Collectibles: Animus Fragments & Chests

Collectibles: Animus Fragments & Chests

The vast Caribbean world of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is brimming with secrets and hidden treasures. While this section focuses specifically on Animus Fragments and Chests, be aware that other valuable collectibles like Sea Shanties, Mayan Stelae, and Secrets of the Ancients are covered in their respective dedicated sections. Collecting these items is crucial for achieving 100% synchronization, unlocking valuable lore, and significantly upgrading your ship, the Jackdaw.

To maximize your collection efforts, always synchronize viewpoints in new areas. This reveals a significant portion of the collectibles on your map, making them much easier to track. Furthermore, investing in the Jackdaw's spyglass upgrade can help identify distant collectibles from the crow's nest, especially useful for spotting chests on remote islands or in hard-to-reach areas.

Animus Fragments

Animus Fragments appear as glowing, ethereal blue shards scattered across both land and sea. There are a total of 200 Animus Fragments to find throughout the game. Collecting them is generally straightforward, often requiring a bit of parkour or careful navigation.

What Animus Fragments Do:

• Unlock Abstergo Entertainment Content: As you collect Animus Fragments, you'll progressively unlock new content within the Abstergo Entertainment office. This includes:
  • Audio Logs: These provide deeper insights into the modern-day Abstergo corporation, its employees, and their ongoing research into the Animus and the Assassin-Templar conflict. They often reveal fascinating lore and connections to other Assassin's Creed games.
  • Documents and Emails: Similar to audio logs, these text-based files expand on the modern-day narrative, offering glimpses into Abstergo's operations, internal politics, and the broader implications of their work.
  • Concept Art and Character Models: For the lore enthusiasts and art lovers, fragments unlock galleries showcasing the development process of Black Flag, including early designs for characters, ships, and environments.
  • Cheats: After collecting a significant number of fragments (typically 100 or more), you'll unlock various cheats that can be activated from the main menu. These range from cosmetic changes (e.g., "Thunderous Voice" for NPCs) to gameplay modifiers (e.g., "Invincibility" or "Infinite Ammo"). Note that activating cheats will disable achievements/trophies for that save session.
• Contribution to 100% Synchronization: Collecting all 200 Animus Fragments is a mandatory requirement for achieving full game completion.

Tips for Collecting Animus Fragments:

• Map Icons: Once a viewpoint is synchronized, Animus Fragments will appear as small, blue diamond icons on your map.
• Parkour Puzzles: Many fragments are placed in elevated positions, requiring you to use Edward's parkour abilities to climb buildings, trees, or ruins. Look for obvious climbing paths or environmental cues.
• Underwater Fragments: Some fragments are located underwater. You'll need to swim down to collect them. Ensure you have enough breath or consider upgrading Edward's lung capacity later in the game.
• Chase Fragments: A few fragments might require you to chase them briefly before they can be collected. They typically don't move far or fast.
• Use Eagle Vision: If you're having trouble spotting a fragment in a cluttered environment, activate Eagle Vision (press L3/LS) to highlight it.

Chests

Chests are ubiquitous throughout the game, found on land, in towns, on small islands, and even underwater in diving locations. There are hundreds of chests to discover, each offering valuable rewards.

What Chests Contain:

• Reales: The primary currency in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Chests are a significant source of income, essential for upgrading the Jackdaw, purchasing weapons, outfits, and supplies. The amount of Reales varies greatly, from a few hundred to several thousand in larger, more guarded chests.
• Treasure Maps: Some chests contain unique Treasure Maps. These maps lead to buried treasure locations, often marked with an 'X' on a small, hand-drawn map. Following these maps typically rewards you with a large sum of Reales and sometimes unique cosmetic items or crafting materials.
• Jackdaw Upgrade Blueprints: Crucially, many chests, especially those found in diving bells or heavily guarded areas, contain Blueprints for the Jackdaw. These blueprints are essential for crafting the most powerful upgrades for your ship, including:
  • Elite Hull Armor: Significantly increases the Jackdaw's durability.
  • Elite Round Shot Strength: Boosts the damage of your main cannons.
  • Elite Swivel Gun Strength: Enhances the damage of your swivel guns.
  • Elite Heavy Shot Strength: Improves the damage of heavy shot.
  • Elite Mortar Strength: Increases the damage of your mortars.
  • Elite Broadside Cannons: Adds more cannons to your broadside.
  • Elite Ram: Improves ramming damage.
  • Elite Harpoon Strength: Makes harpooning easier and more effective.
  • Elite Storage Upgrades: Increases capacity for cannonballs, heavy shot, mortars, etc.

  Without these blueprints, you cannot unlock the highest tiers of Jackdaw upgrades, which are vital for tackling legendary ships and later naval missions.

• Crafting Materials: Less commonly, chests might contain small quantities of crafting materials like metal, wood, or cloth, used for crafting Edward's personal upgrades.

Tips for Collecting Chests:

• Map Icons: Synchronized viewpoints reveal chests as small, white chest icons on your map.
• Guarded Chests: Many chests, particularly those containing blueprints or large sums of Reales, are guarded by groups of enemies. Be prepared for combat or use stealth tactics to access them. Assassinating guards from above or using sleep/berserk darts can make collection easier.
• Underwater Chests: Diving locations (marked by a diving bell icon) are rich with chests. You'll need to use the diving bell to access these areas. Be wary of sharks, moray eels, and strong currents. Upgrading Edward's lung capacity and harpoon strength is highly recommended for these sections.
• Environmental Puzzles: Some chests might be hidden behind destructible barriers (use a heavy attack or a nearby explosive barrel) or require a specific path to reach.
• Treasure Maps: When you find a treasure map, open your inventory and navigate to the "Maps" section. Examine the map to see the coordinates and a sketch of the location. Sail to the indicated coordinates, then use the sketch to pinpoint the exact digging spot. The ground will glow faintly when you are in the correct area.

By diligently collecting both Animus Fragments and Chests, you'll not only achieve 100% completion but also significantly enhance your gameplay experience, making Edward Kenway and the Jackdaw formidable forces in the Golden Age of Piracy.