Eager Ferret – How to catch the medal!
Our Swedish mentor and zonemaker, Kingslayer, gives some tips on how to win the coveted Eager Ferret medal.
In Turf, there’s a series of medals for taking 10 zones in 30 minutes (Eager Squirrel); 20 minutes (Eager Beaver); 15 Minutes (Eager Weasel) or 10 Minutes (Eager Ferret).
The Eager Ferret medal is a difficult one to take. You need some preparation, the moon needs to be lined up with Mars and Venus and you need to pat a black cat three times just before you start the run.
- Bike
10 zones in 10 minutes or less. A bike is a must.
- Location, Location, Location
You need 10 good zones which are close, preferably downhill and with no obstacles like kids, dogs, golf players or real ferrets or beavers. Most such places are in city centres, which means you need to do the Ferret run in the middle of the night.
- Takeover Time
You need to reduce your takeover time. If you are at rank 30, you have a 24 second takeover time. This means you need to travel to the next zone in 35 seconds or less after each take. Short of waiting until you are at rank 60, you can do two things:
a) Keep on the turfman - Ensure you have the turfman on between zones and take at least one zone before you start the Ferret run. As long as the turfman is on, you have GPS bonus (5 seconds faster takeover).
b) Become Region Lord - The Region Lord (crown bearer) is the person currently in possession of most zones in the region. Besides having the fancy hat, this person has an additional 5 seconds takeover bonus. Féarglas is likely not gonna abdicate voluntarily! So I suggest you cross the south border and grab an English zone or two and become Region Lord of North East or North West England (the title alone is worth the trip, right?). As they have no activity, chances are that one zone is sufficient. In order to appear with the crown on your head, you need to be a supporter in the app, but if you are not you still get the bonus seconds but no shiny object to show off with.
With GPS and Region Lord bonuses, you will cut 10 seconds from each take, starting with the second one (as the time starts after taking the first zone) i.e. 90 seconds for 9 zones of your Ferret Run. Might be the tipping point!
- Piggyback!
Piggyback on the success of others (this is how most of us get along in life). You can see the fastest beavers (including weasels and ferrets) ever made on Warded (do this on a PC):
a) Go to the Turf website and log in with your turfnick.
b) Click the Warded link. This takes you to the site with metrics and stuff (hardcore turfers are hardcore metrics nerds).
c) Click Beaver History in the top. This shows you the fastest beaver runs ever made anywhere. Not very useful for you, as most of them are made in Sweden.
d) In the dropdown that says “Global”, scroll down and select "Scotland". This shows you the fastest beaver runs ever made on Scottish zones. Click the time to see which zones and in what order.
Keep the turfin’ up!
- Kingslayer
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