Great Black Dragon Turtle

Great Black Dragon Turtle is a pandaren ground mount from the Mists of Pandaria expansion. It is a large version of the dragon turtle in a coal-black coloration, with its signature "headlights," a keg of ale, and a leather saddle. The mount is sold for 10 gold by the pandaren racial vendors in the capitals of the Horde and the Alliance, but it is available only to pandaren or to those who have earned Exalted reputation with the corresponding faction.

The Great Black Dragon Turtle is prized by collectors for several reasons:

• Rare racial model. The large variant of the dragon turtle is not available to every player — you need to either play a pandaren or invest time into reputation.
• Counts toward achievements. The mount counts in the overall collection tally and in achievements for the number of mounts collected.
• Unique style. The model with its lanterns and keg of ale stands out from the other mounts and pairs well with pandaren transmog sets.
• Useful at low levels. Thanks to the reduced requirements in patch 9.0.1, the mount can already be used at level 10 as a regular ground mount.

To purchase the mount you need to meet a few conditions:

• Character level: minimum 10 (the formal requirement today)
• Riding skill: Apprentice Riding — basic skill is enough
• Race or reputation — one of two:
  • Play the pandaren race (either faction)
  • Reach Exalted with the Tushui faction — for the Alliance
  • Reach Exalted with the Huojin faction — for the Horde
• Gold: 10 gold

Reputation with the pandaren factions is earned through daily quests in the capitals, completing Pandaria story quests, and wearing the corresponding tabard in dungeons.

The mount is sold by two vendors — one in each of the main faction capitals. Note: the Alliance and the Horde have access only to their own vendor; however, with the appropriate reputation their wares are identical.

Alliance — Stormwind

Vendor: Old Whitenose. Located in the pandaren camp by the Eastern Earthshrine, in the northern part of Stormwind, next to the Mage Quarter and the Canals.

Horde — Orgrimmar

Vendor: Turtlemaster Odai. Located in the pandaren camp in the center of Orgrimmar's Valley of Honor, next to the pond and the training grounds.

The pandaren Tushui and Huojin are among the easiest reputations in the game to farm at max level.

Method 1. Faction Tabard and Dungeons

The main and recommended method. From your faction's recruiter in the pandaren camp you receive a tabard:

• Alliance — Tushui Tabard from Disciple Jusi
• Horde — Huojin Tabard from Adherent Hanjun

In any dungeon, from the classic ones to the modern ones, all reputation gained while wearing the tabard goes to your chosen pandaren faction. At max level 90, old dungeons clear in a couple of minutes, so a few runs through the dungeon finder will close out the reputation in one or two evenings.

Method 2. Pandaren from Scratch

If you are creating a new pandaren character, keep in mind: on the starting zone of the Wandering Isle you have not yet chosen a faction, but once you pick a side you immediately gain access to all racial mounts without any reputation requirement. This is the fastest way to close out the collection for collectors.

1. Decide on a faction. If you play Horde, your goal is Huojin; for Alliance, Tushui. For a pandaren character of any faction it is enough to simply fly into a capital
2. Fly to Orgrimmar or Stormwind. Check that you have free inventory slots and at least a few gold coins to buy the mount
3. If you are a pandaren — go straight to the vendor and buy the mount. No reputation required
4. If you are another race — get the faction tabard from the pandaren recruiter and check your current reputation level via the reputation window (the U key by default)
5. Run dungeons through the automatic group finder with the tabard equipped. Any dungeons will do, but the dungeons of the Shadowlands and the Dragon Isles clear the fastest
6. Once you reach Exalted, return to the capital and buy the mount

• Buy all the colors at once. The vendors sell dragon turtles in various colors — on a single Exalted trip it makes sense to grab the whole set: black, blue, red, green, purple, and brown. Each adds a separate entry to your collection.
• Use the reputation discount. The pandaren vendors themselves do not give a discount, but if you have a pandaren character — they can buy the mount without any reputation at all.
• Check the account-wide binding. Modern dragon turtles, once used, unlock the mount for all characters on the account, so you only need to obtain it once.
• Pandaren camps are easy to spot on the minimap. In both capitals the camp is marked on the minimap with a mount vendor icon — use it as a reference if you didn't find the spot on the first try.