Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag has been a huge hit across many different platforms, with fans of the series as well as newcomers enjoying the high seas adventures of Edward Kenway. However, that does not mean the game is easy. For anyone stuck in the game, here are some gameplay hints to aid you on your epic quest through the Carribean.

When upgrading the Jackdaw, players may be tempted to focus solely on upgrading the armor and broadside cannons for the ship. However, smart users should also build up the heavy shot cannons and swivel guns. Heavy shot is employed when players use their main cannons (R2 or RT) without aiming. The heavy shot will launch automatically, and the special ammo can do extreme damage to enemy ships. This combined with swivel cannons can knock out a ship quickly. Upgrading these cannons could mean being able to defeat more powerful ships quickly.

While players may be able to plunder large amounts of sellable rum and sugar in the game, the materials needed to upgrade ships are rarer, especially earlier in the game. However, there are many ways to build up a player's supply of upgrade materials. Here are a few hints to take advantage of: If you don't lower your wanted level, you will be chased by pirate hunters; you can farm material by taking down these ships and gain lots of material that way; by not using the fast travel option, players can find material floating in the ocean. While these random material crates do not have much material, they can build up over time. Finally, players can find ships that have been crippled by NPC pirates floating in the ocean. While users cannot board these ships, they can sink then and gather resources from the sunken ship.

You can also take advantage of a gameplay glitch to survive battles with several ships at once if you focus on one ship, they can eventually board it and take down the crew. From here, you can select the option to repair the Jackdaw, which gives the ship a boost that can help it survive pitched battles against foes.

Using these hints, players of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag should be able to take on other ships easier and upgrade the Jackdaw much quicker than they would otherwise.