UPDATE: achieved 3.5s in debug mode at level 42, with everything except Hidden Power; screenshot here:

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2007456115

Another update: Bare minimum level needed for 3.5s seems to be level 31, with every shield cooldown and contruction speed mod, and immediately selecting Architect, Bastion, and base weapon at the beginning of the game.

EDIT: I done did it, achieve unlocked

Congrats! :)

Been banging my head against the wall for days to get this achievement. Everytime I'm about to get the last required mod (in whatever order I try to do it), I'm so far in, I get devestated by either multiple celestials (again) or a screen so full of explosions, I can't see what I'm doing anymore.

Can any of you give some tips about what a good weapon setup would be to get there more safely? Some other tips? Cause this one is driving me crazy. (no worries, still having fun )

Edit: ok, now I have Architect, Bastion, Bravado, Tempest Break,Elegant Construction, Support Specialist and Efficiency. Still got a shield cooldown of 3.60 seconds. What am I missing?

Edit 2: Did another test. Got exactly at 3.60 again.
Replicated this exact same build (same mods, but different order) using debug mode and got a shield cooldown of 3.45

Any insights of what's going on here?

Build: (sorry, didn't take a screenshot of the normal run, only the 'debug' one)
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2029961480

Originally posted by Abomination72:

Been banging my head against the wall for days to get this achievement. Everytime I'm about to get the last required mod (in whatever order I try to do it), I'm so far in, I get devestated by either multiple celestials (again) or a screen so full of explosions, I can't see what I'm doing anymore.

Can any of you give some tips about what a good weapon setup would be to get there more safely? Some other tips? Cause this one is driving me crazy. (no worries, still having fun )

Edit: ok, now I have Architect, Bastion, Bravado, Tempest Break,Elegant Construction, Support Specialist and Efficiency. Still got a shield cooldown of 3.60 seconds. What am I missing?

Edit 2: Did another test. Got exactly at 3.60 again.
Replicated this exact same build (same mods, but different order) using debug mode and got a shield cooldown of 3.45

Any insights of what's going on here?

You're missing Overseer and Hidden Power.

Getting those in addition to everything else will essentially ruin your run (you'll have no weapon and no constructs, possibly not even Bastion), but it'll push the cooldown down past 3.5s. As mentioned, bare minimum level to get 3.5 is level 31 (if you're extremely lucky).

The way I got the achieve: start with an Engineer Overseer build, with 4 Allies firing Splintering Grenades (grenades seems to be the one that requires the least mods to get decently buffed, only Magnitude and Splinter), a ring of Drones protecting me, and Shielded Constructs with Volatile & Tempest (= shields that explode often, doing massive dmg & burn). I also picked up Ataraxia, and deliberately held on to two levels before upgrading (free 10% weapon buff!). Once I had everything else, I used those levels to find Architect and then Hidden Power.

Also, don't feel too bad about how many times you've tried to get the achieve -- I was trying, on and off, since September lol

Originally posted by Extremely Bisexual Otter:

Originally posted by Abomination72:

Been banging my head against the wall for days to get this achievement. Everytime I'm about to get the last required mod (in whatever order I try to do it), I'm so far in, I get devestated by either multiple celestials (again) or a screen so full of explosions, I can't see what I'm doing anymore.

Can any of you give some tips about what a good weapon setup would be to get there more safely? Some other tips? Cause this one is driving me crazy. (no worries, still having fun )

Edit: ok, now I have Architect, Bastion, Bravado, Tempest Break,Elegant Construction, Support Specialist and Efficiency. Still got a shield cooldown of 3.60 seconds. What am I missing?

Edit 2: Did another test. Got exactly at 3.60 again.
Replicated this exact same build (same mods, but different order) using debug mode and got a shield cooldown of 3.45

Any insights of what's going on here?

You're missing Overseer and Hidden Power.

Getting those in addition to everything else will essentially ruin your run (you'll have no weapon and no constructs, possibly not even Bastion), but it'll push the cooldown down past 3.5s. As mentioned, bare minimum level to get 3.5 is level 31 (if you're extremely lucky).

The way I got the achieve: start with an Engineer Overseer build, with 4 Allies firing Splintering Grenades (grenades seems to be the one that requires the least mods to get decently buffed, only Magnitude and Splinter), a ring of Drones protecting me, and Shielded Constructs with Volatile & Tempest (= shields that explode often, doing massive dmg & burn). I also picked up Ataraxia, and deliberately held on to two levels before upgrading (free 10% weapon buff!). Once I had everything else, I used those levels to find Architect and then Hidden Power.

Also, don't feel too bad about how many times you've tried to get the achieve -- I was trying, on and off, since September lol

Thanks for your reply! Will give this a try then.

Any idea why there's a difference between debug (delete + add levels) and normal mode?

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I just got the Turbo Tortoise achievement and thought I would share my experience. TL;DR at the end for the actual strategy.



A week or two ago, I tried the method discussed by Extremely Bisexual Otter and Abomination72 above: start as Engineer, go for Interceptor Allies with Splinter Grenades, and try to hold out long enough to assemble enough Rerolls and levels stockpiled to feel comfortable rolling the dice to try to get both Hidden Power and Architect.

After probably 20-30 attempts using this method, I was frustrated both two things:
(1) not feeling capable of stockpiling enough Rerolls and levels, and
(2) never seeing Bravado. I hadn't played Wild Meta. too much, but it felt really strange to me that I literally never saw Bravado in any of those runs, whereas I was seeing the other Rare Wild Meta. mods plenty of times. I thought that maybe this was because either
(1) I had Elite Enemy enabled but not full Mayhem (I think I was doing all but Nemesis and Mayhem), or
(2) I was playing as Engineer. I remember seeing a forum thread where someone pointed out that Bravado is terrible for Engineer because its "body gear unique powers" don't benefit at all from the 15% boost from Bravado. So, I wondered if maybe the developer took that feedback and tried to fix it by disabling Bravado from showing up if possessing the Engineer body.

So, after taking a break from Turbo Tortoise since then, I thought I'd mix it up a bit. I found through tinkering that a really effective construct build is Guardian Allies and maxed Turrets. (The Guardians keep the Turrets healed and alive, and the Turrets shred everything.) I also found how much more enjoyable it is to play Wild Meta. with Research, given that you can use the limited number of Rerolls to actually reduce the huge Wild Meta. mod pool down. I thought that, for Turbo Tortoise, where success seems to be based so much on luck in rerolling to get Hidden Power and Architect in the late game, starting with Research and using Rerolls to banish useless mods would really help improve late game chances. Also, Research can definitely get Bravado, and playtesting showed two Guardians and two Turrets was capable of getting to wave 100-120 on Mayhem.

I thought the build below was much more consistent in getting into the late game than the Interceptor-based one suggested earlier. I was really frustrated with myself because I had two runs where I was sitting fine and confident in wave 120 or later, stockpiling a few extra levels and Rerolls to make sure I would find Architect and Hidden Power, only to get taken out quickly to a stupid mistake before I could spend the levels and Rerolls. That said, those few times I got to wave 100 or even wave 120+ were a big improvement over anything else I had tried before. I think it took me about 20 or so tries in total with the build to get the achievement, and it's definitely possible I could have finished in 5 runs if I hadn't been too conservative in waiting for an extra level or Reroll.



TL;DR: the build with which I got the achievement revolves around:
(1) starting with the Research body to use Rerolls to narrow the mod pool, and
(2) (fittingly) tortoising up with Guardian Allies and max Turrets in the middle of the map, then playing the waiting game to see if the mod pools and cargo trains wind up in your favor.
[Note that I got this playing Nova Drift build v0.27.20.]

1. Starting Gear
- Weapon: your choice, since it won't be used for long due to Overseer. I found the most success with Grenade, closely followed by Flak and Salvo. I'm not a big fan of any of the other weapons.
- Shield: Bastion
- Body: Research
- (Runs seemed to consistently make it past the early game after finding these three with at least 2 Rerolls remaining. Of course, any run in which you get a bunch of extra Rerolls from cargo trains stands a better chance, too.)

2. Stockpile 4-6 upgrades in order to get Ataraxia. (You only need 4 for Ataraxia to show up, but avoiding spending Rerolls early is a good thing.) Ataraxia is great for ensuring that you pick up as many orbs as possible, and for the late game damage boost when you're stockpiling levels.

3. Banish, never reroll. Banishing increases stats and reduces mod pool, meaning you'll be more likely to hit what you need moving into the late game. Get rid of anything not needed for the achievement:
- All weapon mods, Mines, Candescence, Skirmish
- All Wild Meta. mods except for Bravado, Winnow, and maybe Chaotic Ambition (if you haven't gotten Bravado yet). Prefer banishing Common mods instead of Rare mods (see Unlocks screen) since Common mods show up more often.
- Efficiency (doesn't help with achievement)
- Any other mods not necessary for reducing Shield Cooldown: Kinetic Boost, Stabilization, Shield Effect Radius, Adaptive Armor
- Last resorts: Drones, Hull Strength, Regeneration, Shield Durability (these are all good options to take if you run out of Rerolls and no necessary mods are available)

4. One good thing to keep in mind is that, if you run out of Rerolls (and so can't banish) and you're faced with a set of mods with no necessary (or even truly beneficial) mods, it's best to take a tier 3 mod or, if no tier 3 mods are available, a tier 2 mod.
- Generally, taking a tier 3 mod adds zero additional mods to the mod pool, so you're effectively performing a banish.
- Taking a tier 2 mod should only add one mod to the mod pool, so you're not hurting yourself.
- Taking a tier 1 mod will probably add two new mods to the mod pool, meaning you've got more mods to sort through than you did before picking it.

5. Winnow is amazing: it's effectively 13 Rerolls (7 Rerolls plus 6 other current mods banished). Absolutely take it if you happen to get it with a group of absolutely-not-necessary other mods. (Chaotic Ambition is also decent for helping to find Bravado and for the free Reroll.)

6. Bravado, given its rarity, is almost always the right choice if it's offered to you. I only ever skipped it on the couple of occasions it showed up within the first five mod pools, but, looking back at the few runs in which I reached the late game and did NOT have Bravado, it's probably preferable to take Bravado early and deal with the extra early game challenge rather than assume Bravado will show up again later on.

7. Shoot ASAP for maxing Ally and then getting Guardian. Turret mods are never wasted, but getting to Guardian first is beneficial because having Guardian allows Turrets to stay alive indefinitely.

8. I found it easiest to take all construct mods first. It's of course a good idea to, instead of spending a Reroll to banish to try to get another construct mod, take another necessary, non-construct mod (see below):
- Max Turrets
- Max Guardians
- Elegant Construction > Shielded Constructs > Overseer [usually wait until after wave 40 boss]
- Priority Zero > Overclock > Support Specialist
- [Self Destruction, Tactical Link, and Drones aren't strictly necessary to win, but are good uses of upgrades if you can't take a necessary mod and don't have the Rerolls to banish an unneeded mod.]

9. After getting the construct mods, work on remaining necessary mods:
- Bravado
- Shield Cooldown > Flash Shielding
- Improved Thrusters > Streamline
- Tempest Break
- 3 other secondary damage mods (with Tempest Break as the 4th) in order to enable Hidden Power:
- Volatile Shields (great with Tempest Break)
- Deadly Wake
- Galvanic Outburst
- Scorching Wake
- Discharge (works even with Overseer)
- (if you've already had to take Shield Durability) Reflexive Shield.
- [I'm not sure if Self Destruction counts, since it would seem to be against Hidden Power's theme of no constructs.]

10. Remember to skip anything which increases shield cooldown or construct assembly time: Barrier, Radiant Shields, Energized Shield, Apex Machinery, all Wild Meta. "Specialist" mods.

11. Once you've gotten all of the necessary mods up to this point (Bravado, Elegant Construction, Overseer, Support Specialist, Shield Cooldown, Flash Shielding, Tempest Break), the last step is to find Hidden Power and Architect (whose benefits are boosted by Bravado).
- As others have said, this will tank your run, given that Hidden Power removes all non-shield constructs and Shielded Constructs prevents Bastion from protecting you. So, given that you'll be left with no weapons, shields, or constructs after completing the search, you need to have all of the levels/upgrades and Rerolls needed to find Architect and Hidden Power stockpiled before you begin.
- The exact number of upgrades and Rerolls you'll need is up to RNG, but having been Research for most of the game and getting rid of many mods means that hopefully Hidden Power won't be difficult to find. Architect will likely take a bit longer and more luck, but you're helped a bit by Overseer removing your weapon, meaning that you will sometimes (half the time?) see 2 bodies and 1 shield as gear options (if not 2 bodies/1 shield, then 1 body/2 shields -- never weapons).
- With this build, I felt I could comfortably get to level 39-41 if I made it into the late game. Around level 41-43, things got hectic enough that I felt constantly a quarter second away from dying. So, if you're having a good run, I would probably suggest reaching level 41 before trying for Architect and Hidden Power.



I hope this information is helpful to those looking to get the Turbo Tortoise achievement! I'm thinking that a build similar to this (Guardians and Turrets, but without Wild Meta. and using Engineer) would probably work well for the Filled with Determination achievement, too.

That ended up being quite a lot longer than I anticipated... I think I'll see about turning it into a guide.

Originally posted by Chrome:

That ended up being quite a lot longer than I anticipated... I think I'll see about turning it into a guide.

That would be great! Can you link it back just in case

Absolutely! Here is a link to the guide I wrote. I'm currently updating it to also address the Filled with Determination achievement, since I just got that one with a very similar build, too.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2094239652

Originally posted by Chrome:

Absolutely! Here is a link to the guide I wrote. I'm currently updating it to also address the Filled with Determination achievement, since I just got that one with a very similar build, too.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2094239652

Awesome write up! Thanks

Originally posted by Chrome:

Absolutely! Here is a link to the guide I wrote. I'm currently updating it to also address the Filled with Determination achievement, since I just got that one with a very similar build, too.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2094239652

Nice work!