Giant Tortoise

Giant TortoiseHardmode exclusive

Rolling state

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Enemy
Environment	Jungle Underground Jungle
AI Type	Tortoise AI
Damage	80/160/240 / 160288432 (while spinning)
Max Life	470/940/1410
Defense	30 / 60 (while spinning)
KB Resist	70%/73%/76%
Banner	Giant Tortoise Banner

Drops

Coins	5 SC12 SC50 CC

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Turtle Shell
  (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 8.33% / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 5.88%

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Idle

• Internal NPC ID: 153

The Giant Tortoise is a Hardmode enemy that spawns in the Jungle and Underground Jungle. It walks around slowly, and occasionally retracts into its shell. It then starts spinning and hurls itself at the player, gaining increased defense and dealing high contact damage. It drops Turtle Shells, which are vital for crafting Turtle armor.

A functionally identical variant of the Giant Tortoise, the Ice Tortoise, can be encountered in the Ice biome.

Notes

• The cooldown between spin attacks is 6.67 seconds by default. It is reset if the Giant Tortoise takes damage.
  • If the Giant Tortoise is more than 12.5 tiles away from the player and has an unobstructed line of sight to them, the cooldown is reduced to 1.33 seconds.
  • If it is more than 37.5 tiles away, and has an unobstructed line of sight or is no more than 12.5 tiles above them, it is further reduced to 0.61 seconds.
• If in water, the Giant Tortoise will use its spin attack continuously.
• Each spin attack consists of half a second of retracting into the shell, spinning for 1.5 seconds, then decelerating until coming to a stop on a solid surface, and coming out of the shell for half a second again. Attacking a Giant Tortoise at any time cancels the spin attack.
• Although the trajectory of the Giant Tortoise during its spin attack is determined the moment it retracts into its shell and is based on the player's position at that time, the enemy does recognize the player's current position, and will slow down very quickly and attempt to drop down as soon as it is above the player.

Tips

• Any weapon or summon with a high rate of attack is effective, as it prevents the Giant Tortoise from using its spin attack. Viable options include the Megashark, a yoyo(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), or Enchanted Daggers(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
• Melee weapons are useful as long as the player stays close to the Giant Tortoise. Even when not attacking continuously, the spin attack cooldown is much higher at close range.
• Pools of water should be avoided, as they cause the Giant Tortoise to immediately charge at the player.
• Giant Tortoises cannot drop through platforms. Setting up several rows of long platforms significantly reduces the danger of the spin attacks.
• Due to the tremendous spin attack damage, especially in Expert(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), high defense or dodging effects (e.g. from the Hallowed armor), is recommended when farming for Turtle Shells.
• Giant Tortoises can be farmed much easier on the surface than in the Underground Jungle because of the larger area of space to spawn on. Alternatively, a large area can be dug out underground and summon weapons, e.g. the Pirate Staff, can be used to farm in either location.

Trivia

• This enemy, as well as its Ice Tortoise variation, appears to reference Tatori, a similar tortoise enemy in the action-adventure game Super Metroid that also attacks the player with the same flying spin.
• Despite being called the Giant Tortoise, it drops Turtle Shells.

• The Bestiary entry for the Giant Tortoise: "No one takes the giant tortoises seriously. Not until they come hurtling through the air, a spinning, spiky ball of death."

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4: Drop rate of Turtle Shells increased from 1/17 to 1/12.

• Desktop 1.3.5: Sprite updated. Old sprite was: .

• Desktop 1.2: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.02: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.