Everquest 2 – Maltheas’ guide to Ring Events.

I’ve been helping a couple of newer players find their footing in EQ2 recently, and it has reminded me of how many aspects of Norrathian life are not immediately obvious to newer players. One example are the overland ring events. I’m not talking about the Druid Circle event that is still ongoing in EQ2. Rings events are always around, and always profitable, if you know where to look.

Ring events tend to involve a small gathering of monsters, clustered around an object of some sort. It could be a nest, or a campfire, or a tent, or any number of other things. You can tell something is going on because the object is targetable, and will come up with a white name in your target window.

Here is an example of one the the overland ring events in Antonica. The rat nest is probably the earliest ring event that a Qeynos side character will encounter. There are usually a few of them along the road which runs alongside the city moat.

The Rat Nest Ring Event in Everquest 2.

At first, it will just be surrounded by ordinary creatures. If you defeat all of those, then another sort of monster will appear, which we’ll call the intermediate monster, in this case a large moat rat. If you defeat that, then there is a good chance that a named monster, the Two-toed Rat, will appear. Like most Named monsters, it is guaranteed to drop a chest, making it a great source of loot for low level Qeynosians (or folks in need of low level loot to transmute). Many also grant AA xp. There are a few quests that require you to kill or catalogue intermediate or Named enemies from ring events, so it is important to be aware of them for that reason also.

The Rat Nest Ring Event is the simplest sort, with your only possibilities being either getting a named, or not. Other ring events may also have a chance of a glowing object appearing in the world. Using that object will give your group a buff for a time, perhaps even turning you all into lions or wolves for a while!

For another example, the Antonican camps with gnoll youths and gnoll mystics, if cleared, have the intermediate monster “Darkpaw Packleader”. Killing him may lead to a glowing buff object, the named “Tark Searfang”, or even both (or neither)! There are several other sorts of gnoll camp in Antonica, each with their own possibilities.

Some ring event spots can play host to a Distressed Merchant. These poor folks have had their escape route cut off. If only someone would get rid of these nasty monsters, the merchant would be extremely grateful!

Everquest 2 - Maltheas saves a distressed merchant

In addition to being able to do your selling and repairing with such a merchant, they also sell a number of creature catalogue quest books that you can’t get anywhere else, so saving a distressed merchant can be great for building up your library!

There are ring events all around Norrath, especially in the older overland zones. Keep your eyes open, and who knows what you’ll find, and who you’ll meet!

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