Using the fog to hide itself, the Legendary Ship HMS Prince makes for a fun naval battle in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. We’ll show you how to find it in the fog, how to sink it, and show the Vanity rewards you’ll get from defeating the HMS Prince.
What are Legendary Ships
Legendary Ships are the most difficult naval combat encounters that Black Flag Resynced offers. Each ship has their own unique gimmick or mechanic that you must work around (or with) in order to succeed.
It’s highly recommended that you fully upgrade the Jackdaw and unlock all of its weapons before attempting these fights. While you can unlock these rather early on, this is most definitely a late game activity.
Legendary Ships Guide – Assassin’s Creed Black Flag ResyncedHow to unlock the HMS Prince
To unlock the HMS Prince, you’ll need to take over Fort Navassa. After taking over the Fort, the HMS Prince will appear in the southeast area of Navassa at (854,55).
HMS Prince Basic Overview
Typically a Legendary Ship will have some kind of gimmick that makes it difficult in some manner. The HMS Prince lacks any mechanical gimmick, creating for a good old fashioned naval battle.
Don’t let that lower your guard as it still packs a punch. What it lacks in mechanical difficulty, it makes up for with its atmosphere ten times over. With its worn sails and foggy arena, it’s like your fighting a ghost ship.
As the fight progresses to the second phase, the HMS Prince will sail away into the fog to hide. You must watch out for mortars and avoid them as you chase down the HMS Prince to fight it up close once more.
Which Weapons to Prioritize
For your Broadside Cannons, have them set to the Heated Shot. Your Mortars should be the Deadman Cohort Mortars, Barrel Launcher set to Shrapnel Barrels, and your Front Cannons can be either Chain Shot or Double Shot.
Since this is a relatively simple ship battle, you can use about any weapon rather well. You’ll want to use the Heated Shot for your broadsides whenever possible. Due to distance differences that occur throughout the fight, you must be prepared to swap to Round Shot amidst the chaos.
Strategy for fighting the HMS Prince
Besides the fog it’ll use as cover, the HMS Prince likes to fire lines of mortars in an area. These fire rather high into the sky, so get a feel for when they’re about to land by listening to their sounds.
While you can view the orange areas on the water, it’s possible to miss as your attention may be needed elsewhere or the stormy waters create a high wave that hide the mortar areas from you. Use your ears and not your eyes to defend against them when in close combat.
At the start of the fight, the HMS Prince will fire some mortars and try to face its broadsides to you. Avoid or brace against the mortars, and sail in the opposite direction of the Prince.
What you want to do is maintain Full Sail while turning to go in a circle. The Prince will match your movement and this becomes a fight where each ship is using their Broadside Cannons while moving in a circle.
Try to use Heated Shot for good damage. If it’s out of range, use the Round Shot instead. As always, pop any weak spots with the Swivel Gun.
Continue bracing against any of its cannon fire or mortars. Watch for the light of its broadside cannons as this is a good visual indicator on when to brace. The fog can make it hard to see the Round Shots coming at a distance.
So long as you’re always turning at Full Sail, you should make a good circle. This means if you launch some barrels while turning, the HMS Prince will eventually run into them.
Using Shrapnel Barrels can immobilize it, letting you hit an easy Deadman Mortar and some time to ram it before the loop begins again. Do note it can launch its own Fire Barrels in response to you getting too close.
Avoiding Mortars in the Second
When it reaches the second phase upon losing one third of its health, a horn will sound and it’ll sail away into the fog.
Fog of War
Marking the Prince with your Spyglass is mostly useless as you’ll lose the marker on it once it goes past 500 meters. It’ll be getting far away and continue moving around in the distance under the cover of fog to fire mortars.
Regardless, mark it so you can monitor distance for your weapons when it’s close. Before it gets too far away, keep an eye on it. If you know the general direction it’s in, you’ll see its silhouette when it fires mortars or when lightning strikes.
Moving in a Zigzag Pattern
You’ll need to reach the HMS Prince while avoiding mortar fire. It tends to fire a horizontal line of mortars on your left then right repeatedly. You’ll need to adjust your speed for sharp turns to zigzag your way back to the Prince.
Try to avoid losing sight of the HMS Prince’s general direction. This makes it hard to recover as you’ll be spending more time looking for it rather than looking for its mortar fire coming your way.
Provoke the HMS Prince when close
When you get close, provoke it with cannon fire to start the loop process again. It’s easier to tell when to brace against its broadside cannons in this phase as they now fire Heated Shots.
The HMS Prince will also start laying down its own Fire Barrels when you get close to it. Using Shrapnel Barrels will help you keep track of which barrels are yours as the large cluster are shrapnel, and the small clusters are fire.
Fighting the HMS Prince in the Third Phase
Once the HMS Prince loses two thirds of its health, it’ll sail away again. Repeat the process of avoiding its mortars, chasing it down, provoking it, loop around, and you’ll sink it in no time.
The Prince is going to get much more aggressive in the third phase. It can now fire two waves of mortars in quick succession followed by a volley of Heated Shots. Force it back into the loop as soon as possible so you can finish it off before the mortars sink you.
Rewards
After defeating the HMS Prince, you’ll receive 12,000 Reales and the following rewards:
HMS Prince Ship Model
The HMS Prince Ship Model lacks the tattered and torn sails of the ship you fought previously. This is likely how it looked before its captain decided to take advantage of superstitious fear.
HMS Prince Sails
The HMS Prince Sails are worn, torn, and can make you feel forlorn. Despite the holes, it’ll sail as fast as any other sail as the tears are purely cosmetic.
HMS Prince Hull
The HMS Prince Hull features subtle and desaturated colors. The hull as aged teal paint that give it an eerie vibe.
HMS Prince Figurehead
The HMS Prince Figurehead is a hooded figure with no face in said hood. This ghostly figurehead provides an air of menace to the Jackdaw.
HMS Prince Wheel
The HMS Prince Wheel is rather pretty despite the otherwise spooky set. It featured gilded floral designs and Celtic style patterns in the center and around the wheel.
Accessorizing Further
If you want to add the cherry on top to your spooky ship, you can’t go wrong with the Deceased Crew Attire from the Secret Island Vendor! For the small price of 206 bones (worth 206,000 reales), you’ll have everything you need to scare every ship in the Caribbean.
HMS Prince Fight Summary
The HMS Prince is a good Legendary Ship to start out with before moving onto the others. Just remember to do the following:
- Go Full Sail while turning to make a loop with the HMS Prince
- Launch Barrels whenever you can to damage the Prince when it reaches them in the loop
- Use your ears to determine when to brace against the Prince’s mortars
- Don’t lose the Prince’s general direction when it sails away. Look for its silhouette when it fires mortars or when lightning strikes.
- Zigzag through the mortar fire when catching up to the HMS Prince.
Achievements
- Devil of the Caribbean – Defeat all Legendary Ships
- Dilettante – Fill all Art Collection and Equipment slots in the Great Inagua manor. These items are also found in quests, sold by vendors, or obtained when defeating a new ship for the first time.
How to beat the other Legendary Ships
There are a total of four Legendary Ship encounters you can unlock (five if you count the HMS Ipswich from A World Without Gold). You must be prepared to take on these as well and adapt to their fighting styles to succeed.
El Impoluto
El Impoluto is the fastest of the Legendary Ships. It’ll use this speed to repeatedly ram into you, sail away, and repeat the process. There is no way for you to catch up to it as its default speed is faster than your Ram Dash speed.
HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign
The HMS Fearless and Royal Sovereign work as a pair to sail by, sandwiching you while unloading their broadside cannons on you at the same time. They are as spiteful as they are cooperative as sinking one before the other will cause the other to enrage.
La Dama Negra
La Dama Negra is the most durable of the Legendary Ships. Damage against her broadsides will do almost nothing, so careful shot placement is key to survive against her. Despite her remaining stationary for half the fight, she’s hardly a sitting duck.
