Gerfaut

The Gerfaut's database image

The Gerfaut was the personal Man O' War of the Colonial Assassin Chevalier de la Vérendrye during the Seven Years' War.

History

In 1752, de la Vérendrye, accompanied by fellow Assassins Liam O'Brien and Shay Cormac, arranged to meet with a group of smugglers near Port-Menier. However, while Liam and Shay made their way to the island to gather supplies, the Gerfaut was attacked by Royal Navy vessels. As a result, de la Vérendrye and his men were forced to abandon the ship, while the smugglers were captured.

The Gerfaut was subsequently saved from destruction by Shay, who used his own recently-acquired sloop-of-war, the Morrigan, to fight off several schooners and gunboats. De la Vérendrye ran into trouble again in 1754, managing to sink three enemy ships, but suffering much damage to his own vessel in the process. As such, he had to have it repaired at St. John's, Newfoundland while he joined Shay in his pursuit of the Colonial Templar Samuel Smith.

When Shay later defected from the Assassins and attempted to flee the Davenport Homestead with the Voynich manuscript, de la Vérendrye used the Gerfaut's mortars to deter him, to no avail. In 1760, the Assassins' Mentor Achilles Davenport tasked de la Vérendrye with creating a diversion in the Arctic Ocean, in the hope of delaying or even preventing Shay from following Achilles and Liam as they sailed for a nearby Isu Temple. Although the Gerfaut was able to ambush the Morrigan in the middle of a field of icebergs and a fierce blizzard, she lost the fight and was boarded by Shay. After a short skirmish, the Templar killed de la Vérendrye and sunk the Gerfaut before resuming his pursuit of Achilles.

Behind the scenes

Like the Aquila and the Jackdaw, the Gerfaut's name also has an avian connection, as the French word translates to "gerfalcon", the largest member of the falcon genus. Given that it is named after a large bird, it is accordingly armed with a number of mortars and over 100 cannons—a dozen of which are used as chase guns—making it one of the strongest ships in the Assassins' fleet alongside the Men O' War Pilgrim, Cauldron, Argonaut, Sceptre, and Storm Fortress. Historically, however, de La Vérendrye did not command a Man O' War called the Gerfaut, instead sailing and later dying on the frigate Auguste.

The Gerfaut takes elements from ships seen in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, with its visual design a recolor of El Impoluto, while its regular use of mortars in combat echoes the tactic used by La Dama Negra. Its figurehead bore resemblance to one built in tribute to Ezio Auditore that Edward Kenway acquired during his time in the Caribbean.

Combat style

During the Memory sequence "Cold Fire", the Gerfaut can be located on the far left of the screen hiding behind an iceberg firing mortars at the Morrigan. If the player does not engage the assassin vessel, the Gerfaut will keep firing at them. Unlike the other high level Men O' War Shay encounters during the Legendary Battles, the Gerfaut only fires mortars in small quantities and deal little to no damage to the Morrigan, depending on the upgrades aquired.

During combat with the Morrigan, the Gerfault switches tactics and use the same tactics used by El Impoluto. In other words, the Gerfaut will first charge the Morrigan with its battling ram and chase cannons to inflict significant damage to the ship and quickly retreat afterwards. When there is distance between the two vessels, the Gerfaut will use its broadsides to fire 4-volleys of cannon fire. After firing its broadside, the Gerfaut will give chase in order to use its ram once more and repeat the same patterns.

Gallery

• 
  Shay Cormac piloting the Morrigan as it engages the Gerfaut.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Rogue