Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced – Deep Dive into HUD Customization

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has officially been announced, and today we’re taking a closer look at one of the topics we’ve seen many of you discuss: the HUD. 

In Resynced, the HUD has been reworked to be cleaner, more contextual, and, most importantly, fully customizable – similar to what was done on AC Shadows. Whether you want clear feedback while learning new systems or the most immersive experience possible, the goal is simple: give you control over how much information appears on screen, and when. 

At a glance, you’ll notice changes compared to the original such as UI elements that now appear only when they’re relevant — like weapon selection, combat indicators, and health information. You'll be able to customize the visibility of these as you see fit, so let’s dive into that.     

To make things easy for you, Resynced includes several presets that let you jump straight into your preferred experience without adjusting individual settings: 

• Default – Enables most HUD elements to provide maximum clarity. Ideal if you want clear guidance, button prompts, and combat feedback as you explore the game. 

• Simple – A pared‑down HUD that removes some reminders and highlights, while still offering enough feedback to guide you through combat and navigation. 

• Minimal – Displays only essential information, such as Edward’s health, interaction prompts, and cannon aiming arcs while aboard the Jackdaw. 

• Disabled – Removes nearly all HUD elements for a fully immersion‑focused experience. No prompts, no indicators — just your awareness, timing, and the world itself. 

You can always start with a preset and adjust from there as your comfort level changes. 

Beyond presets, every element of the HUD in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced can be enabled or disabled individually for those looking for a finely‑tuned experience that matches exactly how you want to play.  

This is where you can play around with blood effects, VFX visibility or in-game notifications to find the right balance between visual guidance, and immersion.  

For example, if you’re a player that typically enjoys a minimalist UI, here are some settings you can play around with: 

• Combat – You might keep defense and parry indicators active while learning the new combat mechanics, then later remove health bars or attack indicators once timing and animations feel second nature. 

• Stealth – You may prefer keeping only the visibility meter and awareness indicators enabled, while turning off outlines or perception indicators for a more instinct‑driven sneaking approach. 

• Naval Gameplay – You can retain aiming arcs for readability during cannon fire while disabling other naval UI elements for a cleaner view of the sea. 

This level of granularity means you’re in control of the experience. Whether you want targeted feedback for specific systems or a nearly HUD‑free. 

Ground combat is a great example of how the HUD highlights the gameplay improvements the team worked on for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced to best support players’ decision making.  

On default settings, the HUD provides clearer combat visual feedback highlighting the added depth of the reworked combat system, while always remaining optional for players who prefer a more cinematic or minimalist presentation. 

For example, enemy health and defense bars will be visible on top of enemies to help understand and master the new enemy defense mechanic.  

(Defense represents an enemy’s ability to withstand pressure in a fight. Well‑timed parries, strong attacks, and sustained offensive pressure will deplete an enemy’s defense, opening them up to powerful takedown opportunities.) 

This display will highlight how and when enemies are weakened, and how different enemy archetypes respond to specific combat actions – which is at the core of the new combat depth where your choices and the move you trigger will dictate a fight.  

The way defense works is that some enemies may crumble quickly under relentless pressure from your sword attacks and be vulnerable for a takedown, while more resisting brutes may have their defense broken by a simple gunshot opening a takedown. This readability is where much of the system’s depth lies compared to the original Black Flag — making enemy behaviors and vulnerabilities clearer and rewarding players who adapt their approach rather than repeating a single tactic. 

But this is also where more experienced players can begin to push themselves further. Once you’re familiar with enemy archetypes, combat moves, and the rhythm of defense and takedowns, reducing or removing visual feedback can turn combat into a more instinct driven challenge. For those of you who would rather not play with the health and defense bars, we added a visual tell for you: an enemy’s defense is broken when their hat or headpiece falls off.  

Disabling elements like defense indicators, enemy health bars or certain VFX shifts the focus to animations, spacing, and timing — offering a tougher, more cinematic experience for players who want to test their mastery of the system.  

Please note: although health and defense bars are present in default settings, this does not change the fact that Black Flag Resynced remains an action-adventure game. The combat works similarly to the original game, with health and defense bars being optional. There are no levels, no gear scores and no progression gates. 

Well, we want you to experiment! This level of customization is all about player expression. Try the game on Default or Simple settings to get familiar to the new combat, stealth and naval systems before gradually fine‑tuning the HUD as your confidence grows. 

Whether you prefer clear feedback while mastering new mechanics or a more stripped‑back presentation that relies on instinct and observation, the choice is always yours.  

And for those looking to fully immerse themselves, playing with minimal or no HUD is also a great way to capture the beauty of the Caribbean for screenshots or cinematic videos to share with the community. 

These are just some of the UI customization options available in Resynced.  

For more information on customization and accessibility, we’ll be sharing some more details in May. 

We’ll also be sharing some more in-depth information on combat, stealth and naval soon in dedicated articles, but in the meantime, be sure to join the Reddit AMA with our Creative Director Paul Fu and Game Director Richard Knight on r/assassinscreed tomorrow at 10:15amET/4:15pmCET!

Thank You!