Black Dragon Turtle

Reins of the Black Dragon Turtle is a ground mount that arrived in World of Warcraft with the Mists of Pandaria expansion (patch 5.5.0). It's a massive turtle with a dark shell and a calm, confident gait — a Pandaren racial mount that captures their love of unhurried yet relentless strength.

The mount is sold by two special vendors in the capitals of the Alliance and the Horde for just 1 gold. The real challenge isn't the money, it's the reputation: characters who aren't Pandaren need to reach Exalted with one of the Pandaren factions on their side.

• An unusual model — the black dragon turtle looks far more imposing than any classic horse or wolf, and its movement animation is distinctive and stands apart from most ground mounts.
• A simple, cheap purchase — just 1 gold, provided you already have the required reputation. No need to hope for a random drop or spend weeks farming.
• Part of the Pandaren turtle collection — the same vendors sell eight more similar mounts in different colors, and all of them count toward mount-collecting achievements.
• Useful for achievements — every new mount brings you closer to meta-achievements like "Leading the Cavalry," "Mountacular," and the like, which in turn unlock unique reward mounts.
• Unlocks account-wide — once purchased, the turtle becomes available to every character on your account, regardless of faction or race.

The vendors are located in the Pandaren quarters of both capitals. Their stock is identical — each one sells all nine dragon turtle color variants.

Horde — Turtlemaster Odai

Found in the Pandaren quarter on the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar, next to the dragon turtle pond.

Alliance — Old Whitenose

Located in the Eastern Earthshrine on a small island in the northern part of Stormwind, near the gnome quarter.

1. Pick a character who already has, or can quickly build, reputation with the Pandaren of their faction. If the reputation isn't there yet, move on to the next steps.
2. Open the reputation window (the U key) and check your current standing with the Huojin Pandaren (Horde) or the Tushui Pandaren (Alliance).
3. If you aren't Exalted yet, grind the reputation to the top. The fastest route is the daily quests in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the quests from the Pandaren starting zone, and items that speed up reputation gains.
4. Reach character level 10 and learn the basic riding skill from a trainer in the capital.
5. Fly to your faction's capital. The Horde goes to Orgrimmar, the Alliance to Stormwind.
6. Find the right vendor: Turtlemaster Odai or Old Whitenose.
7. Open the trade window and buy the Reins of the Black Dragon Turtle for 1 gold.
8. Use the item straight from your bags — the mount is added to your collection and becomes available to every character on your account.

The Huojin and Tushui factions are among the fastest to farm to Exalted. They climbed steadily as you worked through the Mists of Pandaria story, but even now you can top them off in a few play sessions.

• Daily quests in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and on the Timeless Isle. Most of them award reputation with the Pandaren of your faction as a bonus reward.
• Quests in the Pandaren starting zone — if you have a Pandaren character, completing the Wandering Isle of Shen-zin Su immediately raises your reputation with your home faction to Friendly, and it climbs faster from there.
• Honorbound insignias — if you still have tokens left over from the Horde/Alliance invasion dailies, you can trade them for reputation-granting items.
• The Tillers and the Lorewalkers — some quests from the storylines of neighboring factions also boost your reputation with the Pandaren.

At max level, every Pandaria quest is a one-shot, so grinding to Exalted in 2026 takes just a few evenings of relaxed play.

If you've already come for the black turtle, it makes sense to buy the entire lineup at once — all eight extra mounts unlock collection achievements.

Each turtle costs 1 gold, and the reputation requirement is the same. All nine mounts together will run you less than 10 gold.