Learn what gear works best against the El Tiburon boss in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Find out how to remove his armor to make the fight easy and what rewards you earn for beating him.
The Tainted Blood Quest
You’ll fight El Tiburon towards the end of Black Flag’s main story. In this quest, you go to Havana to assassinate Governor Torres. As you learn in the marketplace, this was a trap by the Templars to have El Tiburon deal with Kenway.
In the game, Tiburón is spelled with an accented ó. In spanish, this accent indicates which syllable must be stressed. This is important because, in some cases, it is the only way to distinguish different words. Though it’s not the case for Tiburón. El Tiburón is Spanish for “The Shark”
Recommended Gear for El Tiburon boss fight
This fight benefits from two specific weapons: Ezio’s Sword and the Dark Animus Corsair Flintlocks. If you want to unlock these, you’ll need to complete Anomaly Quests.
Ezio’s Swords
Ezio’s Sword can be purchased in the Animus Exchange with Keys. You’ll earn Keys as a Project Reward or randomly found in the world. These swords will let you parry El Tiburon’s axe swings.
Dark Animus Corsair Flintlocks
The Dark Animus Corsair Flintlocks are useful for dealing with El Tiburon’s reinforcements. As they come in groups of four, you can quickly take them out with a couple shots as they’ll ricochet. You’ll earn this pistol early on in the Eye in the Dark Project.
Obsidian Monolith Trinket
The Obsidian Monolith is earned through the Eye in the Dark Project. This widens the Perfect Dodge window which is useful for this fight. El Tiburon only has red glint attacks that hit like a truck. Increase your survivability by dodging more easily.
Lock of Hair Trinket
The Lock of Hair trinket is more useful if you have Ezio’s Swords. Parrying El Tiburon’s attacks will let you regain health. This allows you to use your Remedies more sparingly. You can earn this from the Wayward Souls Rift Quest at Great Inagua.
Small Goblet Trinket
You can obtain the Small Goblet Trinket by completing Officer Quests for Padre. By helping Padre deal with his past demons, you’ll get this trinket which increases the amount of health gained from Food, Drink, and Remedies. You can find food and drink in the arena, so this gives them a bit of a boost for health restoration.
El Tiburon Boss Fight Video Guide
How to Remove El Tiburon’s Armor
El Tiburon wears a thick set of plate armor, making him immune to damage from most attacks. If you want to deal any damage to him, you’ll need to weaken his armor. You’ll have to ways of doing that!
Manually Aim your Pistol
Likely the “intended’ method of removing his armor, you’ll need to manually aim your pistol at him. Quick Fire will not work against him. As you aim your pistol, you’ll notice his pauldron becomes highlighted red.
Aim for and shoot his pauldron. Repeat this with his second pauldron then shoot his chestplate to knock off his helmet.
Use the Explosive Barrels
In the Marketplace, there are three small explosive barrels. Two are to the west while one is to the east. Lure El Tiburon to them or drop them near him, then shoot the barrels to immediately remove his helmet.
Be careful when carrying these barrels while El Tiburon is aiming his pistol at you. He might just end up shooting the barrel and let your plan blow up in your face. You can continue to use these throughout the fight to get some good damage in.
Strategy for beating El Tiburon
With El Tiburon’s helmet gone, you’re getting into the nitty gritty of the fight. The strategy to defeat him depends on your loadout.
If by some chance you don’t have the opportunity to acquire Ezio’s Swords or Dark Animus Flintlocks, you can still defeat him with brute force.
Note Locations of Resources
Throughout the marketplace are areas you can use if your supplies run low. You’ll find Food, Drink, Bullets, and a Remedy box throughout the marketplace.
These will respawn after a short duration of time. If you really needed to, you can run around collecting these items until you feel confident fighting again.
Dealing with the Backup
Every so often, El Tiburon will summon a group of four soldiers to attack you. Use the Dark Animus Corsair Flintlocks to quickly kill them off. With his helmet down, this can deal some chip damage to El Tiburon.
If you don’t have these pistols, use a sword with a three to four takedown maximum. Parry one soldier then chain takedown the rest.
Use Pistols or Parry Attacks
While you cannot normally parry his attacks without Ezio’s Sword, there’s still a way to break his guard. Simply shoot him repeatedly to drain his yellow bar. When his guard is broken, use a Takedown on him to deal massive damage.
If you’re using Ezio’s Swords, simply parry his attacks until his guard is broken, then use a Takedown attack.
Take Advantage of Openings
If you keep your distance, El Tiburon will pull out his pistol and aim at you. Manually aim at his head and shoot him before he fires. Unload every pistol you have to take out a good chunk of health off him.
