With Assassins Creed: Rogue basically being the sequel to Assassins Creed: Black Flag – at least from a gameplay perspective – it makes sense that all your Naval Combat would culminate in high sea battles against four dangerous opponents. Though instead of more Legendary Ships, AC: Rogue put you right in the middle of Legendary Battles, where each ship comes backed up by its own armada. Though fear not Assassins Templars, with the right upgrades and strategy, these battles aren’t only doable; but also quite fun.

Primer: Be safe and Fully Upgrade your ship. Sure some battles require more focus on Mortars while others need Hull Strength; but these are ever changing battles with many variables. You will want EVERY weapon at your disposal giving it 100%.

Battle of Labrador (Upper Right):

If you’re looking for a place to start with these Legendary Battles, head to the North East portion of the North Atlantic to join in the Battle of Labrador. With its two part structure and powerful – yet straightforward – lead ship The Couronne, this will truly give you a taste of what to expect from Legendary Battles. So what do you need to know?

The first portion of this battle consists of some mid level ships – mainly brigs and gunships. You might be tempted to use your Mortars; but they aren’t needed. In fact, I completed this entire Legendary Battle without Mortars – though in retrospect, their presence would have made Part 2 much easier. As with most of these Legendary Battles, you’ll have a small fleet of your own to assist in battle. Nothing with sufficient enough weapons or armor though. In fact, this first part is probably the only moment in all the Legendary Battles where your team an actually make a sufficient enough stand.

 Though once this first fleet is destroyed, the real battle begins as The Couronne makes its entrance – with another, slightly stronger fleet. If you have Mortars, this is the time to use them. When The Couronne and its fleet begin the attack, they’ll be close together. Bombard them with Mortar shots so that it’s just you and The Couronne – finishing off a few stragglers with Roundshots.

As for the Couronne, try to get behind it at all costs – paying strict attention to avoiding its massive broadside attacks. Remaining Mortar Shots can be used while setting this up; but the true damage dealer will come from ramming it’s rear. If you get it directly from behind, then keep up this attack. HOWEVER, if you or The Couronne are at the slightest angle, the ship with buckle and start turning towards you. Use this instant to nail it with a continuous stream of Heavy Shots and Broadsides at point blank range – along with precision Puckle Gun shots – while it’s still on an angle. If you are low on Health – or The Couronne has a lot of Health remaining – sail away before it lines up parallel and decimates you with a Broadside Counter Attack. Repeat this strategy and the Couronne will fall in no time. Just don’t get cocky because the next few battles will be even more LEGEN – wait for it – DARY!

Pirates of a Lost Age (Upper Left):

Let’s face it; if Assassins Creed: Black Flag was the best of the series, then Pirates of a Lost Age is the best of the Legendary Battles. With two powerful and fast ships and a small fleet of Briggs and Gunboats, you’d expect this battle to be a royal pain; but it’s honestly a lot of fun! Remember the Brothers-In-Arms battle for AC:Black Flag? This is basically its upgrade; but also remember that The Morrigan is stronger than The Jackdaw. The twin ships Cauldron and Pilgrim might be powerful, fast and will more often then not sail circles around you; but you CAN handle them.

As you can imagine, avoid getting caught between them; but this will sometimes be unavoidable. Keep moving and stay vigilant. They don’t do too much damage individually if you’re fully upgraded; but don’t get sloppy. Make your shots count and try to wear them down evenly. When one falls, you’ll hear a prompt about the other seeking to avenge its ally. I haven’t heard any report of someone taking on one fully then the other; but between the vocal prompt by your crew and so many similarities to the Brothers-In-Arms match, I’m sure there is a power boost of sorts once one falls.

One final thing to note about these ships is that you can use their speed against them. These monstrosities are so ferocious in their pursuit that Yu can actually hear their hulking approach like two monsters rising from the depth. Though it is because of this speed and impressive maneuverability that they’ll more often than not be exceptionally close to you. Use these opportunities to bank hard away from it and release a trail of fire directly on the ship. As I said in the primer, every bit counts. So if these ships want to constantly come in close, make them pay for it.

The Battle of Quiberon Bay (Lower Right):

Thus far you’ve battled powerful ships and strong fleets; so you’re probably feeling pretty confident. Well scale back your pride because the next Legendary Battle is a trap. La Formidable – clearly meaning “The Formidable” – is actually a pretty straightforward high health vessel; but it’s her fleet that makes this an absolute nightmare you must handle as quickly as possible.

With your usual run of the mill vessels as well as the Boss Ship La Formidable, you’d think to employ a general tactic of taking out the fleet followed by a smart assault on the lead ship. Though that is actually a losing battle because of one very simple reason: Fireships. A LOT OF THEM. In fact, the Fireships in this battle are almost endless as a new fleet will respawn a little while after the first is dispatched. Take out as many of these Fireships as you can; but don’t make them too much of a priority after the initial wave. If you sail around too much to take them all out at a safe distance, you’ll waste precious time and be faced with a new fleet in no time. If anything, turn and set up a quick barrier of fire barrels.

Your main focus MUST BE La Formidable. Similarly to The Couronne, ram this ship from behind and repeat as much as possible. If you hit it on an angle, it’ll again buckle and begin turning towards you. Use this moment to Heavy Shot and Broadside the ever living daylights out of it. A bonus to this strategy of turning La Formidable parallel to you is that since the Fireships are on a kamikaze crash course with you, so if there’s any on the opposite side they will sometimes stupidly crash into La Formidable. Just remember if you’re low on health, avoid point blank broadsides from LaFormidable. So sail away a bit, turn sharply and continue pounding away. Don’t let up!

Again, this is a variable strategy and you must take current healths – yours and La Formidable’s – into account. If you move too slow, it’ll become a war of attrition you’re sure to lose. Take out/flee as many Fireships as you can on while focusing on LaFormidable. Realize that you will get hit sooner or later by a Fireships or three, but keep pounding away at La Formidable and she will sink.

The Storm Fortress (Lower Left):

Here it is. Everything has led to this moment. So take a moment, restock all your ammunitions and take a breather before sailing to the South West portion of the North Atlantic. Don’t be fooled for a second. This might be the ‘Easy’ portion of the map with only brigs and schooners patrolling the waters; but the Legendary Battle is full of monsters. The only fleet here will be your own; but it’ll be useless at best and a hindrance at worst as you face down a threat like no other, the mega Man-Of-War known as Storm Fortress.

This isn’t a vanity name, the StormFortress is simply a better ship in EVERY way. Between its incredible offensive and defensive capabilities as well as incredibly fast Mortars that give off no warnings, this will be the most grueling naval battle of your life. You need to pick your shots and dodge more than anything else. This is actually where your fleet actually hurts sometimes, as you find yourself drastically trying to dodge, slamming into one of your ally’s and then taking the full hit of a mortar. So how can you possible survive? First things first, you need to know how to avoid its firepower.

• How To Avoid Storm Fortress Mortar:
  • With Mortars that don’t give off any warning circles, how do you tell where they land? Simple, RIGHT in front of you. Actually, the Mortars more or less land in a diagonal line between the front of the ship the Storm Fortress. So how do you avoid these ridiculously fast Mortar attacks?
  • As you circle the ship, the moment you hear/see Mortar fire, break IMMEDIATELY, turn HARD towards the Storm Fortress and regain sailing speed. If you time this properly, you will sail parallel to the line of Mortar fire yet just enough out of the way to stay unharmed. Once the volley is over resume your usual sailing pattern at a safe distance to avoid its next weapon: Multiple Broadside Attacks

• Avoid Storm Fortress Multiple Broadside Attacks:
  • Stay FAR away from its broadside attacks. Each broadside performed by the Storm Fortress is composed of three to five rapid-fire volleys that deal startling damage. Keep your distance – or pray for some high waves to intercept most of the hit.

Now with your knowledge of the Storm Fortress’s attack patterns, let’s move onto a strategy. While following the above advice, Mortar the Storm Fortress like no tomorrow – because there might not be. With its ridiculously reinforced Hull, Mortars are the only way to do much damage to this monster. In between Mortar shots, if you want to fire off some long-range broadsides at the front and back of the ship. They wont do much but every ounce counts. Some of your ally ships will attack the Storm Fortress and draw its fire – if you’re lucky – so use these opportunities to strike. If your Mortars are fully upgraded and you make your shots count, all 20 Mortars should be enough to get this behemoth down to critical health levels. Though this starts part 2 of this match.

As the Storm Fortress hits critical health, it will call in its own backup. Though this time instead of it being a bunch of briggs, schooners or any other run of the mill ships; it calls in another two Legendary Class ships: The Argonaut and the Sceptre. Whereas nowhere near as powerful as the Storm Fortress, these twin ships are not to be underestimated as they not only have speed but also access to fire trails. You will need to finish off Storm Fortress as quickly as possible in order to remove the threat of its Mortars. This isn’t an invitation to get reckless; but rather the better opportunity to finally use that Ram, Heavyshot from behind strategy we’ve used the past few matches. Once Storm Fortress falls, take out the other two ships similarly to how you did Cauldron and Pilgrim from Pirates of a Lost Age.

There is one final thing to take note of with the second half of this battle. With the raging storm and reduced visibility, just as how your fleet could hinder you in the first half of this match, Storm Fortress’s backup can hinder it. The reduced visibility can sometimes make them fire upon each other. That doesn’t mean sail between all of them because that is a death wish; but if you can get them together, they will fire on each other for a moment and deal some damage.

Congratulations, you have completed all the Legendary Battles for Assassins Creed: Rogue. In recognition of this achievement, you will be rewarded with a set of Kraken themed customizations for the Morrigan as well as the Templar Master outfit. So take a deep breath and rejoice, because you will never have to face a set of battles as Legendary, difficult, tiring or just straight up sadistic ever again . . . I hope. Though if we do, you can be sure to find a Tips & Tricks guide here 🙂