Story & Platinum
The campaign is 12 sequences (~15–18 hours if you rush it). Five trophies pop automatically at fixed memories along the way (the finale is the list's only Gold), plus one easy Templar Hunt. Four more on other pages are story-guaranteed too: Unsinkable and Smooth Operator early on, Not So Little Friend in Sequence 3 and Yo Ho… in Sequence 8 — none are missable, none can be failed, and there's no point of no return, so you're free to leave every collectible until after the credits. This page covers those markers and the exact order the platinum falls into place afterwards.
Play-order tips that save hours
- Upgrade Great Inagua the moment it opens (Sequence 4). The village, manor and Art Collection all take real time and reales. Start the skull piracy missions in Kenway's Fleet the moment they unlock, because they run on real-time timers and 19 Dilettante art pieces only come from them — feeding them early means Governor, Dilettante and The Memory of My Enemy tick along in the background instead of becoming an end-game wall.
- Sync every viewpoint you pass. It reveals that region's chests and activities on the map, which is the backbone of the 100% completion work.
- Board, don't sink. Boarding ships hands you the resources for Jackdaw upgrades and the ship classes for Collective Madness — do it from your very first naval fight.
Lively Havana
BronzeFull guideCollapseGet a tour of Havana.
Lively Havana
BronzeFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
Story-automatic in Sequence 2, Memory 1, when Edward is walked around Havana for the first time. You can't miss it.
Tip
Remember Havana for later. It's the best city for smashing pots (Edward Catway), its market square (211, 586) has the parrot for Friend To All, and the “Monkey Business” event just south of town unlocks the monkey.
A Poxy Bird
BronzeFull guideCollapseCaptain your own ship.
A Poxy Bird
BronzeFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
Pops in Sequence 2, Memory 6 (The Treasure Fleet), when Edward takes the wheel of the Jackdaw for the first time.
Tip
The same memory ends with a storm escape where a rogue wave hitting your side is practically guaranteed, so Unsinkable usually arrives within minutes of this one. Hold Square to brace as it hits.
Walls That Hold Back The Wind
BronzeFull guideCollapseSettle in a new home.
Walls That Hold Back The Wind
BronzeFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
Unlocks in Sequence 4, Memory 1 (This Old Cove), when Edward claims Great Inagua as his base.
Tip
Start investing in Great Inagua straight away. The Harbourmaster (500 Reales) sells the Jackdaw cosmetics for Dressing Overall. The Treasure Dealer (5,000) is needed for Zero Waste. The Fleet Planning Room opens here too: send Brigs on piracy missions as early as you can, because 19 of the art pieces for Dilettante only come from those missions.
In A World Without Gold
BronzeFull guideCollapseWitness the end of a legend.
In A World Without Gold
BronzeFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
Story-automatic in Sequence 8, Memory 1 (“Do Not Go Gently”), the memory where one of the Golden Age's great pirates meets his end.
Tip
Yo Ho… unlocks automatically right after this memory. Don't confuse this trophy with the side questline A World Without Gold at Great Inagua. That one opens after Sequence 11 and recruits Deadman Smith for All Hands On Deck.
Ever A Splinter
GoldFull guideCollapseStop a Templar plot.
Ever A Splinter
GoldFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
The campaign finale is the list's only Gold. It unlocks as you complete Sequence 12, Memory 5, the last memory of the story. There's no difficulty setting to worry about and no choice to get wrong. Play to the end and it pops.
After the credits the whole Caribbean stays open with every counter kept, so there's no reason to grind side content before you finish the story.
Tip
Two officers join you automatically on the way: Adéwalé in Sequence 3 and Anne Bonny in Sequence 12, Memory 1. That's two of the five for All Hands On Deck before you've done a single officer quest.
Help A Brother Out
BronzeFull guideCollapseComplete a Templar Hunt sequence.
Help A Brother Out
BronzeFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
There are four Templar Hunts, each a chain of 4 quests, and you only need to finish one of them:
- Rhona Dinsmore
- Antó
- Upton Travers
- Opía Apito
Pick one from the world map's quest list and play all four of its quests. The trophy pops at the end of the fourth.
Tip
Choose whichever hunt starts nearest to where you're sailing. None of them is harder than the story missions around it.
Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure!
PlatinumFull guideCollapseWin every trophy.
Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure!
PlatinumFull guideCollapseHow to earn it
Unlocks the moment the other 49 trophies are in. It's a 100%-style platinum: no difficulty trophies, no online, nothing missable and just one playthrough. The hours come from the size of the Caribbean, not from any single hard trophy.
The order that wastes the least time:
- Story first. Play the 12 sequences on any difficulty. Along the way, grab the luck-based trophies whenever they show up: send Brigs on Kenway's Fleet piracy missions (19 art pieces only come from them), sit on any burning ship with a chair, string up rope-dart hangs, eat food when you're hurt, and let a rogue wave hit you side-on.
- Officers and the Jackdaw. After the credits, recruit the last officers (Lucy Baldwin, the Padre, Deadman Smith) and push Jackdaw upgrades. Board ships rather than sinking them to pay for everything.
- Sweep the map. Forts, the seven underwater shipwrecks, the legendary ships, Cartographer locations, portraits and manor collectibles, one region at a time.
- Mop up. The one-off combat and naval challenges, the animal trophies and whatever's left.
Tip
Nothing in the list gets locked out, so if a trophy refuses to pop you can always go back for it. The only genuinely luck-based ones are Last To Leave and the fleet art pieces for Dilettante. Start both early so they never become the last trophy you're waiting on.