Tortos

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

''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.''

''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.

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.

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

• (1080p) - Mage, Boss voice, Vent

• Guides