Black Flag Resynced: How to Capture Every Fort in the Caribbean

Forts are the eleven military strongholds that lock down each region of the Caribbean in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Each one is held by Spanish or British forces, and taking it flips control of the surrounding waters to the pirates for the rest of your playthrough. Every capture runs the same way. You break the fort’s naval defenses with the Jackdaw, then storm it on foot and kill the commander inside.

Quick answer: Destroy every defensive section with the Jackdaw (mortar first, keep moving), sink or board all hostile ships nearby to clear the “In Combat” flag, then dock, drain the morale bar on foot, and defeat the fort commander to trigger the capture cutscene. The fort’s icon turns gold and can never be retaken.

All 11 Fort Locations and Skull Ratings

There are eleven forts, one per major region. Ten of them show up on your map as bright red castle icons from the start, even in regions you haven’t sailed near yet. The skull count marks strength, running from one skull (weakest) to three skulls (strongest). A captured fort turns gold, so nothing here is missable.

Region	Coordinates	Difficulty
Dry Tortuga	223, 721	One skull
Eleuthera	691, 761	One skull
Gibara	627, 493	One skull
Punta Guarico	745, 378	Two skulls (story)
Cruz	537, 360	Two skulls
Castillo de Jagua	328, 537	Two skulls
Conttoyor	75, 522	Two skulls
Chinchorro	91, 334	Three skulls
Serranilla	316, 118	Three skulls
Charlotte	440, 245	Three skulls
Navassa	700, 192	Three skulls

What order to capture forts in

Treat skull tiers as upgrade gates rather than a difficulty you can brute-force. Start with the three one-skull forts, since Dry Tortuga, Eleuthera, and Gibara all sit in the northern waters where you spend the early game. A lightly upgraded Jackdaw can clear them, and you can attack them as soon as you have free roam with the ship, well before the story ever explains forts.

Spend each payout on hull armor, cannons, and the mortar before you move up a tier. If a two-skull fort keeps sinking the Jackdaw, leave it, upgrade, and come back. Hold off on the three-skull forts until your ship can survive heavier tower fire and Man O’ War escorts. Rushing them with an underpowered ship just gets you shredded before you close the distance.

Punta Guarico is the only story-locked fort

If you sail to 745, 378 and find nothing, you haven’t reached the right story beat yet. Punta Guarico does not appear on the map until the mission The Forts, which starts at Old Avery’s bar in Nassau after you finish Overrun and Outnumbered. Edward attacks a weakened version of the fort during that mission as a tutorial, and you capture it there.

During that assault, sink the Spanish ships around the fort first so you can bombard the towers without taking broadsides from behind. The other ten forts do not require any story progress and can be attacked whenever your ship is ready.

Phase one: Destroy the fort’s naval defenses

Every capture opens with a naval fight against the fort’s walls and cannon towers. Each defensive section has its own health bar, and the fort keeps firing until all of them are empty. Commit once you start, because forts slowly rebuild their defenses the moment you sail out of their zone.

Clear the patrol ships first. Hostile vessels near the fort instantly aggro on you and keep you flagged as “In Combat.” Lure smaller ships away with a mortar shell so the fort doesn’t pile on while you sink them.

Open with the mortar. The fort never moves, so a full mortar barrage lands every shell and can strip an entire defensive section on its own, especially once the weapon is upgraded. Approach at the fort’s flank rather than head-on and focus one tower at a time until its bar is gone.

Finish damaged sections with broadsides. After the mortar softens a tower, close in and hit it with your broadside cannons to bring the bar down. Cannon hits expose glowing red weak spots, so target those immediately for heavy structural damage.

Keep moving and brace when you can’t dodge. Fort mortars mark their landing zones with orange circles on the water, so steer clear of them and never slow down to line up a perfect shot. If a hit is unavoidable, Brace to cut the damage instead of trying to tank it.

Board a ship if you need repairs. When the Jackdaw is badly damaged, board a nearby hostile vessel instead of sinking it and pick the Restore Health option. Stay inside the fort’s zone while you do this so the defenses don’t start rebuilding.

Tip: If a fort area is crowded with Man O’ Wars, you don’t have to force the fight. Fast-travel to a nearby island, then sail back, and the ships around the fort will often have rotated into a friendlier lineup.

Note: If the towers are down but the game won’t let you dock, you’re still flagged as “In Combat” with a straggling ship. Chase it down, board it, or sail just far enough to break its aggro, and the docking prompt will appear.

Phase two: Storm the fort on foot

With the defenses down and no ships attacking you, anchor the Jackdaw at the fort’s dock and lead Edward and the crew ashore. This plays like boarding an enemy ship, just across a larger battlefield. Your goal is to drain the morale bar in the top-left corner by killing defenders. There’s no timer, so take your time.

Let the crew pull attention. Your pirates charge ahead and distract most of the guards, so circle the edges of the fight for easy Hidden Blade assassinations instead of meeting everyone head-on.

Stun Captains with the Rope Dart. Captains block your strikes and shoot from range, so hit them with the Rope Dart first to stun them, then break their guard for a quick takedown.

Use Flintlock Pistols when surrounded. If several soldiers corner you, fire your pistols to stagger or kill the weaker ones, then switch back to melee to handle the rest.

Breach the war room door. Once the morale bar empties, a prompt appears to break down the heavy door at the top of the fort alongside a crew member.

Defeat the commander. The fort leader inside fights like a tougher standard enemy, not a boss, and can be killed with normal combat. Once he’s down, a cutscene plays and the region falls under pirate control.

How to confirm a capture and what you earn

You know a fort is yours when the capture cutscene plays and its map icon changes from red to gold. That fort can never be retaken, so the region stays clear for the rest of your save. Each capture pays out more than any other repeatable activity, and the strategic rewards stack across your whole playthrough.

Reward	What it does
Fast travel point	Fort becomes a permanent fast-travel location, cutting sailing time.
Full region reveal	Fog of war lifts, exposing islands, harpoon hunting grounds, smuggler’s caves, legendary ships, and diving spots.
Reales	A large stack of money drops on capture, funding early ship upgrades.
Upgrade materials	Wood, metal, and cloth arrive alongside the money for Jackdaw upgrades.
Ship cosmetics	Unique cosmetic options for the Jackdaw.
Kenway’s Fleet access	Unlocks passive-income fleet missions in that region. More forts means more simultaneous missions.

The region reveal is the quiet standout, since it marks the legendary ship arenas and every point of interest you’d otherwise hunt blindly. Because of that, capturing forts before you start any collectible sweep turns the hunt into a simple checklist, and your fleet’s passive income starts ticking hours earlier. Grab the three northern one-skull forts first, reinvest the payout in your hull and mortar, and work up through the tougher tiers as the Jackdaw grows into them.