Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced adds three new Naval Officers to the Jackdaw's roster, each one changing how you approach open-sea combat. The Master Gunner, a grizzled sailor named Tobias Smith but known to the crew as Deadman, is the most powerful of the three. He upgrades your broadside cannons in a way that fundamentally changes how naval fights play out. Getting him takes more work than the other officers, but the payoff is worth every step.
How do you unlock the Master Gunner in Black Flag Resynced?
Deadman is not available from the start, and you cannot stumble into his questline early. The unlock path is gated behind meaningful story progress, so expect to put in several hours before he becomes available.
Here is the exact sequence of steps you need to follow:
- Progress through the main story until you complete Sequence 11: Everything Is Permitted.
- Finishing Sequence 11 unlocks a new side quest chain called A World Without Gold.
- Work through the A World Without Gold questline until you complete the specific side quest titled A World Without Gold: I Just Want To Talk.
- At that point, Deadman joins the Jackdaw's crew and the Extra Salvo upgrade becomes active immediately.
Extra Salvo broadside upgrade
What does the Master Gunner actually do?
Once Deadman is aboard, your Broadside Cannons gain the Extra Salvo upgrade. The mechanic works like this: after your initial broadside fires, both cannons automatically fire one additional time after a short delay. The follow-up volley deals the same damage as the first.
The trade-off is positioning. To get full value from Extra Salvo, you need to hold your broadside angle on the target long enough for the second volley to land. That means staying exposed to return fire for longer than you normally would. Against weaker ships, that is a non-issue. Against heavily armed frigates or man-o'-wars, you will need to time your approach carefully so the extra damage pays off without taking a punishing broadside in return.
How does the Master Gunner compare to the other new Naval Officers?
All three new officers added in Black Flag Resynced serve different roles on the Jackdaw. Here is a quick breakdown of how they stack up:
Deadman is the most demanding unlock of the three, but his upgrade directly amplifies your offensive output in naval combat, which is where most of your time in Black Flag Resynced gets spent.
A World Without Gold quest chain
Is the Master Gunner worth the effort?
Short answer: yes. Extra Salvo effectively doubles your broadside damage output on any target you can keep in your sights. For players who invest heavily in naval combat and ship upgrades, Deadman is the single biggest offensive multiplier available through the new officer system. The positioning requirement adds a layer of skill to naval fights that makes victories feel earned rather than automatic.
For context on how the new officer system fits into the broader changes Ubisoft made to the original game, the full breakdown of every new feature in Black Flag Resynced covers dual-wield combat, the three officers, and everything else that has changed.
What is the fastest path to unlocking Deadman?
If your goal is to get Deadman as efficiently as possible, focus on the main story first. Side content and exploration can wait. Push through to Sequence 11 without detours, then immediately start the A World Without Gold questline the moment it unlocks. Complete each quest in the chain in order until A World Without Gold: I Just Want To Talk is done.
There is no shortcut around the questline itself, but players who know the unlock condition ahead of time will avoid the frustration of searching for Deadman before the prerequisite is met.
For a full picture of how long reaching Sequence 11 will take depending on your playstyle, check out the guide on how long it takes to beat Black Flag Resynced. For everything else you need on the game, the Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced guide collection has you covered.