Kenways Fleet

Unlocked early in Sequence 04, Kenway’s Fleet can become a great source of reales for those who decide to invest a little time in this online-only metagame. To access the Kenway’s Fleet interface, simply visit the captain’s cabin, below the Jackdaw’s wheel, and interact with the map laid on the table. You can alternatively use a second screen with a companion app (iOS or Android) and access the metagame whenever you please. Stripped to its very essence, it consists of three main steps:

1. In the main game, you attack and board ships, and then send them to Kenway’s Fleet using the corresponding entry on the post-boarding screen.
2. From the Kenway’s Fleet’s interface, you manage your vessels, conquer trading routes via ship battles, and then complete trading missions on the routes you secure. Every time you succeed, you receive rewards in reales, which are transferred to the main game.
3. Back in the main game, you can use the reales from Kenway’s Fleet to upgrade the Jackdaw, and therefore plunder enemy vessels of higher ranks (including frigates and men o’ war). With their higher cargo capacities and superior battle statistics, these will give you access to more advanced missions – a virtuous circle.

Your Fleet

Every ship that you can board in the open world has a specific level, which you can establish using the spyglass. For each type of vessel (schooner, brig, frigate, man o’ war), there are three possible level values. The ship level defines its attributes (see “Ship Attributes” table).

In the Kenway’s Fleet metagame, each ship requires a dock where it is stationed between missions. You begin with four docks at your disposal, meaning that you can have a fleet of up to four ships. Further berths must be purchased with gemstones (see “Resources”): Docks 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 can be yours for 20, 50, 80, 120, 200, 350, 600, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 gemstones respectively.

Resources

There are three types of resources that are used in the Kenway’s Fleet metagame. As a general rule of thumb, the further away a mission takes place, and the more dangerous the route is, the greater the quantities of resources you will earn.

• Gemstones are the currency of the system. They’re required both to repair your ships, and to unlock new docks to expand your fleet. To obtain gemstones you must either salvage one of your ships (see the “Ship Attributes” table), or complete ship battles.
• Cargo represents the resources that you deliver during trading missions. There are five types: rice, tobacco, cocoa, wine and olive oil. You can obtain cargo by completing ship battles.
• Fire barrels are special weapons that you can use during ship battles to give you the edge when things look grim. Their impact is massive on most enemy ships.

Ship Battles

Ship battles have three functions in the game:

• They unlock new trading routes on your naval map, and enable you to secure the existing routes (see “Route Danger Ranks” table) and thus raise your odds of success in the trading missions.
• They reward you with gemstones, which can be used to either acquire new docks to expand your fleet, or to repair your current ships.
• They provide you with the five types of cargo required in trading missions.

After selecting an initial candidate for a ship battle, a percentage shows your current Odds of Success. If it is less than 100%, you can increase it by selecting additional ships and/or by repairing damaged vessels. Unless you are willing to gamble, you should only attempt missions with a 100% rating. If you cannot reach this level of safety with the ships currently at your disposal, note that you can cancel the battle by pressing the Map Button. Feel free to restart the same ship battle, though: enemy vessels sent against you are generated randomly every time. There are three key attributes that govern the outcome of each battle.

• Speed: The vessel’s maneuverability. The ship that you position in the top row enjoys a +10 speed bonus. Ideally, you should always ensure that the total speed value of your ship in this slot is higher than that of the fastest enemy vessel. This way, you will strike first and delay your opponents’ attacks.
• Firepower: The vessel’s damage output. The ship that you position in the middle row enjoys a +5 firepower bonus.
• Health: The amount of damage the vessel can withstand. The ship that you position in the bottom row enjoys a +5% health bonus – use this to boost the durability of your sturdiest ship.

Frigates offer a very solid compromise in all three stats, making them perfectly suited for most ship battles. There are a number of prime frigate-hunting sites in the Caribbean, including New Bone and the waters surrounding Cayman Sound.

Trading Missions

Trading missions give you the opportunity to turn the resources gathered in ship battles into reales. Each mission involves sending a vessel from your fleet loaded with specific quantities of cargo to a given destination. Every mission has characteristics that depend on its destination.

• Travel Time: The base real-world time (hh:mm) necessary to complete the mission. This can be shortened depending on the ship category (see “Travel Time Reduction” in the “Ship Attributes” table).
• Cooldown: The real-world time (hh:mm) before a mission can be completed again.
• Cargo & Cargo Space: This shows you what type of cargo is required for each mission, and in what amount – a critical factor, as you need a ship with a maximum cargo space at least as high as the given number. In the “Trading Missions” table, all capacity values highlighted in green only require small vessels (schooners and brigs), which are easily available to you from the start. Cargo space values marked in orange require frigates, and those in red require men o’ war – both ship types being harder to defeat and board in the main game until you have a well-upgraded Jackdaw. We have highlighted all destinations with this color code to give you an indication of when you can reasonably hope to unlock them.
• Rewards: You obtain a fixed sum in reales every time you complete a mission, and – where applicable – a one-time special reward (anything from a Treasure Map to a cosmetic upgrade). Certain missions also unlock new destinations that you can reach, and therefore new potential missions to complete.

Ship Attributes

TRADING MISSIONS