Tortoise


 * For the summoning familiar, see war tortoise.
 * For the slayer creature, see warped tortoise.

The Tortoise (Testudines Giganteus) are trained tortoises used by the gnomes in battle. The training area is to the west, and slightly north, of the Grand Tree. Trainer Nacklepen is in charge of their combat development.

Fighting
Tortoises have very high hitpoints and low attack, but good defence. With a fair variety of drops, they are arguably better than Yaks or Rock crabs for training purposes, but since they are a much higher level they are rarely used. It is recommended for training only if you can hit high enough to effectively damage them. Abyssal whips are extremely effective against them. However, because of the abyssal whips cannot be used to train Strength, the use of a Saradomin sword (Fighting in the crush attack style) can be a very good alternative. Dragon Daggers are also pretty effective, even more so if they are poisoned. If you are ranging it is recommended to safespot from outside the fence because most ranging gear has bad melee defense.

When fighting the tortoise with riders, the three gnomes take turns attacking the player. The mage sends a spell, which looks like Water strike, but sounds like Ice Burst. The ranger shoots, and the tortoise attacks with the warrior holding the reins if the player is within their meleeing range. These level 92 tortoises can hit up to 120 with melee, and the ranger and mage each hit a max of 60. The level 79 tortoises without riders use only melee, and hit up to 100.

When you kill the tortoise the Gnomes attack you. The driver, who exclaims "No! Dobbie's dead!", usually attacks first. After he is dead, the others attack - the mage yells, "Kill the infidel.", while the ranger merely says, "Argh!" They become aggressive to ALL players, so low levels should be careful around them. It has been observed that the three gnomes, once dismounted, will attack the player with the lowest combat level within range in preference to any other, including the player that has just killed their tortoise mount.

Two tortoises at the Battlefield of Khazard are ridden by three gnomes: a Gnome archer, Gnome driver, and a Gnome mage, all level 5s. Protection prayers aren't very effective because the riders use range, melee, and magic; however, the tortoises hit hardest with melee, so that prayer will stop the most damage.

Location

 * Battlefield of Khazard, south-west of Ardougne - 2 with gnome riders
 * Tree gnome stronghold North-west of the Grand tree, 1 with gnome riders, 2 without riders

100% drops

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Seeds

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Barley Seed

Herbs

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Food

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Runes/Talismans

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Arrows

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Clothing
These items are dropped at the Gnome Stronghold and Khazard Battlefield


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Barlak Xp Items

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Barlak in Dorgesh-Kaan will trade these items for gold and either Crafting or Construction XP. Tortoise shells are also used in Summoning to make war tortoises.

Other

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Trivia

 * Though there are two level 92 tortoises near the Khazard Battlefield, they are never seen fighting Khazard Troops.
 * The mage on the level 92 tortoise appears to be wielding a Guthix staff, just like the Guthix battle mages in the Mage Arena.
 * The gnomes on the level 92 tortoise can hit a maximum of 60 if they are riding it, but when the tortoise dies, they only hit a maximum of 20.
 * The magic attack of a level 92 tortoise sounds like the spell Ice Burst. The effect if it hits though is just damage.
 * The level 79 tortoise is actually smaller than the level 92 tortoise.
 * The level 92 tortoise appears to be wearing some form of armour where as the level 79 tortoise has no armour.
 * The maximum number of NPC's that can be in the tortoise training grounds (excluding implings and random event NPC's) is 8. This can be achieved by attacking the gnome archer right before the level 92 tortoise respawns.
 * Compared to the real world, Tortoises resemble tanks.
 * The tortoise's names appear to be Dobbie, and Bobbie, and although Lieutenant talks about expanding the fleet, he hasn't yet.
 * If one of the tortoises is indeed named Dobbie, then it is most likely a reference to the elf Dobby from the Harry Potter books.
 * The Gnomes on the level 92 Tortoise that isn't killed appear to have longer legs then when they spawn from the killed one.
 * The tortoises had a graphical update with the release of the quest The Prisoner of Glouphrie