Great Purple Dragon Turtle

Great Purple Dragon Turtle is a ground mount that originates from the Mists of Pandaria expansion (patch 5.0.4). It is a massive pandaren dragon turtle with a richly saturated purple shell and a distinctive eastern-style harness.

The mount is sold for regular gold by two vendors in the capitals — Old Whitenose in Stormwind and Turtlemaster Odai in Orgrimmar. Any pandaren character can buy it right away, regardless of faction or reputation. Members of other races will need to be exalted with the Tushui Pandaren (Alliance) or the Huojin Pandaren (Horde).

• Unique pandaren turtle model — its massive silhouette, decorated shell, and side lanterns set it apart from any other ground mount.
• Costs just 10 gold — once you reach Exalted with the right faction, the mount costs next to nothing. One of the most accessible "reputation" mounts in the game
• Part of the dragon turtle collection — alongside it, the same vendor offers several other color variants: red, blue, black, green, and brown. A single shopping trip can knock out several entries in your mount journal at once
• Mount-count achievements — the higher collection milestones (250, 300, 400 mounts) specifically rely on these bulk sources, like the pandaren turtles
• Account-wide access — after the first purchase, the mount unlocks on all characters through the shared collection
• A reason to revisit the pandaren starting zone — the mount weaves naturally into the race's story and looks great on pandaren of any class

To buy the mount, you need to meet a few conditions:

• Character level: minimum 10 (a formality nowadays)
• Riding skill: Apprentice Riding — basic skill is enough
• Race or reputation — one of the two:
  • Play a pandaren character (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's story quests, and wearing the matching tabard in dungeons.

The mount is sold by two vendors — one in each of the main faction capitals. Note: the Alliance and the Horde only have access to their own vendor, but with the appropriate reputation, the 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. Found in the pandaren camp in the center of Orgrimmar's Valley of Honor, next to the pond and the training grounds.

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

Method 1. Faction tabard and dungeons

The main and recommended method. You get a tabard from your faction's advocate in the pandaren camp:

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

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

Method 2. Pandaren from scratch

If you are creating a new pandaren character, keep in mind: in the Wandering Isle starting zone you haven't picked a faction yet, but once you choose a side you immediately gain access to all racial mounts with no reputation requirement. This is the fastest way for collectors to complete the set.