Assassins Creed Black Flag Resynced how to harpoon Guide

Harpooning in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced starts by sailing the Jackdaw to one of eighteen ocean markers, boarding the rowboat, holding aim, and charging harpoons to hit moving targets while interrupting incoming charges.

How Do Harpooning Encounters Work at Sea?

Harpooning is an oceanic hunting activity where Edward Kenway boards a small rowboat to harvest valuable skins and bones from marine wildlife. You trigger a hunt by steering the Jackdaw into any of the 18 specific markers visible across the sea chart and selecting the on-screen prompt. Once the session begins, Edward stands at the front of the skiff with a fixed camera perspective, leaving navigation behind to focus purely on weapon handling and target tracking.

The encounter follows two alternating phases:

1. Edward strikes the creature with an initial throw, securing a tether line that pulls the rowboat across the water for several seconds.
2. The animal snaps the tether line, dives underwater, and charges the rowboat to inflict direct collision damage.

During the towing sequence, throw additional spears to chip away at the target health gauge. Aim slightly ahead of the animal rather than directly on its visible body, as water movement causes static throws to miss behind the moving tail. When the line breaks, watch the surrounding surface for disturbed water rings. Hitting the creature as it rushes the rowboat interrupts the charge and protects your hull from taking damage.

On default controller controls, hold the left trigger to aim and hold the right trigger to draw your spear. For mouse and keyboard setups, hold the right mouse button to aim and hold the left mouse button to charge. Holding the fire input brings two targeting indicators together toward the crosshair center. Releasing the input right as the indicators meet and flash white executes a Perfect Shot, which inflicts boosted damage against the quarry. If your rowboat loses all its hit points or your reserve ammo hits zero, the creature flees and the activity ends in failure.

The iconic solo pirate adventure returns. Sail the Caribbean as Edward Kenway during the Golden Age of Piracy in this faithfully enhanced remake featuring stunning visuals, upgraded gameplay, and new content. — the official Steam store page

How Do You Upgrade Harpooning Equipment?

Rowboat upgrades are specialized ship enhancements purchased directly from any local Harbourmaster in Caribbean ports. The Jackdaw does not handle these adjustments in the captain cabin; you must speak to the dock attendant and navigate to the bottom section of the shipwright ledger. Preparing better gear is critical before venturing into deep southern waters where larger animals strike harder and boast larger health pools.

Basic rowboat equipment carries 10 harpoon damage, 15 storage ammo, and 100 hull points. Obtaining the Harpoon Strength Ultimate Plan allows access to max damage, which cuts down the total successful hits required to defeat apex targets. Tracking down plans is documented alongside wider ultimate plan locations and general jackdaw upgrades.

To optimize material gains from every catch, restore the Fisherman's Wharf building in Great Inagua. This settlement structure doubles the yield of skins obtained from marine wildlife kills. Pairing that upgrade with the Exotic Sea Shells trinket, located in a chest in southern Havana and listed in our breakdown of best trinkets, further boosts harvested crafting quantities.

Which Sea Creatures Can You Hunt Across the Map?

Sea creatures are the five huntable marine species distributed across regional water zones, each supplying distinct crafting materials for Edward Kenway's inventory upgrades. The official overview on the Steam store page confirms the expanded Caribbean open world retains these encounters alongside reworked combat and progression systems.

Bull Sharks

Bull Sharks are common predators located in seven spots across Punta Guarico, Gibara, and Dry Tortuga. Coordinates include:

• Punta Guarico: (747, 310)
• Gibara: (726, 487) and (520, 604)
• Dry Tortuga: (382, 741), (322, 717), (190, 669), and (123, 769)

When hooked, a Bull Shark tows the skiff for roughly ten seconds before diving. Upon resurfacing, it sometimes feints toward one side before angling inward. Landing throws rewards Bull Shark Skin, which crafts Pistol Holster III and contributes to the Shark-Hunter Outfit found under all outfits.

Hammerhead Sharks

Hammerhead Sharks inhabit three spots across Gibara at (652, 584) and Eleuthera at (776, 735) and (706, 865). They follow straightforward charge paths without feints, making them simple targets for early rowboats. Defeating them grants Hammerhead Shark Bone, used to fabricate Health Upgrade I.

Killer Whales

Killer Whales reside in two hunting grounds: Conttoyor near Sacrifice Island at (37, 577) and Cruz near San Juan cave at (423, 423). Killer Whales make sharp evasive swerves while towing the vessel for 15 seconds. After submerging, they briefly surface at a distance to feint before submerging a second time and charging the rowboat. Defeating a Killer Whale yields Killer Whale Skin, which upgrades Sleep Dart capacity.

Humpback Whales

Humpback Whales occupy four locations split between Castillo de Jagua at (220, 379) and (311, 395), and Navassa at (552, 45) and (688, 61). Humpback Whales feature massive vitality and can attack while actively towing the rowboat by raising their tail fluke to smash downward. When the tether snaps, look for a wide ripple ring right near the prow, as the whale breaches upward to crush the boat. Interrupting this descent requires an immediate spear throw. Successfully concluding the fight yields Humpback Whale Skin, required for Berserk Dart I.

Great White Sharks

Great White Sharks appear in two hunting zones: Cruz off Fort Cabo de Cruz at (490, 303) and Serranilla at (314, 47). These predators snap tow lines in eight seconds and attack rapidly from underwater ripples. A walkthrough on Game8 notes that you should avoid waiting for a fully charged shot when a Great White charges; quick reaction speed is mandatory to stop the strike before the jaws hit the wood. Victorious hunts yield Great White Shark Bone, which crafts Health Upgrade III.

Which Gear Investment Path Should You Take?

Preparing Edward for hunting and crafting involves choosing between naval investments, dedicated rowboat upgrades, or settlement commerce. Compare the following progression paths:

Players who choose not to spear wildlife can construct General Store III and the Treasure Dealer on Great Inagua. The Treasure Dealer converts gold into bones at 1,000 Reales each, while the upgraded General Store exchanges bones for specific wildlife skins, bypassing marine hunting encounters completely.