Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Mission List And How Long To Beat
Tracking your progress across the massive Caribbean map requires knowing exactly how many targets are left on your manifest.
Navigating Edward Kenway through the crossfire of the Templar and Assassin war takes a serious time commitment. The ocean is vast, and it is dangerously easy to lose yourself hunting down random schooners instead of advancing the plot. I charted out the entire mission structure and playtime expectations so you know exactly where you stand.
How Long Is The Campaign?
Before you set sail, you should know exactly what kind of time investment you are looking at.
If you focus purely on Edward's main journey, you can expect to finish the core story in roughly 20 to 22 hours. The campaign remains consistently engaging from start to finish. You get a tightly paced narrative that follows Edward from a standard pirate to a lethal Assassin.
Before you rush straight through the story, take time to upgrade the Jackdaw and your personal gear. The later sequences get incredibly punishing if you ignore the side activities. Exploring the islands for crafting materials and upgrading your equipment makes the late game naval combat considerably easier.
You can also tweak the difficulty settings. Normal mode closely mirrors the original game's balance. Lowering the difficulty trims a few hours off your total playtime if you just want to experience the story without the friction of naval warfare. Before you start sinking hours into the campaign, make sure you know how to claim your deluxe and preorder items so you look good while doing it.
Pushing For Total Completion
Hitting the 100 percent completion mark easily pushes your playtime into the 50 to 60 hour range.
The Caribbean is absolutely packed with forts to capture, enemy ships to sink, and hidden locations to explore. You have Templar Hunts and Assassination Contracts that go by quickly, but other activities demand serious dedication. Tracking down every Mayan Stela or collecting artwork for Edward's mansion takes a massive chunk of time.
If you want to clear the map entirely, you need a fully upgraded ship to take on the Legendary Ships. I highly recommend running down every buried treasure map location to grab those essential blueprints.
The Main Story Sequences
The core game is split into 12 main sequences that slowly open up new areas of the map. Here is the full golden path you need to push through to see the credits roll.
Sequence 1:
Edward Kenway
Sequence 2:
Lively Havana
And My Sugar
Mister Walpole I Presume?
A Man They Call the Sage
Claiming What's Due
The Treasure Fleet
Sequence 3:
This Tyro Captain
Now Hiring
Prizes and Plunder
Raise the Black Flag
Sugarcane and Its Yields
Proper Defense
A Single Madman
Sequence 4:
This Old Cove
Nothing is True
The Sage's Buried Secret
Overrun and Outnumbered
Sequence 5:
The Forts
Traveling Salesman
Unmanned
Sequence 6:
Diving For Medicines
Devil's Advocate
The Siege of Charles-Towne
Sequence 7:
We Demand a Parley
The Gunpowder Plot
Commodore Eighty-Sixed
The Fireship
Sequence 8:
Do Not Go Gently...
Vainglorious Bastards
Marooned
Sequence 9:
Imagine My Surprise
Trust is Earned
Sequence 10:
Black Bart's Gambit
Murder and Mayhem
The Observatory
Sequence 11:
To Suffer Without Dying
Delirium
Everything is Permitted
Sequence 12:
A Governor No Longer
Royal Misfortune
Tainted Blood
Ever a Splinter
A World Without Gold
The Resynced version drops a brand new storyline into the mix.
This eight mission arc revolves around tracking down a target named Maynard. The game unlocks this chunk of content right after you wrap up Sequence 11. You have total freedom on when to tackle it. I chose to burn through it before hitting the final Sequence, but you can save it for the post game if you prefer.
A World Without Gold
That Bastard Maynard
Not Even a Real Captain
What The Devil
It's A Start
Not Our Natural Allies
I Just Want To Talk
A Cockalorum
Side Quests And Distractions
The main plot is great, but the side content is where you get your hands dirty and make your actual money. I highly recommend running these as they pop up on your map to break up the pacing naturally and keep your wallet full.
General Side Quests
These pop up frequently as you explore the major hubs.
Blackbeard's Treasure
Captain Stede Bonnet
Art Lover
Damn Fine Gear
Former Glories
Mayan Mysteries
The Officer Quests
You pick these up from key characters scattered across the islands to recruit your naval officers.
Lucy Baldwin
A Proper Shipwright
The One With the Gun
Plantain!
Big Wig
The Padre
A Second Chance
Loyalty, Discipline, and Courage
If Thy Right Hand Offend Thee
The Other Cheek
Tobias 'Deadman' Smith
No Box Dark Enough
All Love Must End
Very Little, But Something
Templar Hunts
These multi-part quests reward you with keys to unlock elite armor.
Rhona Dinsmore: Bureau Under Attack, A Thief In the Market, Arms Race, Flint's End
Upton Travers: Oh Brother..., The Other Brother, Upton's Sorrow, Queen of Pirates King of Fools
Opia Apito: The Taino Assassin, Templar Ships, Right-Hand Man, The Trail of Lucia Marquez
Anto: The Maroon Assassin, Recruiting Maroons, Under Attack, The Commander's Ruse
Assassin Contracts
Standard hitman jobs. Track your target, get the kill, and secure the bag.
Beach Bonfire
Unlicensed Dealer
The Spanish Captain
A Shipment of Powder
No More Taxes
A Botched Escape
The Informant
Shady Business
A Slaver's Business
The Poachers
The Pirate Captain
The Outlaws
The Dreaded Pirate
The Deserter
The Twin Dilemma
The Smuggler's Squat
A Last Drink For The Road
Tomb Raiders
The Unworthy Brother
The Outlaw's Cave
Renegade
The Treasure Hunter
The Weapons Smugglers
The British Captain
The Plantation Master
The Guard Post
The Judge
The Arms Deal
The Slave Master
The Expedition
Naval Contracts
Take the Jackdaw out and sink specific targets for massive payouts.
A Spanish Plague
Eye For An Eye
Blind Justice
Papers, Please
The Final Contract
A Personal Matter
The Law Of The Ocean
Silk On The Waves
Driftwood
Weathering The Storm
The Realities Of War
Contraband
Private Escort
Smuggler's Den
Hunter Gatherer
