The Jackdaw starts out fragile. A few well-placed cannonballs from even a mid-tier brig can send Edward Kenway straight to the ocean floor, and early-game Reales are scarce enough that buying the wrong upgrades first means spending hours underpowered in waters that punish hesitation. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced throws you into naval combat almost immediately, so knowing exactly where to spend your resources separates a smooth playthrough from a frustrating one.
How do you upgrade the Jackdaw?
All Jackdaw upgrades run through the Harbourmaster, a vendor marked by a ship icon on your map in most major port towns. Speak to them and select the Upgrade Ship option to access the full upgrade menu.
Here's the catch: the upgrade tiers are gated behind the Harbourmaster's own level. To push past the early tiers, you need to liberate Great Inagua during the main campaign. Once the island is under your control, find the man on the dock with the Harbourmaster icon and speak with him. He'll let you install a Harbourmaster stall on the island, which you can then upgrade further through repeated conversations. Each level unlocks deeper upgrade tiers, which is what you need to take on the tougher forts and high-level ships scattered across the map.
Mortar long-range fire
What are the best Jackdaw upgrades to buy first?
Not every upgrade deserves your Reales at the same time. Below is the priority order based on what actually keeps you alive and dealing damage across the full playthrough.
Round and Heated Shot
Round and Heated Shot is the single most important upgrade line on the Jackdaw. It directly increases the damage output of your Broadside Cannons across all tiers, with the stat topping out at a +160% damage increase at max level. Since your broadside cannons are the weapon you fire most often in naval combat, pouring resources into this upgrade has an immediate and obvious effect on how fast enemy ships go down.
The upgrade also boosts Heated Shot, the flaming cannonball variant that deals some of the highest burst damage available in naval encounters. Consistently landing Heated Shot on enemy hulls is one of the fastest ways to end fights, so anything that amplifies that damage is worth prioritizing.
Armored Hull
Offense means nothing if your ship sinks before the enemy does. Armored Hull upgrades raise the Jackdaw's maximum health, scaling up to 5000 HP at max level across its 5 upgrade tiers. The base armor is genuinely low, and multiple ships attacking at once (which happens constantly in open-water encounters and fort assaults) can shred through it faster than you'd expect.
This upgrade pairs directly with Round and Heated Shot. More health means more time to line up broadside volleys without panicking, and it reduces how often you need to break off combat for repairs. For a full breakdown of keeping the Jackdaw seaworthy, check out the guide on how to repair your ship in AC Black Flag Resynced.
Armored Hull max HP values
Broadside Cannons
Broadside Cannons upgrades increase the number of cannons mounted on the Jackdaw's sides, maxing out at 18 cannons across 7 upgrade tiers. More cannons mean more projectiles per volley, which translates to a larger hit area on enemy ships and more consistent damage even when your aim isn't perfect.
This upgrade becomes noticeably more valuable once you start fighting larger vessels. Schooners and small brigs don't have much surface area to hit, so the extra cannons don't matter as much early on. Against Man-o-Wars and fortified ships, the additional firepower makes a real difference. The extra shots also create more openings to use the Swivel Gun, which benefits from enemies being distracted by broadside fire.
Mortar
The Mortar adds a long-range weapon system to the Jackdaw that operates completely independently from the broadside cannons. It's especially effective against Forts, where the stationary towers can't dodge incoming fire and the sustained mortar strikes stack up damage quickly before you close in.
Mortar damage scales up to +400% at max level across 5 tiers, making it one of the highest-damage ceilings in the entire upgrade list. The tradeoff is limited ammunition, which is why Mortar Storage upgrades matter too. Storage maxes out at 20 shots across 4 tiers, so upgrading both in tandem keeps you from running dry mid-fight against a tough target.
Using the Mortar as an opening attack before switching to broadsides is a reliable pattern for taking down high-level ships with minimal hull damage to the Jackdaw.
Ram
The Ram is easy to overlook because it requires you to charge directly at enemy ships, which puts you in the line of fire. Once you unlock your Master at Arms officer, however, the Ram becomes a legitimate combat tool. The officer unlocks a dedicated ram ability triggered by pressing both bumpers simultaneously, and it hits hard enough to destroy lower-tier ships outright.
Upgrading Ram amplifies that ability's damage, letting you plow through groups of weaker ships without spending broadside ammunition. It's particularly useful for thinning out a fleet quickly before focusing on the larger targets. The upgrade is often overlooked, but after testing it against clusters of schooners and brigs, it's clear the damage output justifies the investment.
Crew Quarters
Crew Quarters upgrades increase the size of your pirate crew, which directly affects boarding success rates. A larger crew keeps enemy sailors occupied during boarding sequences, which matters most when taking on Man-o-Wars. These ships require completing multiple objectives to capture, and having more friendly pirates means less chance of getting overwhelmed before you finish the job.
This upgrade is lower priority than the combat-focused ones early on, but it becomes more relevant as you push toward the game's tougher boarding encounters.
Harpoon
Harpoon upgrades are tied to the Harbourmaster rather than the Jackdaw directly, but they're worth mentioning here. Hunting sharks and whales provides materials used to upgrade Edward Kenway's personal gear, and once you move past bull sharks to larger prey, the base harpoon damage isn't enough to finish kills before you run out of spears.
The harpoon upgrade line is cheap relative to the ship upgrades, so grab it when you have spare Reales rather than letting it sit untouched.
Getting the most out of your upgrades
The upgrade system rewards players who focus on a clear path rather than spreading resources thin. Pouring early Reales into Round and Heated Shot and Armored Hull simultaneously gives you the damage to end fights quickly and the health to survive mistakes. Once those two lines are at a comfortable tier, adding Broadside Cannons and Mortar fills out the Jackdaw's combat range from close quarters to long distance.
For players new to the game, the AC Black Flag Resynced beginner tips and tricks guide covers the broader early-game systems that feed into your upgrade economy, including how to farm the Reales you need to keep the Jackdaw competitive. For everything else, the full AC Black Flag Resynced guide collection has you covered from hideout upgrades to legendary ship encounters.