How to unlock all Officers and Ship Abilities in Black Flag Resynced
There are three optional officers in Black Flag Resynced, each of which unlocks new powers for the Jackdaw
Officers in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced are a new feature wherein you can recruit new crew members onto the Jackdaw to unlock extra abilities for your ship. While there are a couple of Officers who are recruited as part of the main story and can't be missed, there are also a few optional officers who you'll need to find and recruit off your own back. Below I'll show you how to unlock every crewmember for the Jackdaw in Black Flag Resynced, as well as what ability each officer unlocks.
Warning: the following guide contains minor spoilers for the plot of Black Flag Resynced, but all details are kept to an absolute minimum.
How to Unlock all Officers in Black Flag
There are a total of 5 Officers for the Jackdaw in Black Flag, but only three are optional and unlock extra abilities. I've laid out how to get all of them below.
Officer | How to unlock: | Optional? | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
Adewale | Complete the story mission "The Treasure Fleet". | No | Quartermaster |
Lucy Baldwin | Complete the story mission "This Old Cove". A side quest called "A Proper Shipwright" will appear in Great Inagua (465, 608). Complete this to recruit Baldwin. | Yes | Shipwright |
The Padre | Complete the story mission "This Old Cove". A side quest called "A Second Chance" will appear at Punta del Caracol (918, 340). Complete this to recruit The Padre. | Yes | Man-at-Arms |
Anne Bonny | Complete the story mission "Everything is Permitted". | No | Quartermaster |
Tobias "Deadman" Smith | Recruit The Padre and Lucy Baldwin. Complete the story mission "Everything is Permitted", and the side quest "A World Without Gold: I Just Want to Talk". A side quest entitled "No Box Dark Enough" should appear at Great Inagua (822, 446). Complete this to recruit Deadman. | Yes | Weapon Master |
It's Deadman that's the late-game unlock, which arguably makes sense considering that his abilities are some of the best. However, if you want to prioritize one early on, you should definitely recruit Lucy Baldwin, as her defensive Perfect Brace power is a serious game-changer.
It's also true that each optional Officer has a quest chain of three-to-four missions, though you need only complete the first one to add them to your crew.
All Officer abilities in Black Flag Resynced
Below we lay out all the abilities of the three optional Officers and what they do when unlocked and added to your team.
- Lucy Baldwin: Perfect Brace. Bracing just before you take damage massively increases the Jackdaw's resilience and reduces that damage even further.
- The Padre: Ram-Dash. Press L1+R1/LB+RB to charge the Jackdaw forward and do massive damage to the first thing it rams. Has a long cooldown.
- Tobias "Deadman" Smith: Extra Salvo and Cohort Mortar. When first recruited, Deadman adds an additional Salvo to your Broadside Cannons, increasing their firepower. However, after completing several of his missions and reaching the quest "Very Little, But Something", he also unlocks "Deadman's Cohort Mortar", an alternative fire mode for the Mortar that allows you to fire a stream of bombs.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
