Siege Turtle

This article is about the mount. For the NPC, see Siege Turtle (NPC). For the rented mount, see Siege Turtle (Siege Turtle Rental). For the pet version, see Juvenile Siege Turtle.

“

The Luxon Armada’s descendants have raised and trained these massive turtles for over two hundred years. Each mount can bear two riders: one to handle the Turtle, and another to operate the weapons strapped to its shell. Raise your own walking war machine and take a friend out for combat adventures!

— Official description

The Siege Turtle is a combat mount that can be used by two players at once: a driver and a gunner. It can be exclusively unlocked through End of Dragons, and can be freely borrowed during multiple events within the expansion maps. This mount, along with an upgraded skimmer, is the only one that can be also used underwater.

Upgrades to the Turtle mount increase its health, improve combat efficiency and grant additional health to other unlocked mounts.

Unlocking

End of Dragons

Siege Turtle unlock banner.

1. Unlock  Stomping Around by obtaining a Turtle Egg via either:
   • Completing the Dragon's End meta event The Battle for the Jade Sea; or
   • Purchasing it from the Peddler in Dragon's End for 200 Writs of Dragon's End.
2. Talk to Rota in Arborstone to unlock  Turtle Unlock: Starting Small.
   • The Newborn Siege Turtle will follow your character around Arborstone until the unlock collections are completed.
   • Trade in the required items to Fidget to complete.
3. Talk to Rota again to unlock  Turtle Unlock: Getting Stronger.
   • Trade in the required items to Fidget to complete.
4. Talk to Rota again to unlock  Turtle Unlock: Suiting Up.
   • Gather items from events and vendors across Cantha to complete.
5. Talk to Rota again to unlock the mount.

Unlock achievements

• Cantha: Stomping Around — Unlock the siege turtle by completing siege turtle collections. (5)
  • Cantha: Turtle Unlock: Starting Small — Collect turtle food to help your little friend grow. (5)
  • Cantha: Turtle Unlock: Getting Stronger — Feed your turtle various fish fillets. (5)
  • Cantha: Turtle Unlock: Suiting Up — Collect parts to construct a turtle saddle and turrets. (5)

Mechanics

• A Siege Turtle has 40,000 base health.
• The Turtle has a defiance bar. When broken, all riders will be dismounted.
• When dismounting, the mount skill will go on a 1 to 90 seconds cooldown depending on the Turtle’s health. The cooldown increases by 1 second per 2% health lost.

Movement/Controls

The Siege Turtle’s first movement mechanic is momentum: unlike most mounts, the Turtle does not have a fixed running speed. Instead, it slowly builds up momentum until it reaches its maximum speed (588u/s). When you start running from a standstill on flat ground, it takes approximately 6 seconds to reach maximum speed: 2.5 seconds to fill the blue part of the speed bar, and 3.5 more to fill the orange part. The Turtle can then sustain its max speed until it stops or crashes into terrain, both of which will slow the Turtle down. Running before mounting allows the Turtle to start running with more speed (halfway through the blue part of the speed bar).

The second movement mechanic is drifting: unlike the Roller Beetle, the Turtle can’t go in and out of drift mode. The driver has to manage their rotation speed in order to control their drift. Turning too fast will slow you down a lot, turning too slow will get you off course.

The last mechanic is flying: using its Jump Jets, the driver can get the Turtle in the air to get over obstacles or to hover above water and canyons. The game keeps the Siege Turtle's starting altitude in memory. The mount can regain lost height up to the starting altitude as long as it has enough endurance and doesn't touch the ground again (Griffon works similarly, but uses speed to regain altitude instead of endurance).

The Turtle can also go underwater, although it doesn't have the ability to swim. Instead, it walks slowly on the aquatic floor, and uses its Jump Jets to ascend in water and fly above it until the endurance bar is depleted. To sink faster to the ocean floor, the driver can use Slam underwater. It won't work if Slam is used before entering the water or at the water's surface.

Driving advice

There are 4 different ways of managing turns:

• Using turn keys (default Q and E). These can be hard to handle since it makes the Turtle turn quite fast. The longer a turn key is held, the harder it is to stop turning to face the right direction. Consider tapping them instead of holding them.
• Using strafe keys (default A and D)). Very easy to use to correct the trajectory or take small turns without changing the direction you’re facing.
• Turning the camera (holding the right mouse button or using Action Camera). Very efficient, although it doesn’t turn as fast as with turn keys. It’s probably the easiest way to control the Turtle. For sharper turns, the driver may have to turn the camera fast and further than the direction aimed for.
• Combining all three depending on the situation.

Camera turning works well with strafe turning to sharpen the turtle's turns without having to oversteer too much with the camera. If using mainly turn keys, the turning momentum can be stopped to face the chosen direction using strafe keys (using turn keys to do so is really hard).

Pressing S for a very short time and going forward again will result in a small speed loss, allowing the Turtle to approach a hard turn with less speed.

The passenger can trigger Overdrive to accelerate 5 times faster, neutralize all drifting and reduce the angle of rotation. As this is not a mastery-linked skill, any passenger can use it.

“

Your passenger has triggered Overdrive. The Siege Turtle's speed, acceleration, and handling are improved for a short period of time.

— in-game hint

Fighting

The driver controls movement and can attack with the Slam skill and with the burning that the Jump Jets inflict (2 stacks of burning on activation, then 3 per second until you stop or get too far from the enemy’s hitbox). Activating Bond of Vigor, using Slam on top of stacked foes and moving around fast enough can help recharging the gunner’s ammo and makes the difference between a good driver and a bad one, especially in Siege Stampede adventures.

The gunner controls the cannons and can attack with the Turtle Siege skill. Using Hunker Down to protect the mount from incoming damage and recharging ammo requires the gunner to have unlocked the Power Shell mastery.

While food, utilities, gear and most boons don’t affect the Turtle’s DPS, fury does. Traits increasing the base crit chance of fury (Roiling Mists, Vicious Quarry, Quiet Intensity and Furious Burst) carry over when mounted to give a 5–25% increase to crit chance depending on the trait. Having Jade Tech Offensive and Defensive Protocols active really helps to maintain fury uptime.

If the Turtle’s health is nearing zero or if your breakbar is almost broken, using the Bond of Faith skill before the Turtle dies will cancel its very long cooldown.

Direct damage is per player, but condition damage is shared between the driver and the gunner. If no condition damage is dealt, the driver and the gunner’s participation will not be shared.

Underwater, the Turtle Siege skill becomes foe-targeted instead of AoE-targeted.

“

You've received Siege Turtle ammo. Ammo is usable by the passenger for siege attacks and is accrued over time. Ammo generation can be accelerated through high-speed movement.

— in-game hint

Teleporting

• Using a Waypoint as a Siege Turtle driver will transport both the driver and the gunner to the new location (so long as that location allows for mounts), but only the driver has to pay the waypoint fee. Both will remain mounted. Volunteering to move to a different map will not affect the gunner, who will be dismounted. The same happens when using a Waypoint in a different zone (assuming the driver is the forward most character).
• Using a Portal while mounted as a Siege Turtle driver will port both the driver and the gunner to the portal exit as long as it is in the same map.
• Unlocking waypoints from within the gunner seat has been addressed by Senior GM Diceflip here.

Related masteries

Turtle Mount

Mastery	XP required	Points	Description
Turtle Health Boost	381,000	2	Bond with your turtle to increase its health by 50%.
Slam Mastery	635,000	3	Learn how to generate ammo after successfully hitting a target with Slam.
Improved Jump Jets	1,016,000	4	Learn how to get your turtle to make the most of its jump jets.
Power Shell	1,524,000	5	Master your skill as a gunner, learning to convert incoming damage into ammo.
Sharing Is Caring	2,159,000	6	Learn how to teach the turtle health boost to all your other mounts.
Total	5,715,000	20

Other masteries

• Gain increased damage when using an engage skill from Ravenous Discipline
• Gain decreased fall damage from Masterful Descent
• Gain boons when using an engage skill or being knocked off your mount from Nimble Benevolence
• Gain evasion while using endurance from Adroit Evasion
• Gain skills from Crystal Champion masteries
• Gain an additional skill from Ash Legion Mount Stealth

List of Siege Turtle skills

Siege Turtle Driver

#	Skill			Description
	Turtle			Summon and mount your turtle. Cooldown increases by 1 second per 2% health lost.
1	Slam		40.5½	Leap and knock nearby foes back.
5	Activate Jump Jets			Hold to hover using the turtle's jump jets. Applies burning to nearby enemies.
6	Bond of Life		180	Temporarily grant your mount the use of your own health pool at the risk of being downed in your mount's place.
7	Bond of Vigor		60	Increase your mount's endurance regeneration.
8	Bond of Faith		30	Launch off of your mount!
9	Stealth 2.0		30	Grants stealth to you and your mount.
	Dismount			Dismount your mount

#	Skill			Description
F1	Open Access		1	Click to allow anyone to mount your turtle in the passenger slot.
F1	Restrict Access		1	Click to restrict your mount passenger slot to party or squad members only.

Siege Turtle Gunner

#	Skill			Description
1	Turtle Siege			Launch a siege attack that explodes on impact, damaging and burning foes. Turtle movement accelerates siege ammo acquisition.
3	Hunker Down		25	Empower your turtle with a shell of energy, converting incoming damage to ammo and incoming conditons to boons
5	Overdrive		25	Boost the turtle's acceleration, max speed, and turning ability.
	Bond of Faith		30	Launch off of your mount!

Notes: NPC version Siege Turtle will not have Bond of Faith.

Related equipment

Jade Bot equipment that improve this mechanic

• Mount Energy Booster 1 - Boosts mount energy regeneration by 10%.
• Mount Energy Booster 2 - Boosts mount energy regeneration by 20%.
• Mount Energy Booster 3 - Boosts mount energy regeneration by 30%.
• Turtle Pilot Booster 1 - Reduces siege turtle hover energy consumption by 10%, and the Slam Mastery now generates 30% of an artillery shot per enemy struck.
• Turtle Pilot Booster 2 - Reduces siege turtle hover energy consumption by 20%, and the upgraded Slam Mastery now generates 35% of an artillery shot per enemy struck.
• Turtle Pilot Booster 3 - Reduces siege turtle hover energy consumption by 30%, and the upgraded Slam Mastery now generates 40% of an artillery shot per enemy struck.
• Turtle Siege Enhancer 1 - Increases the damage of the Turtle Siege skill by 10%.
• Turtle Siege Enhancer 2 - Increases the damage of the Turtle Siege skill by 15%.
• Turtle Siege Enhancer 3 - Increases the damage of the Turtle Siege skill by 20%.

Lore

History

Specifically a breed simply called Giant Turtle, in the past, Siege Turtles were the staple of the Luxon Armada in their war against the Kurzicks. Tamed and raised by the Turtle Clan, they were cared for in hatcheries, the largest of which being Gyala Hatchery, which was used for other aquatic life as well, then trained at the Leviathan Pits. The Luxons had mounted cannons atop of the turtles' shells via scaffolding, and used magical jade as ammunition to fire at smoke canister signals. Not all of the turtles bred were trained for warfare, however, as some Hauler Turtles were instead used to move heavy shipments, such as large piles of jade out of quarries. These turtles were also used by the Turtle Clan as opposed to Luxon Leviathan ships, which the other two clans, Crab and Serpent, preferred using to move around the solidified Jade Sea.

Modern times

Siege Turtles are still used by Canthans today as mounts, though equipped with higher technology, and a second cannon.

List of Siege Turtle skins

See also: Gallery of Siege Turtle skins

Aurora Blessed Turtle
Charged Siege Turtle
Crested Dragon Siege Turtle Skin
Deepwater Barbshell Siege Turtle Skin
Glacial Turtle
Hard Lamina Siege Turtle
Jade Tech Siege Turtle Skin
Luminous Bastion Siege Turtle Skin
Magmaback Snapper Siege Turtle Skin
Marbled Slider Siege Turtle
Painted River Siege Turtle Skin
Plush Siege Turtle Skin
Prehistoric Siege Turtle
Siege Turtle
Southern Terrapin Siege Turtle Skin
Star Blessed Turtle
Super Sophisticated Siege Turtle Skin

Gallery

Screenshots

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Concept art and renders

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  Guild Wars concept art.

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  New Canthan for "Siege Turtle"

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  Baby siege turtle; see this link for the full animation.

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  Art by Zhengyi Wang.

Notes

• The Siege Turtle gunner is unable to open loot bags or consume items.
• After losing too much altitude, it's impossible to go back all the way up without using power-ups to recharge the turtle's endurance. These can take the form of floating magic orbs in open world (Latent Magic, Volatile Magic or Unbound Magic) and Racing Power-Up Projectors in guild halls.
• The driver can mitigate fall damage by using the Turtle's Jade Jets, but instead of resetting immediately like the Jackal, the Turtle's fall has to be slowed first. No need to entirely stop falling to reset it. Even one or two brief taps just before hitting the ground after falling from a great height will result in no fall damage.
• If your passenger isn't in your group, toggling the access rights back to "restricted" will dismount them.
• The gunner and driver body movements are symmetrical.
• If two players manage to win a Mount Race in a Siege Turtle, the driver is awarded First Place and the gunner is awarded Second Place (assuming the driver is the forward most character).

Trivia

• If you toggle the walk animation, the speed of the mount is almost the same as the walk speed of real life turtles.
  • The Siege Turtles walking speed is ~28 in/sec (= ~71.12 cm/sec).
• Siege Turtles like to eat carrots and fish.
• This mount is simply referred to as Turtle in at least, but probably not limited to, the mount selection menu, the skill used to summon them and the API.

Related achievements

• Seitung Province: Seitung Province Siege Turtle Ace: Gold — Complete the Seitung Province Siege Turtle adventure with a gold rating. (3)
• Seitung Province: Seitung Province Siege Turtle Ace: Silver — Complete the Seitung Province Siege Turtle adventure with a silver rating or better. (2)
• The Echovald Wilds: Echovald Wilds Siege Turtle Ace: Silver — Complete the Echovald Wilds Siege Turtle adventure with a silver rating or better. (2)
• The Echovald Wilds: Echovald Wilds Siege Turtle Ace: Gold — Complete the Echovald Wilds Siege Turtle adventure with a gold rating. (3)
• What Lies Within: Gyala Delve Siege Turtle Ace: Gold — Complete the Gyala Delve Siege Turtle adventure with a gold rating. (3)
• What Lies Within: Gyala Delve Siege Turtle Ace: Silver — Complete the Gyala Delve Siege Turtle adventure with a silver rating or better. (2)

External links

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Siege Turtle.

• Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons - Siege Turtle
• Guild Wars 2's new Siege Turtle could be the best MMO mount yet, pcgamer.com

References

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Mounts

Raptor•Springer•Skimmer•Jackal•Griffon

Roller Beetle•Warclaw•Skyscale•Siege Turtle