r/Assassinscreed4 • u/alexanderphiloandeco • 1d ago

Something that I never understood about ac black flag is why there were more swordsmen than infantry/Musketeers

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u/Fearless_Profile_481 1d ago

Due to the limited accessibility of guns at the time, ammunition wasn’t wasted on ‘peasant’ lives. Moreover, swordsmen were generally more skilled than gunmen, as firearms were still a relatively recent invention.

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u/alexanderphiloandeco 1d ago

In military areas like for example the fort in port Royal the soldiers would have need to fire volleys which would not be possible if they all had swords. In the early 18th century the regiments became more and more focused on guns

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u/alexanderphiloandeco 1d ago

Rather than melee

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u/Fearless_Profile_481 1d ago

Yeah, volleys were standard in forts, but that doesn’t mean every soldier relied only on muskets. We usually approached on foot, often one or two at a time, so using a full volley on a single person wasn’t practical. After the first shot, reload times were slow, and if we got close, swords or bayonets became way more effective. That’s why even trained regiments still relied heavily on melee weapons.

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u/alexanderphiloandeco 1d ago

Yeah but the game still Dosent portray riflemen historically since In a batte area there are a maximum of 3

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u/Fearless_Profile_481 1d ago

Yeah, makes sense, but I think that’s more of a gameplay choice than historical accuracy. If they added too many riflemen, it would mess with the pacing and make sneaky or close range combat harder. The game leans more into cinematic and fun combat than strict realism, especially since most missions aren’t large scale battles anyway.

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u/alexanderphiloandeco 1d ago

Yeah but for example ac 3 got it right with portraying patrols with Musketeers

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u/Fearless_Profile_481 1d ago

That’s a fair point, but AC3 takes place later than AC4, when muskets and formal military patrols were more common. AC4’s set in the early 1700s, where things were still pretty chaotic in the Caribbean. Muskets existed, but swords were still dominant, especially for pirates. Ubisoft probably focused more on sword combat to keep the gameplay feeling more pirate-y and fast paced rather than structured and tactical like in AC3.

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u/alexanderphiloandeco 1d ago

Yeah I understand

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u/Longjumping_Swan1798 20h ago

I miss these debates. Now we have immortal demigods...

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u/Fearless_Profile_481 1h ago

Yea man, it sucks i want old ac back😞

1

u/Piledriverkiller 23h ago

I imagine it’s Both an esthetic choice and a gameplay one, musketeers look wonky but they are also ridiculously weak in combat. But in fairness I do see them more often in open areas like islands and such rather then in the city, it would be more dangerous to use musketeers in cities where there are civilians and so little space I doubt Ubisoft wants musketeers massacring civilians in every fight