Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Guide to Treasure Maps

One of the many collectibles you can gather on the islands that populate Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag are treasure maps. Here’s some tips on how to find and use these maps to get all of your pirate-y goodness. 

How to Find Treasure Maps? 

Treasure maps are listed under “secrets” as things you can find on the individual islands. There are two techniques I’ve utilized for finding these secrets. 

The first is to simply walk the whole island. For smaller islands this is definitely doable, and sometimes necessary. The icon for the treasure map, as viewable on your mini-map, are tiny treasure maps. They are always found on the skeleton of a dead sailor. 

Another way to find treasure maps that sometimes works is to use synchronize points. These points are the high up spots in the game. I’ve found that when you use those synchronize points, it usually illuminates hidden objects (chests, animus fragments, and secrets) in that nearby area. In fact, it then usually allows you to access the map and then select the area/fragment/secret you’d like to head to next. For bigger islands, like Havanna, Kingston, and Nassau, this is the method I’d suggest. 

Looking for a Quick List of Buried Chest Locations? Click here.

Ok. I have a treasure map. Now where’s my booty? 

The treasure maps are themselves a bit useless, unless you have an incredible memory for the shapes and features of every little island you stopped on. If you do, feel free to try and find the locations by sight alone. 

There is an easier way. On the bottom right of the treasure map are two numbers. They are, functionally, the latitude and longitude coordinates for your treasure. 

Quick refresher for those of us who forgot middle school geography. Latitude and Longitude are a series of imaginary lines that criss-cross the globe in a grid pattern. These lines are used for navigation. 

To get to the map, press the back button on the XBox controller.

While you are in the map, you can move the cursor across the area with the thumbstick. Next to the cursor are marks to let you know the coordinates that you are currently hovered over. Simply match up the coordinates on your treasure map to the numbers on the map cursor. 

Usually when you are over the right location, you will be prompted with a message informing you that you have a treasure map relevant to that area. 

I’m at the coordinates, but I don’t see anything. 

This is where the image on the treasure map itself comes in handy. Check out the picture and compare it to landmarks, and base where the treasure is off of that. 

Quick equip your map using the Dpad menu to quick reference so that you can access the map at all times. 

Need more Assassin’s Creed 4 Collectibles? Check out the quick reference here.

Check out the full list of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Guides Here