How to Complete High Seas Haymaker in Assassin's Creed Shadows

In Assassin's Creed Shadows, side quests can easily eat up an entire evening if players let them. One quest that tests both patience and stealth is High Seas Haymaker. It starts in the Obama area of the Wasaka region, and the goal sounds simple enough: eliminate 100 pirates. The trouble is that those pirates are spread across boats and hidden lairs, and the game does not mark every target on the map. Players who try to sail around without a plan may spend hours looking for enemies that never seem to appear. The following guide lays out the fastest route, the best locations, and a clever trick to respawn pirates until the quest is complete.

How the Quest Begins

High Seas Haymaker appears on the map after players reach Obama in the Wasaka region. The quest actually starts once they speak with Niwa Toshikazu, who explains the pirate problem and asks for help clearing the waters. From that point on, the objective is fixed: find and defeat 100 pirates. That number can feel enormous at first, especially because the game does not drop all 100 enemies into one convenient spot.

Players who want to speed things up should consider starting The Pirate Alliance quest as well. That mission sends players after two named pirates who have plenty of underlings nearby, which makes it much easier to build up the kill count.

Best Pirate Locations

The first reliable group of pirates can be found west of the trading port. Players should grab a boat and sail in that direction until they spot several pirate ships. Clearing those ships adds about 17 kills to the total, which gives a solid head start.

Those pirates are not pushovers, though. They fire arrows constantly, and anyone who charges in without a plan will likely get overwhelmed. Stealth is the safest approach. Players should stay low, use cover on the ships, and aim kunai throws at the pirates' heads to take them out quietly. It also helps to eliminate the enemies on the smaller boat first, then move to the bigger ship where there is more cover for close-range fights.

After the ships are clear, the next stop should be Nairu's Lair. This location is packed with pirates, and it can push the total up by roughly 50 kills if players search carefully. The danger here is that the pirates tend to group together if they are alerted. Once that happens, survival becomes a serious problem. Players should stay as stealthy as possible and pick off enemies one by one with assassinations. If a player cannot assassinate certain pirates because the level gap is too large, it is better to go farm some experience first. Returning to the lair with a stronger build makes the whole quest far less painful.

From there, players can move to Maizuru's Lair. This spot does not have as many pirates as Nairu's Lair, but it can still push the kill count past 60. After clearing Maizuru's Lair, many players hit a wall because they cannot find enough remaining pirates. That is where the respawn trick comes into play.

Respawn Trick for the Remaining Kills

Once the three main locations are cleared, players should travel back to the west of the trading port. They need to sail past the ships where the first pirates were killed and continue until they reach land. At that point, save the game and force a desynchronization. This can be done by attacking a citizen or simply letting the pirates kill the player. When the game reloads, the pirates on the boats will have respawned.

This means players can farm the same group of pirates two or three more times until the kill count reaches 100. The trick feels a little repetitive, but it is far faster than sailing around the map hoping to stumble onto new enemies. Players should still treat those respawned pirates with respect, because their arrows are just as deadly the second or third time around.

Preparation and Leveling

One important warning: this quest is not friendly to under-leveled players. The pirates hit hard, and their aim is surprisingly good. A player who tries High Seas Haymaker too early may end up dying repeatedly before even reaching 20 kills. A smarter approach is to clear some other locations first, such as Nijo Palace or Tsuruga Castle. Those areas provide experience and legendary equipment that make the pirate fights much easier.

There are also some tough bosses in the areas mentioned above, but players do not always have to fight them. By staying quiet and focusing on the pirates, a player can often slip past a boss and complete the objective without triggering a drawn-out battle. That is why stealth is not just a suggestion here; it is the strategy that keeps the quest moving.

Turning In the Quest

After the 100th pirate falls, the objective updates automatically. Players can then follow their map coordinates back to Niwa Toshikazu. He thanks them for cleaning up the waters and offers a reward of gold, which serves as a crafting material, along with 2,000 Mon. It is not the flashiest reward in the game, but it does make the effort feel worthwhile after such a long hunt.

High Seas Haymaker is one of those side quests that seems overwhelming at first but becomes manageable with the right route. By hitting the pirate ships, clearing Nairu's Lair and Maizuru's Lair, then using the desynchronization trick, players can cross the 100-kill threshold without spending an entire day at sea. The key is patience, stealth, and a willingness to leave and level up when the pirates get too strong.