If you’ve spent your first few hours exploring Wuthering Waves’ open world and scratching your head at the missing slot in your character’s accessory tab, you’re not alone. A lot of new players miss the quest line that walks you through how to get basic ring in Wuthering Waves, even though it’s one of the most impactful early-game upgrades you can get. It gives a flat boost to HP and attack that works for every character, no matter their element or playstyle, so it’s well worth the 20 minutes it takes to unlock. I missed it on my first playthrough too, and spent three weeks fighting world bosses with a blank accessory slot before a friend pointed me in the right direction.
Pre-Requisites for the Quest That Teaches You How to Get Basic Ring in Wuthering Waves
You don’t need to be high level or have rare gear to unlock this quest, but there are a few small boxes you have to tick first. The first is reaching Account Rank (AR) 12, which you’ll hit naturally after completing the first two acts of the main “Dawn of a New Era” story line. You also need to have unlocked access to the southern section of the Jinzhou map, which opens automatically after you activate the first regional resonance gem. You don't have to spend any in-game premium currency or rare materials to unlock this quest or the ring itself, which is part of what makes it such a good deal for new players.
If you’re already past AR 12 and still don’t see the quest pop up, check your unaccepted side quest tab for quests marked with a gray exclamation mark near the Jinzhou southern gate. A lot of players ignore gray exclamation marks because they assume they’re low-value filler quests, but this one is well worth your time. You also don’t need to have any specific characters unlocked to complete it, even your starting roster will handle the enemies easily.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough to Farm and Craft the Basic Ring
Once you meet the pre-requisites, head to the southern gate of Jinzhou and look for an NPC named Old Li, who works as the blacksmith’s assistant. He’ll be standing next to a pile of scrap metal near the gate, and he’ll give you the short “Lost Accessory” quest when you talk to him. The quest asks you to retrieve his lost ring fragments from a nearby abandoned mine, which is only a two-minute walk from the gate. Inside the mine, you’ll find three level 10 rogue resonance users guarding a common chest, and you don’t need any fancy combos to beat them — even basic attacks will take them down in a few hits.
Once you defeat the enemies, open the chest to get the three broken ring fragments, then head back to Old Li to turn in the quest. He’ll reward you with a small amount of gold and the crafting recipe for the basic ring, which you can use at any blacksmith bench across the map. To craft the ring, you’ll need the following common materials:
- 3 Iron Ore: Can be mined from any rock outcropping within 10 minutes of walking from Jinzhou city, no special mining tool required
- 2 Resonance Dust: Drops from any level 8+ common enemy, or can be purchased from the general goods shop for 50 gold each if you don't want to farm
- 100 Common Gold: Earned from completing any side quest or selling extra materials you don't need, no grind required
When you have all the materials, interact with any blacksmith bench, select the basic ring from the accessory crafting menu, and it’ll be ready in 10 seconds. Make sure you equip it immediately after crafting, because the game doesn't auto-equip accessories you make yourself. You can find it in the accessory tab of your inventory, and you can move it between any characters on your roster as much as you want.
What Bonuses Does the Basic Ring Give, and Is It Worth Upgrading?
The base unupgraded basic ring gives +120 HP and +25 attack to any character that equips it, with no level or element restrictions. That might not sound like a lot at first, but when you’re just starting out and most of your gear is low level, that extra 25 attack can cut down the time it takes to beat common enemies by almost 20%. It’s especially useful for support characters that you don’t want to spend rare gear on, since it gives a reliable stat boost for almost no investment.
You can upgrade the basic ring up to level 20 using extra iron ore and resonance dust, and at max level it gives +450 HP and +85 attack, which is still viable even when you reach AR 30. It doesn’t have any special passive effects like endgame rings, so you will eventually replace it with element-specific or role-specific accessories as you progress. Don't waste your rare upgrade materials on it, though — only use common iron ore and dust you get from regular farming, since rare materials are better saved for your weapons or endgame gear.
If you accidentally sell or destroy the ring for some reason, you don’t have to redo the quest to get another one. The crafting recipe stays unlocked forever, so you can make as many copies as you want for your other characters for the same low material cost. I keep three extra copies in my inventory for when I unlock new characters, so I can give them an immediate stat boost without farming for rare gear right away.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Get the Basic Ring
Even though this quest is pretty straightforward, a lot of new players run into small issues that delay them from getting the ring for days or even weeks. The most common mistake is ignoring Old Li’s quest because it has a gray exclamation mark instead of the yellow one used for main story quests. It’s easy to run past him when you’re rushing to get to the next main story objective, but taking two minutes to talk to him will save you a lot of frustration later.
Another common mistake is selling the broken ring fragments before you turn them in to Old Li. If you accidentally click “sell all” on your common items after leaving the mine, don’t panic — the chest with the fragments respawns every 24 hours, so you can go back and get another set the next day. You also can’t craft the ring before you complete the quest, so don’t waste time looking for the recipe in the blacksmith menu before you turn in the fragments to Old Li. If you're playing co-op, you can ask a friend to help you beat the rogue resonance users if you're underleveled, even if they already completed the quest, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re struggling.
The last mistake I see a lot of players make is upgrading the basic ring to max level before they have their main team’s weapons fully upgraded. Weapons give a much bigger stat boost per upgrade material than accessories do, so you’re better off focusing on your weapons first, then upgrading the basic ring once you have extra materials lying around. It’s still worth upgrading to level 10 early on, since that only takes a handful of common materials, but hold off on maxing it until you’re further in the game.
At the end of the day, the basic ring is one of the simplest, most rewarding early-game upgrades you can get in Wuthering Waves, and the whole process to unlock it takes less than half an hour even if you’re taking your time exploring. If you’ve been putting off tracking it down, now’s the perfect time to go chat with Old Li and knock out the short quest line to get basic ring in Wuthering Waves. You’ll notice the difference in your survivability and damage output immediately, especially if you’re still running around with empty accessory slots on your main team. It’s the kind of small, easy upgrade that makes the first 20 hours of the game feel a lot less frustrating, and it’s well worth the tiny time investment.