Infamy | Naval battles AC IV: Black Flag Guide
Last update: 02 February 2017
The carefree destroying of ships will attract the attention of the European powers. Its level is called, in Assassin's Creed IV, the infamy. The higher it is, the stronger forces are set out to get you at sea.
Infamy is divided into several levels, symbolized by the crossed-swords icons in the upper-right corner of the screen. The game cannot tell the difference of between the ships that you destroy and equal treatment is applied to all acts of violence towards merchant ships, both Spanish and British. This means that in Black Flag you can get on the nerves of more than one nation.
Achieving the first infamy level (the red icon) means the appearance of hunter - a well armed ship with the characteristic crimson sails, which will start chasing you straight away. The ship appears only a few hundred meters off the Jackdaw so, in most cases, the battle is unavoidable. You can, of course, escape from the hunters but, as long as the infamy level is active, the nations will not cease in their attempts to get you. New units will be appearing in the place of the old ones, in various time intervals - this also concerns the ships that you manage to send to the bottom.
Depending on the infamy level that you achieve, various units will be assigned to the aim of hunting you down. At first, this is going to be the brig only but, if your deeds increase your pirating score, also different ships will join the hunt. All of the hunter ships come equipped with upgrades, when compared to the basic units of this type, but for an experienced captain these should pose no problem. In fact, what seems most problematic is the necessity to fight itself, because most hunters appear at the most inopportune moments, e.g. while sending merchant vessels to the bottom.
Bringing down infamy level
Infamy level can be brought down in two ways. You decrease the level by one by boarding any ship, on condition that you are not on a mission at that point. This also goes for the hunter ships - therefore, you can seize the pursuing ships and obviate another threat straight away.
Also, royal envoys can bring down the infamy level. These emissaries can be encountered in most harbors scattered around the Caribbean, and also in every fort. The corruptible officials are marked on the map with an icon of white crossed swords.
It is worth knowing
Keeping the infamy level low is profitable only at the initial stages of the game, when each potential battle poses a threat. Then, it actually pays off to keep the level high, because the hunter ships are an excellent source of metal - a material that is sought after, in the context of upgrading the Jackdaw. If well armed, Kenway's ship is strong enough to eliminate the enemy before he manages to come close.