Tortos

Tortos
Race	Dragon turtle (Beast)
Level	?? Boss
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Location	Lair of Tortos, Throne of Thunder
Status	Killable
Throne of Thunder Jin'rokh the Breaker Horridon Council of Elders Tortos Megaera Ji-Kun Durumu the Forgotten Primordius Dark Animus Iron Qon Twin Consorts Lei Shen Ra-den (Heroic only) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Loot

Tortos is the fourth boss encounter in the Throne of Thunder and the first part of the  [Forgotten Depths] wing of the raid.

Background

Adventure Guide

Over the millennia, small amounts of mogu flesh-shaping magic seeped into the caverns below the Thunder King's citadel. The dark energies warped one of the chamber's native dragon turtles, melding it to the surrounding crystalline walls. Known as Tortos, this amalgamation of flesh and stone has since feasted on the cave's rich mineral deposits and grown to a colossal size.

Encounter Design

Along with asking why we fight, and learning that our true enemy is war itself, a major theme of the Mists of Pandaria has been killing turtles. This raid encounter elevates that motif to all-new heights, presenting players with the chance to fight a huge turtle, and small turtles, and also the ability to kick one of the small turtles into the big turtle. What more could you ask for?

Fun fact: We originally wanted to make a fire turtle boss in the southeastern section of Firelands in Patch 4.2, but opted not to at the time; we’ve been looking for an opportunity to do a turtle fight ever since.

Abilities

•  Call of Tortos —  Tortos lets out a rumbling call, causing several smaller turtles to enter the area and attack players. 1 sec cast

Whirl Turtle

• 10: 3,150,000
• 10H: 5,600,000
• LFR: 4,200,000
• 25: 10,500,000
• 25H: 17,500,000

•  Spinning Shell —  The turtle chases players around the room, spinning rapidly and continuously inflicting 125,128 (LFR: 46,125 /: 205,000) Physical damage to enemies within 5 yards, knocking them away.
•  Shell Block  —  The turtle hides in his shell at low health, gaining immunity to all damage. While in this state, the turtle can be kicked across the room by players, applying Shell Concussion to any creatures it hits along the way.
•  Kick Shell  —  This extra action button can be used to kick a defeated Whirl Turtle across the room. Move close to the shell, then aim by positioning it between yourself and your target. Enemies hit by the shell are afflicted by Shell Concussion.
•  Shell Concussion  —  When kicked, the shell spins forward, interrupting enemies it touches and leaving them off-balance, increasing the damage they take from all sources by 25% for 20 sec.

Tortos

•  Furious Stone Breath  — Inflicts 153,375 (LFR: 15,375 /: 358,750) Nature damage to all enemies every 0.5 sec for 4.5 sec. 5 sec cast. Requires 100 Fury to cast.
•  Growing Fury —  Tortos becomes angry when no enemies are in melee range, gaining 10 (LFR: 5) Fury.
•  Rockfall —  A lightning-charged stalactite falls from the roof of the cave, inflicting 367,500 (LFR: 105,000 /: 527875) Nature damage to enemies within 5 yards and 89,100 Nature damage to enemies within 20 yards.
•  Quake Stomp  —  Tortos performs a massive stomp, stunning all enemies for 1 sec and inflicting Physical damage to each equal to 65% (LFR: 30% /: 100%) of their maximum health. Quake Stomp also increases the frequency of Rockfalls for 8 sec. 2.3 sec cast
•  Snapping Bite  —  Tortos snaps his jaws shut around the target, inflicting 538,125 (: 699,050) Physical damage. 25-man: Inflicts 699,050 (LFR: 333,125 /: 908,769) Physical damage. 1.4 sec cast

Vampiric Cave Bat

• 10: 4,215,920
• 10H: 4,215,920
• LFR: 8,221,044
• 25: 12,647,760
• 25H: 12,647,760

•  Drain the Weak —  Drains health when attacking targets with less than 550,000 current health, inflicting 25% of weapon damage as Physical and healing the caster for 50% (LFR: 10%) of the damage dealt.

Heroic Difficulty

•  Crystal Shell   —  The crystal reacts when struck, encasing the attacker in a shell that absorbs incoming damage and healing. Initially the shell can absorb up to 15% of max health in damage, but healing absorbed by the shell is added to this total, up to a cap of 75% of max health. The shell breaks when it cannot absorb any more damage.

Strategy

Tortos is a one-phase encounter that usually requires two tanks: one for Tortos and one for the Vampiric Cave Bats. All raid members should watch out for the blue circles that signal Rockfall. Tortos will periodically use Quake Stomp which will take away 65% of the raid's maximum HP. This damage is mitigated by defensive cooldowns.

The primary mechanic for the encounter are the Whirl Turtles that spawn periodically. When the turtles die, they retreat into their shell and can be kicked, applying a debuff to the boss and any adds, including other Whirl Turtles, it hits. Tortos has a relatively large hitbox, so it is advisable to hit as many bats and turtles as possible when kicking a shell at Tortos. However, at least one shell must be saved in order to interrupt the casting of Tortos' Furious Stone Breath attack which does severe damage to the raid once he reaches 100% Fury. Also keep in mind the stalagmites on the side of the room may interrupt line of sight for kicking the shells into Tortos, so be mindful of where you kill the turtles. One helpful tactic is to kill a turtle in the center of the room, if possible, and save it for the next Call of Tortos since the three incoming Whirl Turtles will arrive in a straight line, easily hit by a kicked shell. This will apply the debuff to all three turtles and make them initially much easier to kill.

Vampiric Cave Bats will spawn at the ceiling and fly down to attack the raid. The second tank must pick up these bats quickly and position them in front of the boss so they can easily be hit by kicked shells. They should be hit with any shells the raid has to spare and AOE'd down. The bats may recover health over time due to Drain the Weak, so all dps must be focused on the adds or they will take much longer to kill than necessary.

The dps increase from the Whirl Turtles' Shell Concussion is vital to keeping the number of adds low and damage on the boss high. Overall, Tortos can be seen as one of the easier fights in the Throne of Thunder, since the raid mostly just has to master the positioning and use of the dead Whirl Turtles to win.

Loot

Tortos
Item	Type	Description
[Amulet of the Primal Turtle] LFR TF H H TF	Necklace	Strength DPS
[Azure Shell Bracers] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth bracers	Caster
[Beady-Eye Bracers] LFR TF H H TF	Mail bracers	Agility
[Beakbreaker Greatcloak] LFR TF H H TF	Cloak	Tank
[Crystal-Claw Gloves] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth gloves	Caster
[Grips of Vampiric Cruelty] LFR TF H H TF	Leather gloves	Agility
[Quakestompers] LFR TF H H TF	Mail boots	Agility
[Refreshing Abalone Girdle] LFR TF H H TF	Plate belt	Spirit
[Robes of Concussive Shocks] LFR TF H H TF	Leather chest	Spirit
[Rockfall Ribwraps] LFR TF H H TF	Leather chest	Agility
[Shattered Tortoiseshell Longbow] LFR TF H H TF	Bow	Agility
[Shell-Coated Wristplates] LFR TF H H TF	Plate bracers	Tank
[Shellsplitter Greataxe] LFR TF H H TF	One-hand axe	Strength DPS
[Shimmershell Cape] LFR TF H H TF	Cloak	Caster
[Shoulderguards of Centripetal Destruction] LFR TF H H TF	Plate shoulders	DPS
[Spaulders of Quaking Fear] LFR TF H H TF	Mail shoulders	Spirit
[Stonegaze Hood] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth helm	Spirit
[Tortos' Discarded Shell] LFR TF H H TF	Shield	Spirit
[Tortos' Shellseizers] LFR TF H H TF	Plate gloves	Spirit
[Vampire Bat-Hide Bracers] LFR TF H H TF	Leather bracers	Spirit

Shared boss loot
Item	Type	Description
[Abandoned Spaulders of Arrowflight] LFR TF H H TF	Mail shoulders	Agility
[Abandoned Spaulders of Renewal] LFR TF H H TF	Mail shoulders	Caster
[Bo-Ris, Horror in the Night] LFR TF H H TF	Polearm	Strength
[Darkwood Spiritstaff] LFR TF H H TF	Staff	Agility
[Do-tharak, the Swordbreaker] LFR TF H H TF	One-hand sword	Strength
[Forgotten Mantle of the Moon] LFR TF H H TF	Leather shoulders	Agility
[Forgotten Mantle of the Sun] LFR TF H H TF	Leather shoulders	Caster
[Fyn's Flickering Dagger] LFR TF H H TF	Dagger	Agility
[Greatsword of Frozen Hells] LFR TF H H TF	Two-hand sword	Strength
[Invocation of the Dawn] LFR TF H H TF	Two-hand mace	Caster
[Jerthud, Graceful Hand of the Savior] LFR TF H H TF	One-hand mace	Spirit
[Lost Shoulders of Fire] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth shoulders	Caster DPS
[Lost Shoulders of Fluidity] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth shoulders	Caster
[Lost Shoulders of Healing] LFR TF H H TF	Cloth shoulders	Spirit
[Miracoran, the Vehement Chord] LFR TF H H TF	Bow	Agility
[Nadagast's Exsanguinator] LFR TF H H TF	Dagger	Caster DPS
[Reconstructed Bloody Shoulderplates] LFR TF H H TF	Plate shoulders	Tank
[Reconstructed Furious Shoulderplates] LFR TF H H TF	Plate shoulders	Strength
[Reconstructed Holy Shoulderplates] LFR TF H H TF	Plate shoulders	Caster
[Tia-Tia, the Scything Star] LFR TF H H TF	Fist weapon	Agility
[Visage of the Doomed] LFR TF H H TF	Shield	Tank
[Zeeg's Ancient Kegsmasher] LFR TF H H TF	One-hand mace	Agility

Related Achievements

•  [Forgotten Depths]
•  [Heroic: Tortos]
•  [One-Up]
•  [Throne of Thunder Guild Run]

Videos

LFR

• The basics of LFR, Tortos

10m Heroic

• Hadriana MW Monk POV

Guides

• TheDDGuides → How to "TANK" Tortos
• TheDDGuides → How to "DPS" Tortos
• TheDDGuides → How to "HEAL" Tortos
• TheDDGuides → Heroic Tortos Strategy Guide
• Aliena's Raid Guides - Tortos 10 man

25-man Normal

• Tortos Live Servers (1080p) - Mage, Boss voice, Vent

Patch changes

• Hotfix (2013-04-16): Fixed an issue where certain situations could cause Whirl Turtles to travel more slowly than intended when kicked.
  
• Hotfix (2013-04-10):
  • Whirl Turtles now have a reduced base movement speed in 10-player Normal difficulty.
  • Vampiric Cave Bats now deal less damage in 10-player Normal difficulty.
    
• Patch 5.2.0 (2013-03-05): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB

Guides

Icy Veins Tortos strategy guide