Black Flag Resynced has five Legendary Ships: El Impoluto, La Dama Negra, HMS Prince, and the paired Man-o-Wars HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign, which you fight together. They appear after you conquer the forts that control their waters, each pays out money plus legendary cosmetics for the Jackdaw, and sinking all of them unlocks the Devil of the Caribbean trophy. La Dama Negra is usually called the easiest and the Fearless and Royal Sovereign pair the hardest, and every one of them is far more manageable with a fully upgraded ship and the right officers recruited.
Locations and tactics here follow PowerPyx's Legendary Ship and trophy guides, with naval systems and difficulty options taken from Ubisoft's launch post and its October 2026 update notes, all checked in November 2026.
How Many Legendary Ships Are There?
You will see the number quoted two ways. PowerPyx lists five Legendary Ships, but HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign are fought together as a single tag-team battle, so in practice it is four fights and five hulls. To unlock the Devil of the Caribbean trophy you need to defeat all of them, including both halves of the pair.
None of these fights sits on the main story path. They become available after you capture the forts that control their regions, so they are optional late-game content you seek out once the Jackdaw is strong. PowerPyx's trophy roadmap places them in the collectible stage of the Platinum, alongside forts, shipwrecks and Ultimate Plans, which is a sensible point to tackle them.
| Ship | Map coordinates | Main threat | Best counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Impoluto | 117, 841 | Rams and Burning Shot broadsides, then circles out of range | Ram back, Burning Shot, mortar at range, brace |
| La Dama Negra | 240, 72 | Long-range mortars | Stay close with Heated Shot; mortar it while it stops to aim |
| HMS Prince | 854, 55 | Mortars and vanishing into fog | Circle and brace while hidden; Ram-Dash when it reappears |
| HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign | 811, 858 | Two Man-o-Wars attacking together | Mortar on turns, Ram-Dash one, Burning Shot its stern, Swivel Gun weak spots |
Prepare the Jackdaw First
PowerPyx's advice is blunt: fully upgrade your ship and recruit all Officers before taking these on. Fully upgrading the Jackdaw for the Ship This trophy needs all 12 Ultimate Plans and roughly 315,800 Reales, so the Legendary Ships are naturally a late goal. If you are short on money, our guide to earning Reales covers Kenway's Fleet and boarding, which pay for most of those upgrades.
Officers matter as much as upgrades. Recruitable Officers are one of the remake's additions, each with a questline, and three of them change Legendary fights directly. Tobias Smith adds an extra cannonball salvo. The Padre unlocks the Ram-Dash, mapped to L1 and R1 on PlayStation or LB and RB on Xbox. Lucy Baldwin enables a perfect brace that negates damage. A Jackdaw without Ram-Dash and perfect brace is fighting these ships with half its toolkit.
The remake's naval combat itself has been rebuilt. Ubisoft's launch post lists shrapnel barrels, 8-pounder cannons, reworked enemy factions, secondary firing modes, the Ram Dash move and a Wanted system with Pirate Hunters. Learn the secondary fire modes on ordinary ships before you sail into a Legendary fight, because you will not have time to experiment once a Man-o-War is bearing down on you.
Universal Tactics That Work on Every Legendary Ship
Three habits carry every one of these battles. First, brace while your weapons reload, because bracing voids most incoming damage and turns the reload window from dead time into defense. Second, watch the enemy's cannons: an orange glow means they are about to fire, and that is your cue to brace or turn. Third, use the mortar when a Legendary Ship slows down or turns sharply, since that is when it is easiest to land.
Distance management decides most fights. Some ships want you far away and some want you close, and playing the opposite of their preference takes away their strongest weapon. That is why the table above pairs each ship with a range rather than a single weapon. If you enjoy this side of the game, our look at naval combat choices in Windrose shows how another pirate game handles the same cannons-versus-boarding decision.
Each Fight in Detail
El Impoluto is a hit-and-run brawler. It rams head-on, then sails a half circle just outside cannon range. Copy its pattern: ram it back, follow with Burning Shot broadsides, switch to the mortar when it drifts out of range, and brace through its own volleys.
La Dama Negra is the one PowerPyx calls the easiest. Its weapon is long-range mortar fire, so close the distance and stay there with Heated Shot broadsides while bracing. When it stops moving to prepare its mortars, it is a sitting target for yours.
HMS Prince is the trickster. Fight it at close to medium range with Heated Shot. After you take each segment of its health it disappears into fog for a minute or two while shelling you, so keep sailing in circles and brace. When it reappears, Ram-Dash it head-on and follow with Burning Shot.
HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign are the hardest because they attack together, one with black sails and one with white. Each has about half the health of a single Legendary Ship, but you cannot board either to repair. Fire a mortar when they turn toward you, Ram-Dash one, brace, then hit its stern with Burning Shot. Use the Swivel Gun on red weak spots and do not chase them, since they drop barrels behind them.
A Sensible Order for the Naval Endgame
Because forts, Ultimate Plans and Legendary Ships feed into each other, doing them in the right order saves a lot of sailing. Start by capturing forts in the regions you already know. Each fort you take opens up its region, reveals more of the map and, for the right forts, makes a Legendary Ship available. Forts are also where you will meet the toughest regular naval resistance, so every capture is practice for the Legendary fights.
- Recruit Officers as their questlines appear, prioritising The Padre for Ram-Dash and Lucy Baldwin for perfect brace.
- Capture forts region by region, upgrading the Jackdaw's hull and broadsides with the money you earn along the way.
- Collect Ultimate Plans as you find them, since they gate the top tier of ship upgrades.
- Fight La Dama Negra first, because it teaches close-range pressure against a long-range opponent.
- Take El Impoluto and HMS Prince next, then leave HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign for last.
Two practical points help between fights. Repair and restock before every single attempt rather than sailing straight from a fort battle into a Legendary encounter with a damaged hull, and save before engaging so that a failed attempt costs you a few minutes rather than a long voyage back. If a fight is going badly, it is often faster to withdraw, upgrade one more tier and return than to keep retrying an underpowered ship.
Finally, remember that the reward cosmetics are only visual. You do not need them to beat the next ship, so there is no reason to force the hardest fight early just to unlock a sail set or a figurehead.
Difficulty, Nightmare Mode and New Game+
The remake splits difficulty into separate settings for Combat, Stealth, Naval and Activities, each with Forgiving, Intended and Hard options. PowerPyx's trophy guide notes that no trophy depends on difficulty, so you can lower the Naval setting for these fights without affecting the Platinum. Title Update 1.0.8 on October 26, 2026 added Nightmare difficulty, which Ubisoft says makes naval encounters more threatening, and it can be set independently for each of those four areas.
New Game+ arrived in the same update. Ubisoft's notes say forts reset in a new cycle while Jackdaw upgrades carry over, and PSU reports that higher New Game+ cycles bring more Elite soldiers and max-rank ships patrolling the seas. If you want to fight the Legendary Ships again on a harder setting, our New Game+ guide explains what carries over and what resets.
Rewards and the Devil of the Caribbean Trophy
Each Legendary Ship rewards money plus legendary ship cosmetics, such as unique sails, figureheads, wheels and hull trims, that you can equip on the Jackdaw. These are purely visual, in the same way the remake's character outfits are; our outfits guide covers Edward's side of the wardrobe.
Defeating all of them unlocks Devil of the Caribbean, a Silver trophy. It sits alongside King of the Castle (capture all 11 forts) and Ship This (fully upgrade the Jackdaw) in the naval part of the trophy list, and since the forts unlock the Legendary Ships, the three are best done in one push. Our trophy guide for the remake places all three in the roadmap. If the trophy does not appear after the last ship sinks, check the sync steps in our guide to PS5 trophies that do not unlock before refighting anything.
Want the Ship Work Done for You?
If farming Ultimate Plans and Reales for a fully upgraded Jackdaw is the part you would rather skip, the Black Flag Resynced hub lists ship-focused boosting services, including all 17 ship upgrades, 80 ship weapons and a 135-item ship customization bundle, each marked for PC, PS5 and Xbox on its card. Each listing explains its own requirements and delivery, so read the product page before ordering. The hub also carries a PS5 and PC modded save focused on Reales, resources and gear for Edward rather than the ship.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Legendary Ships are in Black Flag Resynced?
PowerPyx counts five hulls, fought across four battles because two Man-o-Wars share one.
How do I unlock the Legendary Ships?
Capture the forts that control their regions. They are optional and not on the main story path.
What is the easiest Legendary Ship?
La Dama Negra, according to PowerPyx. Stay close so its mortars are useless and punish it when it stops to aim.
Can I lower the difficulty for Legendary Ships?
Yes. Naval difficulty is its own setting, and no trophy depends on difficulty, so lowering it does not affect the Platinum.
What do Legendary Ships drop?
Each one pays Reales and hands over unique sails, figureheads, wheels or hull trims to dress up your own ship. Sinking the full set earns a Silver trophy.
Which officers help most against Legendary Ships?
The Padre for Ram-Dash, Lucy Baldwin for perfect brace and Tobias Smith for an extra cannonball salvo.