Ubisoft just pushed the first big patch for the remake, and the Black Flag Resynced secret changes buried inside it turn out to be way bigger than the official notes let on. Between quietly fixed cloth physics, a brand new Animus anomaly in Havana, and finishers nobody announced, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. On top of that, a sit down with game director Richard Knight confirmed New Game Plus is already in active development, alongside a handful of other features fans have been asking for since launch.

If you are still working through Edward’s story for the first time, bookmark this guide, since half of what changed here will only make sense once you have seen the outfits, the Exchange, and the anomaly missions for yourself.

The Black Flag Resynced Secret Changes Ubisoft Didn’t Announce

Not every fix made it into the official patch notes, and a few of the Black Flag Resynced secret changes only came to light because players on Reddit started comparing notes. One small but genuinely useful tweak: climbing back onto your ship from the water now lets you go straight up the ladder, instead of forcing you to swing left or right first like the old system did. It sounds minor, but if you have spent any time fumbling that animation mid-chase, you will notice the difference immediately.

The update also quietly removed something people liked. Redditor Affectionate_Son had found that you could keep your hood up during a leap of faith for a nice cinematic look, and that trick no longer works after this patch. It never hurt anything, so there is a real chance Ubisoft brings it back once enough people flag it in the comments and on the official forums.

Cloth Physics Fixes for the Edward the Legend and Altair Legacy Outfits

The most noticeable of the Black Flag Resynced secret changes is cloth physics. Several outfits had fabric that stayed glued to the back of the legs instead of moving naturally, and the Edward the Legend outfit was one of the worst offenders. Data miners had already flagged the same stiff cloth on the Altair legacy outfit before this patch even shipped, and in both cases the update actually improves on how the original 2013 release handled it, since that cloth clipping existed back then too.

Altair’s legacy outfit is now purchasable at the Animus Exchange for 3,000 Keys, sitting right alongside Ezio’s robes, which already looked great and now move properly during cutscenes and combat. Edward the Legend himself is a separate reward tied to fully restoring and upgrading Great Inagua, so if you have not finished that questline yet, our Great Inagua hideout upgrade guide walks through which buildings to prioritize so you are not wasting Reals on the wrong ones first. Keys themselves come from the twice-weekly anomaly missions, and you claim them from one of three ongoing projects once you have enough banked.

New Havana Anomaly Mission and Where to Find It

Speaking of anomalies, this update also added a brand new Animus anomaly mission in Havana, and a few players have already reported trouble locating it. The fix is simple: drop down from the nearest fast travel point, switch on focus mode, and look for the green marker on the ground nearby. It is easy to walk right past it if you are not scanning the area first, so give focus mode a second before you assume the mission is bugged.

Director Richard Knight told us directly that no brand new anomaly projects are currently planned beyond what already exists, though that could still change down the line. He also confirmed the Exchange itself will not rotate items out the way Assassin’s Creed Shadows does, so anything currently purchasable with Keys should stay available rather than disappearing after a limited window.

Hidden Finishers Pulled Straight From Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Reddit user ShadowWalkEnthusiast was first to point out a new set of finishers hidden inside the update, and they only trigger under a specific condition: exactly one enemy left standing, taken down with a regular attack rather than a heavy or a tool kill. Regular soldiers get an arm twister animation, dagger-wielding enemies get disarmed and finished with their own blade, and the last brute in a fight goes down to his own axe turned against him. All three are pulled directly from Valhalla, just reworked so Edward uses the enemy’s weapon instead of his own, which is closer to how the original 2013 combat actually handled last-man-standing kills anyway.

Knight explained that finishers under the Origins-era combat framework cost far more to produce than the single fixed animations from the original game, since every angle and enemy type needs its own version. Ubisoft Shadows already leaned into bigger, more varied finisher work during its own post-launch cycle, something we walked through while covering the toughest Challenge Level 10 Domain runs, and it sounds like that same appetite for finisher variety is pushing the Black Flag team to keep borrowing from older titles in the meantime rather than leaving combat static.

Official Black Flag Resynced Patch Notes: Weather, Cutscenes, and Boss Hints

Outside the secret changes, Ubisoft did document a few fixes directly. The Caribbean skies now lean much more toward sun than storms, so if the constant rain felt overdone at launch, this patch noticeably tips the balance back toward clear weather. PC players using custom graphics settings should also see 60 FPS cutscenes working correctly again, since that combination was broken before this update. Ubisoft additionally noticed a lot of players getting stuck on a late-game boss encounter, so extra on-screen hints were added there without spoiling what the fight actually involves.

One popular exploit also got patched out: turning on advanced parkour and chaining a bag-eject with an opposite-direction stick push, a jump, and a dodge input used to produce an extra hop that functioned as a makeshift double jump. That sequence no longer works after this update, so if you were using it to skip terrain, you will need to find another route now.

Black Flag Resynced New Game Plus, Hide Blowpipe, and What’s Coming Next

The biggest confirmed news from the interview is that New Game Plus is coming, and it was one of the very first post-launch features the team started building. Knight credited Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ post-launch team for laying groundwork that Black Flag Resynced can now build on, even though the two games handle progression differently enough that it is not a simple copy-paste job. Unique rewards tied to a second playthrough are being discussed but are not locked in yet, and while no release window has been announced, Knight was clear it is unlikely to land before fall.

Before that, the option to hide the blowpipe is close, with a senior programmer already working on it and Knight saying he has a feeling it is coming soon. A nightmare difficulty option is also in the works, and Knight was noticeably less committal about restoring full hidden blade combat, since Ubisoft cannot reuse the original 2013 codebase at all. The remake runs on an early build of the Shadows engine instead, with the original game serving only as reference material, which is exactly why bringing back the old hidden blade moveset is such a heavier lift than it sounds. A Splinter Cell style mission replay feature, similar to Assassin’s Creed Mirage, is also being discussed internally, and Knight mentioned being a longtime Hitman fan himself, which does not hurt its odds.

The most interesting tease, though, was about Freedom Cry. A direct remake is not currently planned, but Knight said the team has ideas to expand Edward’s story further, which hints at new paid content rather than a straight port of the old DLC. With the game already topping 3 million copies sold in its first week, ahead of where Shadows was at the same point post-launch, Ubisoft has real incentive to keep investing here. If you have not finished the campaign yet and want the full picture before any of this new content lands, our spoiler-filled ending breakdown covers exactly how Edward’s story wraps up.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Black Flag Resynced Update

Does the Black Flag Resynced update add New Game Plus right now?
No. New Game Plus is confirmed to be in development, but there is no release date yet, and director Richard Knight said it is unlikely before fall.

How do I get the Edward the Legend outfit?
Fully restore and upgrade every building at your Great Inagua hideout. It is a quest reward, not something purchasable with Keys at the Exchange.

Where is the new Havana anomaly mission?
Drop down from the nearest fast travel point in Havana, turn on focus mode, and look for the green marker on the ground. It is easy to miss without scanning first.

Will Ubisoft remake Freedom Cry for Black Flag Resynced?
Not currently. Richard Knight said the team has ideas to expand Edward’s story instead, which points more toward new DLC than a direct Freedom Cry remake.

Can I still hide my hood during a leap of faith?
No, that trick was patched out in this update, though it caused no harm and could return if enough players ask for it.

That is everything worth knowing about the Black Flag Resynced secret changes in this patch, plus what is realistically coming next for New Game Plus, the blowpipe toggle, and Edward’s future. Check out our other guides on ingametor.com for more Black Flag Resynced coverage as Ubisoft keeps expanding the game.