climbing the mast for air attacks. You can also use a Swivel Gun to attack the enemy ship. Aim for highlighted enemies or Powder Stores.
Once the ship is captured you have 3 options as to what you do with it.

• Lower Wanted Level - This not only lowers your wanted level, but also gives you more crew members than what you get from just capturing the ship.
• Send ship to the Kenway's Fleet minigame. Replace your weaker ships with larger ships.
• Repair The Jackdaw - If your ship took damage in the fight, you can use materials from the defeated vessel to repair your own ship.

Enemy Ship Types

• Man o' War-- Largest kind of enemy ship. "Capable of carrying 100 cannons," carries all types of resource in large amounts and money as well
• Frigate -- A ship that gets harder to fight over time, carries all types of resource in medium amounts
• Brig -- A medium-to-hard ship battle, carries all types of resource in small amounts and uses it's ramming attack liberally.
• Schooner -- An easy battle, carries Rum and Sugar
• Gunboat -- A small ship with little cannons, only carries ammo.

Environmental Tactics

Dynamic weather can change the entire tone of a battle. Storms exist in the environment, and you can choose to avoid them or plunge right in. Enemy ships will also be affected by the weather, allowing you to gain a tactical advantage if you play your cards right. Avoid Rogue Waves (steer into them and brace) and tornados (just don't go near them) and they might damage your enemies.
Another tactic includes using waves as a form of protection. A wall of water acts as a kind of shield from bullets, so an advantageous use of placement on choppy seas will prevent you from being harmed by enemy ballistics.