Located on the southern coast of Great Inagua, it’s the first of four Rift quests you can find in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft’s new approach to “modern-day” storytelling.
What are Rift Quests?
These are special quests you unlock as you progress through the main story. All of them take place within the Animus Rift, where you meet EGO, an Abstergo AI that believes that to find happiness and peace, one must obey and fall in line to avoid making what it thinks are mistakes.
Rifts take the form of “What If” sequences in which you explore alternate outcomes for certain characters’ stories if they had made different decisions throughout their lives. In these sequences, you’ll have to engage in a variety of tasks, from platforming challenges and stealth sections to regular fights and boss fights.
How to Unlock and Start Wayward Souls Rift?
For the Wayward Souls Rift Quest, you’ll have to progress through the main story until the beginning of Sequence 4. Right after Kidd leaves Great Inagua and after talking to Adewale and unlocking the first Officer Quests, the game will tell you the Wayward Souls quest is now available.
To start this quest, you’re already in the best location possible; it’s only a matter of sailing the jackdaw around the Island to the south of Great Inagua, and there you’ll find the portal that lets you enter the Animus Rift.
How to complete the Wayward Souls Rift
The main gimmick here is that you have to carry a chest along the level, and you’ll find obstacles you need to clear by reaching a ship’s wheel to progress. Whenever you put down the chest to do the platforming, you will start taking damage.
There is a small radius around the chest where you stop taking damage, and whenever you pick it up, you’ll rapidly heal all damage taken. It takes approximately 2:30 minutes for your health to deplete, so you’ll have plenty of time to clear the obstacles and return to the chest.
First, you want to approach the portal and interact with it to enter the Animus Rift. Here, you’ll be welcomed by EGO, and the quest will start in full.
There are a lot of narrative linear sections where all you have to do is follow EGO and interact with the scenes he is presenting. Whenever in doubt about where to go, look for his orange silhouette, and you’ll be on the right path.
The first platforming segment you’ll find works as a tutorial for the rest of the quest. You want to put down the chest and head right to reach the ship wheel to unlock the boat.
Return to pick up the chest and walk to the boat. This will put you in an on-rails sequence that takes you to the next platforming section.
After a short walk, you’ll reach the next platforming section; here you’ll have to reach two ship wheels to unlock the boat.
First, you want to reach the left wheel; leave the chest right where you’re standing; you’ll have more than enough time to return.
To reach the wheel on the right, use the lift to go up the wall and go through a series of jumps to reach the second wheel. When you’re done, use the zipline to return and pick up the chest.
Same thing as before, get on the boat and walk a bit, following EGO until you reach the next platforming section.
On the next one, you have to reach a wheel a bit further away. Start by taking a leap of faith to a pond below and up the wall with the small cart.
Keep going until you reach the wheel. There, you’ll find a lift that puts you on a zipline that takes you back to the starting point. Pick up the chest and get on the boat.
The boat will take you to a section full of spikes on the floor. Trust EGO and jump; a platform will materialize and protect you. This will take you to a section where you can make a choice that slightly alters the end of this quest and its rewards.
A new AI called The Eagle will appear and urge you not to trust EGO. Here you can make a choice: wait and listen to EGO, or listen to The Eagle and take a leap of faith.
Should you Listen to The Eagle or EGO?
If you decide to trust EGO and wait, he will congratulate you, and a boat will appear, taking you to the final dialogue sequence of the quest. This sequence doesn’t change regardless of which path you take.
You’ll have finished the quest, and you’ll return to Great Inagua to claim your rewards. It’s important to note that the rewards vary slightly depending on the route you choose to take
If you decide to listen to The Eagle and take a leap of faith, you’ll be sent to a couple more platforming sections before finishing the quest.
First, you’ll land in an underwater section filled with jellyfish. Swim towards the exit and don’t worry about your breath meter; once you go through the exit, it’ll stop depleting.
Here you’ll be pulled into an on-rails sequence where you have to dodge through a series of jellyfish walls with small circular openings for you to go through by going left or right. This is the most difficult section of the quest, but with some quick reflexes, you’ll make it through.
After surviving the jellyfish of doom, you’ll appear in a room where EGO tries to keep you down. Once you’re capable of moving, climb up the post and move forward.
You’ll start losing health as when you moved away from the chest, but there is no chest in this section. You’ll reach the room with the spikes once again, but this time there’s no protective barrier, so use the posts and walls to cross the room and reach the end of the quest.
Here, a white portal will open that will take you to the final dialogue sequence and back to Great Inagua to receive your rewards for finishing the first Rift Quest.
Quest Rewards
No matter which route you decide to take, you’ll be rewarded with the Lock of Hair rare trinket.
In addition to this trinket, if you went with the Eagle route, you’ll receive an extra 5000 Reales for completing the quest.
If you decide to complete all four Rift Quests, you’ll receive the legendary Dark Animus Corsair Pistol Sword. Keep in mind that to do the last Rift Quest, you’ll have to wait until after the epilogue of the game, when the last Rift unlocks.
