Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag gives Edward Kenway access to a surprisingly large collection of swords, cutlasses, rapiers and scimitars. Most are used in pairs, because apparently carrying one perfectly good sword would be far too restrained for a pirate who routinely boards warships during thunderstorms.
The important thing is that the swords are not merely cosmetic. Each weapon set is rated across Speed, Combo and Damage, and those differences can noticeably affect how Edward feels in close combat.
Some weapons hit hard but feel sluggish. Others allow Edward to tear through groups before guards have properly finished drawing their weapons. A few manage to do both.
For this ranking, I have prioritised overall combat effectiveness, particularly speed and combo potential, rather than simply looking for the biggest damage number.
Here are the best swords in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Black Flag Sword Stats Explained
Before ranking them, it helps to understand what the three weapon statistics actually mean.
| Stat | What it affects |
|---|---|
| Speed | How quickly Edward attacks |
| Combo | Effectiveness during chained attacks |
| Damage | Raw striking power |
There is a temptation to immediately chase Damage 5 weapons. I did exactly that when I first looked at the armoury.
In practice, Black Flag rewards momentum.
Edward spends much of the game fighting several enemies simultaneously, particularly during ship boarding actions and fort assaults. Speed therefore becomes extremely valuable because faster attacks give enemies less opportunity to interrupt you.
Combo is similarly useful once Edward starts chaining kills.
That makes the theoretically strongest sword and the most useful sword slightly different things.
10. Espada Ancha
Speed: 2
Combo: 3
Damage: 3
Cost: 5,000 reales
The Espada Ancha is where Edward’s weapon progression starts becoming interesting.
Its statistics are perfectly respectable without excelling anywhere. Damage 3 gives it considerably more bite than the cheap early-game weapons, while Combo 3 keeps fights reasonably fluid.
Historically, the name refers to Spanish broad-bladed swords associated particularly with colonial frontiers. That makes it a rather nice fit for Black Flag’s Caribbean setting.
You will replace it eventually, but it is a solid early upgrade.
Best for: Early-game players wanting balanced damage.
9. British Colonial Cutlasses
Speed: 2
Combo: 4
Damage: 3
Cost: 8,000 reales
These are easy to overlook because the Speed 2 rating looks fairly ordinary.
The Combo 4 rating changes things.
Once you become comfortable countering and chaining kills, the British Colonial Cutlasses perform considerably better than their modest appearance suggests. Damage 3 is enough for most ordinary encounters, while the strong combo rating suits Edward’s increasingly aggressive fighting style.
There are better late-game choices, but these feel like proper pirate weapons rather than fancy fencing equipment stolen from someone’s drawing room.
Sometimes aesthetics matter.
8. Pirate Scimitars
Speed: 2
Combo: 3
Damage: 5
Cost: 10,000 reales
Now we reach the first serious damage dealer.
The Pirate Scimitars have the maximum Damage 5 rating, making them some of the hardest-hitting blades available in the standard game.
There is, however, a price.
Speed is only 2.
That makes them noticeably less responsive than Edward’s best weapons. If your fighting style revolves around counters and heavy strikes, that hardly matters. If you prefer rapid kill chains, the slower attacks become more obvious.
Still, there is something wonderfully uncomplicated about these.
Enemy appears.
Edward hits enemy extremely hard.
Problem resolved.
Best for: Raw damage.
7. Blades of Toledo
Speed: 4
Combo: 3
Damage: 3
The Blades of Toledo are among the better balanced weapons Edward can acquire.
Historically, Toledo became famous across Europe for high-quality sword production, so Ubisoft giving the weapons respectable statistics is more than flavour text.
Their Speed 4 rating immediately makes combat feel sharper, while Damage 3 and Combo 3 remain perfectly usable.
The problem today is availability. They were originally connected to Ubisoft’s Uplay system, meaning access can depend on platform and version.
If you have them available, they remain an excellent set.
Best for: Balanced combat with an emphasis on speed.
6. Ezio’s Swords
Speed: 3
Combo: 3
Damage: 4
Yes, those Ezio swords.
Originally included through additional content, Ezio’s Swords give players a fairly powerful combination of Damage 4 with respectable Speed and Combo ratings.
They’re not technically the strongest weapons Edward can wield, but they offer enough damage to make them genuinely effective rather than simply being nostalgia bait.
And there is something inherently entertaining about Edward Kenway casually running around the Caribbean carrying equipment associated with Ezio Auditore.
The Animus clearly isn’t overly concerned with tasteful restraint.
5. Scottish Broadswords
Speed: 3
Combo: 5
Damage: 3
How to unlock: Find three Social Treasures
These might be the most underrated swords in Black Flag.
The Scottish Broadswords possess the maximum Combo 5 rating while maintaining reasonable Speed and Damage.
That combination makes them particularly effective when Edward is fighting groups.
Once a kill chain starts, the Broadswords become wonderfully aggressive weapons. They’re not as immediately fast as the Officer’s Rapiers, but the combo potential compensates.
The annoying part is acquiring them.
They were tied to Social Treasures, an online discovery system. Depending on the version and online functionality you’re playing with, obtaining them can be considerably less straightforward than simply buying something from a shop.
If you have them, though, use them.
Best for: Kill chains and crowd combat.
4. French Court Swords
Speed: 4
Combo: 3
Damage: 4
Cost: 12,500 reales
If you want one weapon set that does almost everything well, buy the French Court Swords.
Speed 4.
Damage 4.
No obvious weakness.
They sacrifice some Combo performance compared with the Scottish Broadswords and Officer’s Rapiers, but the combination of high speed and high damage makes them brutally reliable.
They’re also easily obtainable from general stores once you have the money.
That matters more than it sounds. A theoretically brilliant weapon locked behind awkward requirements is less useful during a normal playthrough than something Edward can simply buy.
The French Court Swords are therefore arguably the best conventional purchase in the game.
Best for: Players wanting power without sacrificing speed.
3. Pistol Swords
Speed: 5
Combo: 4
Damage: 3
How to unlock: Complete all Assassin Contracts
These things are ridiculous.
I mean that affectionately.
The Pistol Swords combine the maximum Speed 5 rating with Combo 4 and Damage 3. Statistically, that places them among the strongest all-round melee weapons in Black Flag.
They also look fantastic.
The unusual design incorporates pistol mechanisms into the swords, producing exactly the sort of weapon you would expect from a game where an Assassin captain can leap from a ship’s mast onto another vessel and immediately fight approximately half the Royal Navy.
Unlocking them requires completing all Assassin Contracts, so they function partly as a reward for players willing to explore the game’s assassination content.
The damage isn’t exceptional, but it barely matters.
Speed 5 and Combo 4 make Edward extremely dangerous.
Best for: Fast, aggressive combat.
2. French Court Swords
Wait, haven’t we already had these?
Yes, but they deserve a little qualification because depending on how you define “best”, they can reasonably beat almost everything above them.
The statistics tell the story:
| Weapon | Speed | Combo | Damage | Total |
| Pirate Scimitars | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Scottish Broadswords | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| French Court Swords | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Officer’s Rapiers | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Pistol Swords | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
Rather than pretending the ranking is completely objective, the French Court Swords deserve recognition as perhaps the best power-focused all-rounder.
Damage 4 combined with Speed 4 is exceptional.
If you dislike relying on combos and simply want individual strikes to feel powerful without Edward moving like he’s fighting underwater, these may actually be your best swords.
Still, one weapon set edges them for overall performance.
1. Officer’s Rapiers
Speed: 5
Combo: 4
Damage: 3
Cost: 14,000 reales
The Officer’s Rapiers are my pick for the best swords in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
They have:
Speed 5
Combo 4
Damage 3
That gives them exactly the same core statistical profile as the Pistol Swords, but with one enormous practical advantage.
You can simply buy them.
No enormous completion requirement. No hunting down social collectibles. No retired online reward system standing between you and the weapon.
Once you’ve accumulated 14,000 reales, they’re yours.
And they are extremely good.
The maximum Speed rating makes Edward’s attacks noticeably quicker, while Combo 4 complements the game’s counter-and-chain combat system beautifully.
Damage 3 looks comparatively modest next to the Pirate Scimitars, but Black Flag’s combat mechanics mean sheer damage rarely matters enough to justify sacrificing that much speed.
During large boarding battles, the Officer’s Rapiers are vicious.
Counter.
Kill.
Chain.
Change target.
Repeat until the deck looks like Edward has personally created a vacancy problem for the Royal Navy.
For most players, these are the swords I would recommend buying and keeping equipped.
Best Swords Ranked by Stats
| Rank | Sword | Speed | Combo | Damage | Best Feature |
| 1 | Officer’s Rapiers | 5 | 4 | 3 | Best overall |
| 2 | Pistol Swords | 5 | 4 | 3 | Best unlockable |
| 3 | French Court Swords | 4 | 3 | 4 | Speed and damage |
| 4 | Scottish Broadswords | 3 | 5 | 3 | Best combo |
| 5 | Ezio’s Swords | 3 | 3 | 4 | Strong damage |
| 6 | Blades of Toledo | 4 | 3 | 3 | Balanced speed |
| 7 | Pirate Scimitars | 2 | 3 | 5 | Maximum damage |
| 8 | British Colonial Cutlasses | 2 | 4 | 3 | Strong mid-game combo |
| 9 | Espada Ancha | 2 | 3 | 3 | Early balanced option |
| 10 | British Cutlasses | 2 | 3 | 2 | Cheap early upgrade |
What Is the Highest Damage Sword in Black Flag?
If you’re looking purely at the Damage statistic, the Pirate Scimitars are one of the standout standard weapon sets with Damage 5.
That doesn’t automatically make them the best.
Their Speed rating is only 2, which is a substantial disadvantage compared with late-game weapons such as the Officer’s Rapiers.
For players who counter frequently and prefer deliberate attacks, they’re excellent. For fast chaining combat, I’d take the rapiers.
What Is the Fastest Sword in Black Flag?
The Officer’s Rapiers and Pistol Swords both reach the maximum Speed 5 rating.
Both also have Combo 4 and Damage 3, making them statistically identical across the game’s three core sword attributes.
The Officer’s Rapiers are much easier to obtain because they can be purchased for 14,000 reales, while the Pistol Swords require completion of all Assassin Contracts.
That accessibility is why I rank the Officer’s Rapiers slightly higher.
What Are the Best Swords to Buy Early?
Don’t bankrupt Edward buying every incremental sword upgrade.
Your reales are also needed for Jackdaw upgrades, ammunition and other equipment, and upgrading your ship generally has a much greater effect on progression.
The Privateer’s Cutlasses are a sensible intermediate weapon with Speed 3, Combo 3 and Damage 3.
From there, I’d be tempted to save.
The French Court Swords cost 12,500 reales and provide an excellent 4 Speed and 4 Damage combination. Another 1,500 reales gets you the Officer’s Rapiers.
Unless you particularly enjoy collecting every weapon, jumping directly towards those late-game options makes considerably more financial sense.
Edward has a ship to maintain, after all. Cannons are not famously inexpensive.
Are Sword Upgrades Actually Important?
Yes, but perhaps not as much as the weapon menu suggests.
Black Flag inherits the counter-heavy combat system developed across earlier Assassin’s Creed games. Once you’ve mastered counters, kill streaks, pistols and defensive breaks, Edward becomes frighteningly effective regardless of what swords he’s carrying.
Weapon statistics mainly change the rhythm of combat.
Faster swords feel more responsive.
Higher Combo ratings suit extended fights.
High Damage weapons punish tougher enemies more effectively.
But player timing remains more important than owning the theoretical best weapon.
That is one reason Black Flag’s combat still works so well. Better equipment helps without turning Edward’s starting swords into pool noodles.
Which Sword Should You Actually Use?
For most players, I’d choose the Officer’s Rapiers.
They are fast, excellent for chaining attacks and readily available once Edward has enough money.
If you prefer harder individual strikes, choose the French Court Swords.
For pure damage, try the Pirate Scimitars.
If you’re chasing completion and want something more distinctive, unlock the Pistol Swords.
And if you’re choosing entirely on appearance?
Ignore everything I’ve just written.
This is a pirate game. Looking magnificent while swinging from the rigging is a perfectly legitimate statistical category.
Final Verdict
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag doesn’t really have one sword that completely breaks the weapon system. Its best blades specialise in slightly different areas.
The Officer’s Rapiers and Pistol Swords dominate for speed. The Scottish Broadswords excel at combos. The Pirate Scimitars provide enormous raw damage, while the French Court Swords arguably offer the nicest balance between speed and striking power.
My overall ranking puts the Officer’s Rapiers at the top because their Speed 5, Combo 4 and Damage 3 profile works brilliantly with the way Black Flag actually plays, and unlike several exotic alternatives, you can buy them during a normal playthrough.
They’re fast, practical and deadly.
Which, for Edward Kenway, is about as close to sophistication as we’re likely to get.
