Riding Shotgun

Event: Riding Shotgun is an event

Quick walkthrough
Guide the Blue Ridge Caravan Co. through the Big Bend Tunnel.

Detailed walkthrough
The event is started by talking to Vinny Costa at the Big Bend Tunnel East entrance in the Cranberry Bog. The player character can tell him they are there to help guard the caravans moving through the tunnel. Once the event starts, one will be assigned to guard Carver Timmerman, Eugenie, or Rudy Fernandez alongside Blue Ridge guard Libby Wen, Kieran Kennedy, or Aries. The event consists of moving through the tunnel, fighting waves of Blood Eagles whose main goal is to kill the two brahmin being escorted by the player character and the chosen merchant and guard. Throughout the entire journey, one can find four lost supplies that can be picked up to give a small boost to the reward. The lost supplies are in Blue Ridge Caravan crates usually just off the main tunnel the convoy goes down, but are potentially randomized during each run.

There are three stops along the way where the player character will defend the caravan against the Blood Eagle attack. At the first stop, one will have to wait for their Blue Ridge guard escorting the Brahmin with them to detonate a small explosive to clear a Blood Eagle barricade. At the middle stop, fighting a legendary Blood Eagle captain along with a medium-sized squad of Blood Eagles is required. Be careful as the Blood Eagle Captain sports a heavy automatic weapon, such as a minigun. Once this is complete, a quest objective will appear telling one to open the gate for the caravan. This is a good time to begin searching for the lost supplies, as no Blood Eagles will attack during this period, but the player character will have to be fast as the quest is still on a timer to complete. After the gate is open, Blood Eagles will appear at one more stop afterward. Following the last stop, one will walk a short distance and find the exit. The event ends once the caravan reaches the exit. The biggest threat to the brahmin will be the mongrels that will run up to bite the brahmin, while the Blood Eagle infantry will usually be inaccurate with their weapons while taking cover to avoid return fire, though those Blood Eagles packing automatic weapons should take priority over the ones using semi-auto fire.

The amount of XP and caps rewarded is dependent on the number of remaining brahmin. Each of the four possible supplies collected provides an extra 50 XP and 10 caps, but doesn't affect the chance to obtain rare rewards.

Behind the scenes
According to quest designer Carl McKevitt, Riding Shotgun was designed with the goal of making an event that "made the world feel like it was living in real time." The quest initially featured simple "caravan guards" who were later fleshed out into the Blue Ridge Caravan Company.