Black Flag's West Indies is stuffed with collectibles, and 100% means gathering them all. Most become trivial once you buy the region map upgrades — here's every type, what it's worth, and the painless way to sweep them.
The collectibles
🎵 Sea Shanties
Floating music sheets on the water; sail through them. Your crew sings the ones you collect — the easiest type.
💰 Buried Treasure
Dig sites found by decoding treasure maps looted from chests and ships across the world.
🏛️ Animus Fragments
Glowing motes on rooftops and islands — pure collectible count for completion.
📜 Manuscripts & plans
Mayan stelae rubbings, chest maps and upgrade plans that feed gear and the big quests.
🎁 Chests
Reales and crafting materials in towns, forts and underwater — the bread-and-butter loot.
Sweeping them efficiently
- Buy every region's map upgrade first — collectibles then appear as icons, so no blind hunting.
- Capture a region's fort to reveal its viewpoints and surrounding collectibles.
- Grab shanties and chests opportunistically as you sail between missions.
- Bank treasure maps and dig their sites when you're passing nearby rather than backtracking.
Region-by-region approach
- Work one region at a time: buy its map upgrade, take its fort, then sweep.
- Do the fort first so viewpoints and collectible icons light up the map.
- Use a fast route that chains shanties, chests and contracts in a single loop.
- Tick each region to 100% before moving on so nothing gets forgotten.
💬 Community Strategies & Discussion
Did you find a hidden chest? Struggling with a boss? Share your tips and questions with other mercenaries below!