Black Flag Fast Online XP [Solo]

[Zolkovo]

As a few of you requested some tips to speed up the Level 55 grind in Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, I've recorded one of my runs with a detailed explanation below. This strategy took me only 6.5 hours to reach level 55 SOLO. Depending on your ability to memorise the map and spawns, it will take you anywhere between 6-10 hours. The upside is that you don't have to rely on others and can tackle this in your own time, perhaps an hour or two every evening. You'd also benefit from the daily 30 minute double xp this way.

 

I actually made a lot of mistakes in this run, but realistically you should expect your average time to be around 10 minutes (8-12 minute range) and you should get around 13-15k xp per game if you are efficiently working on challenges (more on that below).

 

 

Game Mode & Map

 

You'll be playing Wolfpack for this. I recommend the Plantation map for this but use whatever works for you. This is a very small map and all takes place on one plane so no having to dick around going up and down. The chest locations are all very close and convenient with one also spawning right by a bench for triple scores/easy variety bonuses. In the video I got the two worst possible combinations but you can see that it's still very easy. The infected sequences are nice and compact in this map. In the video I show you both of the infected spawn locations and where best to stand. Which one you get depends on where you are in the map before the sequence begins (it will always be the closest spot). Almost all of the spawns also have good opportunities for acrobatic kills (for the extra-objectives).

 

Difficulty

 

Standard (25 sequences) as I found this to be the most consistent and highest exp/hour ratio.

 

Abilities

 

Use all of the following until you have completed all three tiers of their challenges. Once that's done, I would recommend sticking with Morph and Smoke Bomb. Morph is fantastic for revealing your correct target and smoke bomb is useful when there are two targets in the same crowd, so one doesn't stun you as you kill the other.

• Disguise
• Money Bomb
• Time Phase
• Morph
• Firecrackers
• Glimmer Wipe

 

Ranged Weapons

 

Disruption is great as you can unlock it early and use it to fulfil the "kill with ranged weapon" extra-objective. Switch to pistol as soon as it becomes available as it will save you some extra time in a pinch.

 

Perks

 

There are a couple of really useful perks. Blender automatically blends one random AI from a group to your character's skin when you stand in it. This is extremely useful for enemies that make a clone of them as half of the time you'll automatically reveal the clone. I also like Determined as this ignores the score penalty on contested kills, but this one is entirely optional as you're probably a lot better than me and won't get caught/contested on kills. Also consider buying the +250 kill-streak bonus as soon as possible for more points as well as completing some of the extra-objectives.

 

Challenges

 

This is very important as it cuts your overall grind time significantly. There are 3 categories that you can work on: abilities, style and wolfpack. Make sure to look through them beforehand so you have an idea of what to work on as you play. Most will come naturally but there are some easy ones you might miss such as playing on certain maps or playing with certain characters. Easy XP! I can't stress how important it is for you to switch your abilities about once you've exhausted all their respective challenges. Some of the XP bonuses are massive!

 

The Basics

 

 is for locking on

 is for walking faster

 is for sprinting

 is for assassinating

 is your first ability

 is your second ability

 is your ranged weapon

 

The approach bonus is the number in the bottom corner that goes from 100>150>250>350>450. Most of the time you'll want to wait until it reaches 450, but on occasion you might have to settle for 350.

 

The small number next to the above is the multiplier. 2x for hidden, 1.5x for acrobatic. There's a little trick where if you're hidden before you do a quick acrobatic, you'll get the 2x bonus but still qualify for the acrobatic objectives (shown in the video).

 

The radar in the bottom middle indicates where your target is and how far away they are. The more of it that is filled, the closer they are. Grey means they're out of sight, and blue means they are in LoS (line of sight).

 

Top left corner shows your extra-objectives. Complete these to skip sequences and progress faster as you rack up more points.

 

Bottom left displays your abilities and the cool-down left on them. Remember to use them frequently!

 

Important Tips

 

Patience is your biggest friend. It can be counter-intuitive when two of your chests are being attacked but just take it easy. Stride up to all your targets (use  for fast walk if needed), ensure you get the 2x hidden multiplier and then shank 'em. Slow and steady is the name of the game.

 

In the earlier stages you can choose to get the full 150 focus bonus (from locking on), but later on it's better to just settle for 50 as the AI are either on the move or detect you relatively fast and you'll only have small windows to get 2x multipliers.

 

Only run when you're not in LoS i.e. when the circle radar in the bottom middle is grey. NEVER run when it is blue since that means the enemy is in LoS and you'll rapidly lose your approach bonus as well as alert them.

 

Keep an eye on the extra-objectives in the top left corner and try to knock them out as and when they come. Don't go out of your way to do this though as sometimes it's just better to settle for a 2x hidden bonus and tackle it later. Most of the objectives you will probably end up completing naturally. It's usually the acrobatic/ranged ones that you might have to go out of your way for.

 

Always use abilities as soon as they're available even if you don't need to; very little point in saving them aside from some of the later sequences with clones. This helps you clear the challenges faster, netting you a lot more XP in the long run. In the video I don't do this as I had already completed all the challenges that I could do in Wolfpack.

 

For the sync-kill events, lock on to a civilian in the crowd before approaching so that you can get a cheeky 2x multiplier. Unlock as soon as you see the 450 x2 then you'll be auto prompted for the QTE.

 

I would highly recommend a podcast or if you have a second screen a TV show to watch/listen to in the background. This will make the grind fly by as you'll eventually be able to play on auto-pilot.
 

Edited August 7, 2018 by Zolkovo

[Guest]

Thxs. Really looking forward to going back to BF and trying this out.

[Meachamp-]

This looks to be a proper solid method. Thanks a lot pal.

 

Will definitely use it when I jump on to do both versions of it.  ?

[Dantes_994]

Love that this game is seeing a lot of love even years after it was released

[Zolkovo]

1 minute ago, Johnathan994 said:

Love that this game is seeing a lot of love even years after it was released

 

It's definitely my favourite of the franchise by far, although I haven't played Origins. Actually this was the game I originally bought the PS4 for!

[DARKB1KE]

This info has been in the guide since 2013. 
https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag/219592-wolfpack-xp-tips.html

Edited August 7, 2018 by DARKB1KE

[Zolkovo]

8 minutes ago, DARKB1KE said:

This info has been in the guide since 2013. 
https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag/219592-wolfpack-xp-tips.html

 

Ah well PSNP needed a little love too  There's some tips on there that I don't agree with like always waiting for a full focus or ignoring 2x on chests/infected. End result is I'm averaging 6-7 games an hour vs that guide's 4-5.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Zolkovo

[T-100]

This is a good instruction for the mp grind, sad, that I read it too late, after I read so many information on different sites and youtube videos. But this summarize the most important rules for an efficient run.

 

But I have the following problem: the 2x bonus is gone for me for months. I started the mp, got few days in row the bonus and then nothing. I did some days a break, but nothing. Also a longer break did not help me.

Edited September 26, 2018 by T-100

[Chappie_112]

This is a great method, I just jumped back into Black flag and was dreading the level 55 grind but you showed that it can b done easily with confidence 

[nitro_14ALL]

Great post! thanks you