Red Dragon Turtle

Red Dragon Turtle is a turtle ground mount, one of the pandaren racial mounts. It was added to the game in the Mists of Pandaria expansion and to this day remains a relevant way to decorate your collection with an unhurried but solid lizard-turtle sporting a red shell.

In the lore, red dragon turtles are prized by the pandaren for their endurance, their ability to carry heavy loads, and their calm, steady gait. They are the traditional transport of Pandaria's inhabitants, and that is precisely why every pandaren receives them with no reputation requirements — as a birthright.

The mount is of rare quality (it was downgraded from epic in patch 5.1) and is account-wide.

• Adds to your collection of ground mounts and counts toward achievements for total mount count
• The red shell coloring pairs nicely with transmogs in scarlet and gold tones
• One of the six basic pandaren racial mounts (red, blue, green, brown, yellow, and black turtles)
• An easy target: it costs only 1 gold, with no complicated quest chains

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

• Character level: minimum 10 (a formality these days)
• Riding skill: Apprentice Riding — basic skill is enough
• Race or reputation — one of two options:
  • Play as 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 appropriate tabard in dungeons.

The mount is sold by two vendors — one in each of the main faction capitals. Note: the Alliance and the Horde can only access their own vendor, but with the appropriate reputation the goods on offer are identical.

Alliance — Stormwind

Vendor: Old Whitenose. Located in the pandaren camp by the Eastern Earthshrine, in the northern part of Stormwind, near 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, near 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 cloak and dungeons

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

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

In any dungeon, from classic to modern, all reputation earned while wearing the cloak goes to the chosen pandaren faction. At max level 90, old dungeons are cleared in a couple of minutes, so a few runs through the dungeon finder will cap the reputation in an evening or two.

Method 2. Pandaren from scratch

If you are creating a new pandaren character, keep in mind: on the Wandering Isle starting zone you have not yet chosen a faction, but after picking a side you immediately gain access to all racial mounts with no reputation requirement. This is the fastest way for collectors to complete the collection.