Black Flag Resynced New Game+ guide: Nightmare, Escudos
Black Flag Resynced New Game+ guide: what carries over, how Escudos and five NG+ cycles work, and every Nightmare change to combat, stealth and ships.
Checked against Title Update 1.0.8 on 7 Nov 2026. We re-test every guide after major updates; if something changed, tell us.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced now has a proper endgame: Title Update 1.0.8 added New Game+ (up to five stacking cycles), a Nightmare difficulty and a new currency called Escudos. This guide explains what carries over into a new run, what resets, how Nightmare changes combat, stealth and ship fights, and how to plan your first New Game+ cycle without wasting time.
Ubisoft calls Title Update 1.0.8 the final major content update for the remake, released on October 27, 2026 at 14:00 UTC on all platforms, with smaller quality-of-life updates planned over the coming months. Everything below comes from the official 1.0.8 patch notes and Ubisoft's update announcement.
What Title Update 1.0.8 adds
Black Flag Resynced is Ubisoft Singapore's remake of the 2013 pirate adventure, released on July 9, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and covered in more depth on our game hub. For its first months the remake had no way to replay Edward Kenway's story with your gear intact. The final major update fixes that and bundles several other additions:
- New Game+. Restart the story while keeping most of your progression, with up to five cycles (NG+++++), each one harder than the last.
- Nightmare difficulty. A harder rule set for ground combat, stealth, naval combat and activities such as diving.
- Escudos. A new New Game+ currency earned from challenges and from looting chests you already opened, spent on NG+-exclusive outfits and items.
- Hidden community chests. Harder to find, with no hints, and some contain rewards the community asked for.
- Original takedown animations. Hidden blade, unarmed, single sword and gunblade takedowns from the original game return.
- Cosmetics. New outfits, pet skins and trinkets, many tied to New Game+.
The patch also makes rogue waves occur more frequently during storms, which matters if you plan to sail through weather in Nightmare. It ships with a long list of fixes, covered near the end of this guide.
How New Game+ works
New Game+ restarts Edward's story from the beginning but lets you keep the toolkit you spent a whole campaign building. The patch notes are specific about what you keep and what you lose, which is the single most useful thing to understand before you start.
What carries over
| Category | Carries into New Game+ |
|---|---|
| Edward's kit | Tools, upgrades, weapons and trinkets |
| The Jackdaw | Ship upgrades, officer abilities and pets |
| Economy | Money, materials and trade goods |
| Cosmetics | Outfits and store purchases |
| Hideout | Progression, perks and art |
| Fleet and maps | Kenway fleet ships and codex treasure maps |
What resets
Quest items are removed, officers must be recruited again, and forts must be retaken because the map fog resets. Ubisoft's announcement adds that Jackdaw and hideout upgrades stay in place but that you regain access to each of them through story progression. In other words, you will not sail into the opening hours with a fully armoured ship, but you will have the upgrade pool waiting as the campaign unlocks each system again.
Treat the first few story hours of a New Game+ cycle as a shopping and cleanup window. Retaking forts and re-recruiting officers is the slow part, so tackle both while the opening enemies are still weak.
Escudos, the new currency
Escudos are earned through challenges and by looting chests you completed earlier. You can exchange them for Reales at the General Store and spend them on New Game+-exclusive outfits and items. Purchases made with Reales are unchanged. Because chests you already looted can pay Escudos again, a New Game+ run is the natural moment to sweep the map for treasure you left behind.
Cycles and scaling
You can play up to five New Game+ cycles. Each cycle adds more Elite Soldiers and max-rank patrol ships, so the world gets steadily more dangerous even before you switch on Nightmare. A sensible approach is to take one cycle at a time, enjoy the carried-over power curve, and only stack a second or third cycle once you are confident with parries and ship tactics.
Nightmare difficulty explained
Nightmare is a separate difficulty. According to Ubisoft's announcement it is available regardless of story progress, and it can be tuned independently for combat, stealth, naval encounters and activities, so you do not need to finish the campaign first and you can mix and match the pressure. The patch notes list the changes per area.
| Area | What changes in Nightmare |
|---|---|
| Ground combat | Enemies deal 1.8x damage, parry timing is reduced, attacks lose the white glint, ranged enemies fire more often and the one-shot kill safety is disabled |
| Stealth | Detection time is greatly reduced, investigation lasts longer, enemies hear you if you move faster than a walk, and a high spot must be at least 6 m above an enemy (previously 4 m) |
| Naval | All ship damage is increased |
| Activities | Sharks deal more damage, urchin and jellyfish damage is doubled, oxygen depletes faster, harpoonable wildlife hits harder |
Ground combat tips
With the white glint removed, you can no longer rely on the visual cue that marks an incoming attack, so watch enemy animations and sound instead. The shorter parry window rewards consistent timing over button mashing, and 1.8x damage means a bad exchange is punished quickly. Since the one-shot kill safety is gone, a stray hit can end a fight you thought you controlled, so keep healing items stocked and use the carried-over upgrades you built for exactly this purpose.
Stealth tips
The biggest stealth change is movement. Enemies hear you when you move faster than a walk, so sprinting past a patrol is no longer a free escape. Stay at walking speed near guards, and remember that perches now need to be higher: at least 6 m above an enemy instead of 4 m. Longer investigation times also mean a guard who spots something will keep searching for longer, which makes leaving the area quietly more important than hiding in the same bush.
Naval and activity tips
Increased ship damage works both ways, so the Jackdaw's carried-over upgrades are your best friend. Close in on weaker ships with a plan, avoid fighting several vessels in open water, and keep in mind that rogue waves now occur more often in storms. For diving and hunting, oxygen drains faster and sea life hits harder, so surface early and approach harpoon targets with a clear exit route.
Start with Nightmare on only one or two categories if you are unsure. Because the settings are independent, you can keep naval and activities at a normal difficulty while you learn the combat and stealth rules.
A first New Game+ plan
The patch notes tell you what changes; the plan below is our suggested way to use those changes. It is advice rather than an official route.
- Finish the campaign firstNew Game+ is built around carrying a completed progression forward, so reach the end of Edward's story before you restart.
- Spend your Reales before you restartReales purchases are unchanged, and money, materials and trade goods carry over, so you lose nothing by buying upgrades and cosmetics you want.
- Retake forts earlyForts must be retaken because the map fog resets. Clearing them early rebuilds your map progress while enemies are still weak.
- Re-recruit officers as soon as they appearOfficers must be recruited again, and their abilities carry over, so recruiting them early gets your crew's perks back in play.
- Loot old chests for EscudosPreviously completed chests pay Escudos when looted again, which funds the exclusive New Game+ items.
- Raise difficulty graduallyAdd Nightmare to one category, then add a second New Game+ cycle only when the first feels comfortable.
Takedowns and hidden community chests
Two smaller features are worth knowing about. First, the original game's takedown animations return for hidden blade, unarmed, single sword and gunblade kills. Ubisoft's announcement says new takedown, microkill and double-takedown variations play at random and cannot be assigned by the player, so treat them as visual variety rather than a system to master.
Second, the update hides more community chests across the Caribbean. They are described as harder to find than earlier chests, with no hints, and some of them contain rewards the community asked for. The announcement counts six new chests. Plan on exploring by sea and by foot with no waypoint to lean on, and check the world map after each activity, since the update also fixes several map icons that did not refresh when an activity was completed.
Notable fixes in the patch
Title Update 1.0.8 is also a large bug-fix pass. Highlights from the official notes include:
- Quest blockers. Fixes for several soft locks and disappearing quests, including "This Tyro Captain", "The Traveling Salesman", "We Demand a Parley" and "Commodore Eighty-Sixed".
- Taverns. The game no longer freezes while playing Nine-Man Morris, Checkers or Fanorona.
- Combat and tools. Corner-cover aiming with a smoke bomb no longer locks Edward in place, and mouse and keyboard players can dive when Walk is set to Toggle.
- Cosmetics. Pistol customization now applies to the pistols on Edward's hips, and the Jackdaw no longer looks damaged after repairs.
- Offline Mode. The game can launch in Offline Mode after a lost server connection during play.
The patch size differs by platform: 15.5 GB on Xbox Series X|S, 4.5 GB on PS5, 4.3 GB on PC and 2.1 GB on Steam, according to Ubisoft.
PC requirements for a longer playthrough
If you plan on stacking several New Game+ cycles on PC, check the Steam store page for the full requirements. The minimum listed there is below.
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB), AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (8 GB) or Intel Arc A580 (8 GB) |
| Storage | 65 GB available space |
For background on how the remake differs from the original, including the rebuilt combat and the officers system, the Wikipedia article is a handy overview, and the Steam store page lists the current edition and price. If you enjoy replaying a big open-world adventure with a carried-over character, see our companion Assassin's Creed Valhalla New Game+ guide and the earlier Valhalla 1.8.0 update breakdown. More walkthrough-style help lives in our guides hub.
FAQ
When did Black Flag Resynced get New Game+?
Title Update 1.0.8 went live on October 27, 2026 at 14:00 UTC on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Ubisoft calls it the final major content update.
How many New Game+ cycles are there?
Up to five, shown as NG+++++. Each cycle adds more Elite Soldiers and max-rank patrol ships.
What carries over into New Game+?
Edward's tools, upgrades, weapons and trinkets, Jackdaw upgrades, officer abilities and pets, money and materials, outfits, hideout progression, Kenway fleet ships and codex treasure maps. Quest items are removed, officers must be recruited again and forts must be retaken.
Do I need to finish the game to use Nightmare?
No. Ubisoft says Nightmare is available regardless of story progress and can be set separately for combat, stealth, naval and activities.
What are Escudos used for?
Escudos are the New Game+ currency, earned from challenges and from looting previously completed chests. They can be exchanged for Reales at the General Store and used for exclusive outfits and items.
Has finished every FromSoftware game at level 1. Writes the boss guides and checks them on every patch.