Help a Brother Out: Long Post Warning

[BearCash]

Hey Splatoon Community:

Does anyone else feel like Sisyphus when it comes to ranking up? I got the game for Christmas, and have played consistently since then. I scrambled my way up to B+, and then proceeded to heinously plummet back down to B- (were it not for a few clutch games/good teammates, I would have been C+). I'm currently at B after a pretty solid Valentine's Day.

In watching high ranked players, I have come to the obvious conclusion that I am not the best player in the world. But I'm also not the worst. I guess what I am wondering more than anything else, is this: Is my ranking an accurate reflection of my play compared to others? There is no way to scientifically determine this, so I guess I'm looking for more philosophical input.

There are two things that get my goat more than anything else: teammates disconnecting and teammates demonstrating no understanding of the rules of the battle. The first is an inevitability, but it seems to happen to me at an alarming rate. Just yesterday I had ten battles in which my team had to fight 3 on 4. Does anyone else experience this? Is it a problem with my internet? Eliminating those 3v4 situations would remove a huge thorn from my side.

The second issue, on the surface, seems to be a major obstacle to my advancement. Don't get me wrong: I'm not a blame the team, salty-sort-of fellow. I give "good teams" more credit for my advancement than my own skill. If I can get just one other person who can play with patience, think strategically and survive, I'm normally sitting pretty. As of late, however, those sort of players are few and far between - most of the time they seem to be on the opposing team. Do as anyone have any insight into what I can do to mitigate point loss because of inappropriately matched teams? Do I just need to buck up and get better? This is an anecdotal example, but just last night, I posted multiple 2 to 1 ratio games (I splatted 14 folks and got splatted 7 times for example). My teammates were upside down on their stats nearly every time. I would stay in the room, hoping that they slayers would rotate to my side, but it never seemed to happen. I know that Splats aren't everything - context tempers the statistics quite a bit. But from my point of view, my kills were crucial (I wasn't camping at their spawn point) and my splats didn't come during opening fire fights or the conclusion of matches.

Any insight into improving would be so appreciated. I know that ultimately this a me issue, and to sit around hoping and wishing for dominant team after dominant team is a fool's errand. How do I mold myself into a force, that destroys regardless of circumstances?

Thanks in advance for your help

Happy Splatting!

 

[NotAPerso]

The key to ranking up in solo ranked is being a good team player and creating opportunities for the other members of your team. Whether that is going on a rampage that results in the opposing team being wiped or simply being in a safe position for respawning players to jump to all depends on playstyle. So if you can play with a "where am I needed" and "how can I extend/defend against this push" mentality then you'll get farther. Being able to out maneuver opponents in a gun fight also helps so practice accuracy and movement while firing (walking forward and shooting only works in lower ranks so you won't get far if that's all you can do).

As far as if rank is an accurate indicator of skill level, I'd say it's not perfect but it is pretty good. But being lower rank isn't a bad thing as you'll find more fair matches of your skill level.

 

[Airi]

I don't think rank is always an accurate indicator for differences in skill level all the time but it certainly can be an indicator in many instances. It's no surprise that there is a jump in skill level between B ranks and S ranks. You will see things in the S rank that you wouldn't see in the S rank. This isn't saying that being in a lower rank is bad - of course it isn't. It's just saying that S ranks are a bit more knowledgeable about the game since many have naturally been playing for many months and spend a lot of time on the game. Personally, when I squad with my B rank friends, I can see a difference in skill level. Many B ranks still fall for tricks that a lot of S ranks wouldn't fall for so easily (although we still do fall for them from time to time :P ). So there is a difference in skill but not always since people can be carried to a higher rank they may not yet be ready for.

 

[BearCash]

The key to ranking up in solo ranked is being a good team player and creating opportunities for the other members of your team. Whether that is going on a rampage that results in the opposing team being wiped or simply being in a safe position for respawning players to jump to all depends on playstyle. So if you can play with a "where am I needed" and "how can I extend/defend against this push" mentality then you'll get farther. Being able to out maneuver opponents in a gun fight also helps so practice accuracy and movement while firing (walking forward and shooting only works in lower ranks so you won't get far if that's all you can do).

As far as if rank is an accurate indicator of skill level, I'd say it's not perfect but it is pretty good. But being lower rank isn't a bad thing as you'll find more fair matches of your skill level.

That's such killer advice. So simple, and yet I never thought of it that way.

Thanks a million

 

[BearCash]

I don't think rank is always an accurate indicator for differences in skill level all the time but it certainly can be an indicator in many instances. It's no surprise that there is a jump in skill level between B ranks and S ranks. You will see things in the S rank that you wouldn't see in the S rank. This isn't saying that being in a lower rank is bad - of course it isn't. It's just saying that S ranks are a bit more knowledgeable about the game since many have naturally been playing for many months and spend a lot of time on the game. Personally, when I squad with my B rank friends, I can see a difference in skill level. Many B ranks still fall for tricks that a lot of S ranks wouldn't fall for so easily (although we still do fall for them from time to time :p ). So there is a difference in skill but not always since people can be carried to a higher rank they may not yet be ready for.

Spot on - watching the streams of the really strong players has shown me how much I have to learn. The frenetic pace that everyone plays at is going to take the most adjustment. Thanks for your insight mate

 

[BlackZero]

Is my ranking an accurate reflection of my play compared to others? There is no way to scientifically determine this, so I guess I'm looking for more philosophical input.

No it isn't. Splatoon uses rank as a rough estimate of your skill level based on wins and losses. You can win and lose for many reasons unrelated to your actual performance and the current matchmaker and ranking system does not factor this in. It wasn't designed to. Measure your actual performance would require it to keep track of several different statistics from each match. There are games designed to do this, but Splatoon isn't one of them.

The second issue, on the surface, seems to be a major obstacle to my advancement. Don't get me wrong: I'm not a blame the team, salty-sort-of fellow. I give "good teams" more credit for my advancement than my own skill. If I can get just one other person who can play with patience, think strategically and survive, I'm normally sitting pretty. As of late, however, those sort of players are few and far between - most of the time they seem to be on the opposing team. Do as anyone have any insight into what I can do to mitigate point loss because of inappropriately matched teams? Do I just need to buck up and get better? This is an anecdotal example, but just last night, I posted multiple 2 to 1 ratio games (I splatted 14 folks and got splatted 7 times for example). My teammates were upside down on their stats nearly every time. I would stay in the room, hoping that they slayers would rotate to my side, but it never seemed to happen. I know that Splats aren't everything - context tempers the statistics quite a bit. But from my point of view, my kills were crucial (I wasn't camping at their spawn point) and my splats didn't come during opening fire fights or the conclusion of matches.

That depends if you want to get better or if you're happy where you are. If the first one, you have to realize that you are biased and will usually default to blaming teammates for a loss rather than anything you do. This is normal for every person and not limited to you specifically. A person will typically overestimate their own abilities in any competitive field. This is a well known phenomenon. In order to start improving, you first have to completely abandon any notion that you are the best player on every team you are put on. After all, where do you from "up?"

You mention your k/d. Bear in mind that, in TW and SZ (half the game modes), k/d doesn't necessarily prove you helped the team win. In fact, a focus on kills can actually be detrimental in TW and SZ, where controlling the map by inking turf is actually more important. Kills are useful in RM and TC, but a really high death count can also mean that person spent most of their time riding the tower or fighting for the RM (which are the actual objectives). In that case, a high death count can indicate a person spent more time doing something that helped win the match than someone with a 20/0 K/D.

While you admit yourself K/D isn't everything, I noticed that you didn't mention how much turf you covered, how far you carry the RM or how much time you spend riding the tower. These are all things that directly contribute to winning matches. I'm not trying rain on your parade. I'm saying that it's easy for people to convince themselves that they outperformed their teammates when they didn't help much at all. If you want to improve, you have to ditch this idea that what you're doing is working and everyone else is screwing up.

From there, figure out what weapons you want to use and look up different guides and tricks for those weapons. When you're confident that you are good with your weapon, you then have to pick apart every match you play. Are you using your periphery to find targets and flick aiming when using a charger? Are you fully charging your Splatling or only partially charging it? Are you accurate with your Splatbombs? Are you sharing your Bubbler or making good use of your Bomb Rush? Are you taking full advantage of the Gal's range? You have to analyse your performance in every match to see what worked, what didn't worked, what you should have done but didn't do, etc. If you're still convinced that you're not the problem on the team, this exercise will be very pointless. If you're willing to do some critical introspection and look at what you're doing, you'll learn from the experience and grow as a player. You don't have control over your teammates, but you do have control over how you play. Focus your attention there and you'll improve. Maybe not overnight, but you will improve.

If you're happy where you are, the best advice I can give you is to set a loss threshold. The more you lose, the more frustrated you get and the worse you will play. This can turn into quite the runaway train of rage. By walking away from the game after 3 or four consecutive losses to cool down, you'll minimize the extent your aggravation impacts your performance. This is also helpful if you want to get better. I'd also suggest you find a squad that's around your level, so you have a pool of players you know will give you a good match.

Good luck.

 

[Saber]

Zero's right , honestly I had similar problems to you when I started this game, however the guide to the weapon is great idea but I have to disagree with it,

Honestly you can take in a lot of info in any game but still not be good at it, the first thing you need to do is refine your skills, take the weapons you got and go into training, if you need to gain experience go into turf war, playing with them and see how your as well as the enemy team act (either by monitoring the map or via recon) this will teach you what you need to do to secure victory as well as help you refine your game and see how people play so you can figure out where you'd best be able to be effective in the future game

Lastly always expect your team can lose the game, with a game like this overconfidence kills, when you are certain you'll win you end up taking unnecessary risk and putting yourself in a positions that leave the team vulnerable (like pushing forward or super jumping to the enemy zone when they have the objective in RM or TC), if you expect to lose you will do everything you can to prevent that from happening and not mistake that will cost you.

 

[Nero86]

C- to C+ has many novices, being somewhat good can be enough to carry the whole team without any problem.
In my opinion, B- to A- had the worst games I played, I think it was a grey area. There you have good players rising and lucky players that had been carried to those levels but still have not too much understanding of the game. My weeks from B- to A- were terribly frustrating because of that latency of skill, so be patient and keep rising until A.

 

[BearCash]

No it isn't. Splatoon uses rank as a rough estimate of your skill level based on wins and losses. You can win and lose for many reasons unrelated to your actual performance and the current matchmaker and ranking system does not factor this in. It wasn't designed to. Measure your actual performance would require it to keep track of several different statistics from each match. There are games designed to do this, but Splatoon isn't one of them.



That depends if you want to get better or if you're happy where you are. If the first one, you have to realize that you are biased and will usually default to blaming teammates for a loss rather than anything you do. This is normal for every person and not limited to you specifically. A person will typically overestimate their own abilities in any competitive field. This is a well known phenomenon. In order to start improving, you first have to completely abandon any notion that you are the best player on every team you are put on. After all, where do you from "up?"

You mention your k/d. Bear in mind that, in TW and SZ (half the game modes), k/d doesn't necessarily prove you helped the team win. In fact, a focus on kills can actually be detrimental in TW and SZ, where controlling the map by inking turf is actually more important. Kills are useful in RM and TC, but a really high death count can also mean that person spent most of their time riding the tower or fighting for the RM (which are the actual objectives). In that case, a high death count can indicate a person spent more time doing something that helped win the match than someone with a 20/0 K/D.

While you admit yourself K/D isn't everything, I noticed that you didn't mention how much turf you covered, how far you carry the RM or how much time you spend riding the tower. These are all things that directly contribute to winning matches. I'm not trying rain on your parade. I'm saying that it's easy for people to convince themselves that they outperformed their teammates when they didn't help much at all. If you want to improve, you have to ditch this idea that what you're doing is working and everyone else is screwing up.

From there, figure out what weapons you want to use and look up different guides and tricks for those weapons. When you're confident that you are good with your weapon, you then have to pick apart every match you play. Are you using your periphery to find targets and flick aiming when using a charger? Are you fully charging your Splatling or only partially charging it? Are you accurate with your Splatbombs? Are you sharing your Bubbler or making good use of your Bomb Rush? Are you taking full advantage of the Gal's range? You have to analyse your performance in every match to see what worked, what didn't worked, what you should have done but didn't do, etc. If you're still convinced that you're not the problem on the team, this exercise will be very pointless. If you're willing to do some critical introspection and look at what you're doing, you'll learn from the experience and grow as a player. You don't have control over your teammates, but you do have control over how you play. Focus your attention there and you'll improve. Maybe not overnight, but you will improve.

If you're happy where you are, the best advice I can give you is to set a loss threshold. The more you lose, the more frustrated you get and the worse you will play. This can turn into quite the runaway train of rage. By walking away from the game after 3 or four consecutive losses to cool down, you'll minimize the extent your aggravation impacts your performance. This is also helpful if you want to get better. I'd also suggest you find a squad that's around your level, so you have a pool of players you know will give you a good match.

Good luck.

Wow, thanks for your thoughtful input. This is not only solid advice for this specific game, but great in terms of approaching most games. Because I'm at a stage in my development where I'm really trying to incorporate the best practices of better players, I'm often not introspective enough about the "why" behind my actions. I'm guilty of doing stuff because I saw a guy from memories doing it.

I am solid in TC and RM, and I think it has something to do with the constant chaos, and the moving target. I love firefights, and sneaking up on folks, and these game types naturally lend themselves to "brawlers'. I ride the heck out of the tower and play rainmaker like a bruising running back in Football. I am absolute crap at SZ, and your post has illuminated why, so thank you. When I'm playing zones I really need to temper my thirst for blood (or Ink I suppose).

Again, I really appreciate you taking time to craft this wonderful reply

Cheers!

 

[BearCash]

Zero's right , honestly I had similar problems to you when I started this game, however the guide to the weapon is great idea but I have to disagree with it,

Honestly you can take in a lot of info in any game but still not be good at it, the first thing you need to do is refine your skills, take the weapons you got and go into training, if you need to gain experience go into turf war, playing with them and see how your as well as the enemy team act (either by monitoring the map or via recon) this will teach you what you need to do to secure victory as well as help you refine your game and see how people play so you can figure out where you'd best be able to be effective in the future game

Lastly always expect your team can lose the game, with a game like this overconfidence kills, when you are certain you'll win you end up taking unnecessary risk and putting yourself in a positions that leave the team vulnerable (like pushing forward or super jumping to the enemy zone when they have the objective in RM or TC), if you expect to lose you will do everything you can to prevent that from happening and not mistake that will cost you.

You couldn't be more right when it comes to confidence killing games. I don't even want to recount how many times I have blown games because we "had it in the bag." I'm getting better, but will redouble my efforts. I do find that if I play with a frantic persistence to "not lose" the results are more favorable. Good stuff homeslice. Thanks for weighing in

 

[BearCash]

C- to C+ has many novices, being somewhat good can be enough to carry the whole team without any problem.
In my opinion, B- to A- had the worst games I played, I think it was a grey area. There you have good players rising and lucky players that had been carried to those levels but still have not too much understanding of the game. My weeks from B- to A- were terribly frustrating because of that latency of skill, so be patient and keep rising until A.

Good to know mate. Instinctually I know that everyone who has risen to S has gone through the same trials I have, but it's nice to have a tangible example. Steadfastness and grit, I've discovered, are absolutely fundamental to rising in the ranks. Thanks for the encouragement

 

[Nero86]

Good to know mate. Instinctually I know that everyone who has risen to S has gone through the same trials I have, but it's nice to have a tangible example. Steadfastness and grit, I've discovered, are absolutely fundamental to rising in the ranks. Thanks for the encouragement

It's a nice road, I did learn a lot from myself on it. To climb I had to solve my individualism, anxiety and some agressive-attitudes, almost a therapy to me ahahah! I kinda like those "self-knowledge" stuff, so it's a nice trip :D

 

[HypernovaSoul]

Firstly, I definitely don't think that current ranking is always an exact representation of the player's actual skill. Sometimes far from it, in fact. Because of the way the system works, particularly once you reach S/higher tiers, it's a huge grind to advance much further, and plummeting back into A from S can send you into some serious yo-yoing. It's very frustrating and sometimes overly reliant on who you have the luck...or lack thereof...of being matched with.

Generally speaking, I don't stick with terrible teams. If I was in a match that was lost horribly and had a team that either provided little to no backup or just flat out had bad synergy, I will almost always exit the room. When the opposite of this happens and you come across a team that clicks with you and your play style, I highly suggest sticking with them as long as you can. This doesn't necessarily mean you should leave every time you lose and stick around every time you win. It's more an observation of how well you and your team worked together, and how even of a fight it seemed to be.

I've said so many times that I desperately wished the matchmaking system factored weapon types into its process....it seriously just makes me want to kill myself when I'm paired with a team full of rollers only to face a team full of Luna Blasters. This is another facet to consider when deciding to stay with a team or bail. If you notice too many duplicates of one weapon, or too many bad matchups, it isn't generally wise to stay.

As for the disconnects, obnoxiously Splatoon and Nintendo as a whole has done a comparatively poor job of handling online multiplayer servers. It's too often a hot mess, even when your own wifi seems to be pretty solid elsewhere. That being said, always double check your own connection strength. Turn off wifi on other devices you aren't using if you need to, and if you yourself are disconnected more than once consecutively, stop playing for awhile. Unfortunately when other players vanish and you stay connected, that isn't usually because of you. The good news is you lose fewer points if you lose at a team count disadvantage.

In terms of general gameplay suggestions to rank up, it's critical to know your stages, your modes and your role depending on play style/weapon type & ability build. If you're running Ninja Squid or Stealth Jump, expect to be in charge of a lot of flanking and surprise attacks. If you're running Special Duration Up, position yourself to stay alive and push the objective forward aggressively when your Special's readied. Changing weapons depending on mode/stage is fine, but generally speaking once you reach higher tier Ranked you should really only be using weapons you're skilled and confident with. And back up your teammates-this is maybe the most critical. Give aggressive support to whoever has the tower or Rainmaker. Protect teammates who are Super Jumping to you. Teamwork is key in almost every Ranked mode. Know when they need you, and be there ASAP when they do. Hope some of this helps.

 

[Squid Sister Marie]

C- to C+ has many novices, being somewhat good can be enough to carry the whole team without any problem.
In my opinion, B- to A- had the worst games I played, I think it was a grey area. There you have good players rising and lucky players that had been carried to those levels but still have not too much understanding of the game. My weeks from B- to A- were terribly frustrating because of that latency of skill, so be patient and keep rising until A.

As a C+ myself, I find it rude that people underestimate us, I mean come on, we ALL started on C- so 5 words for you guys NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE C CLASS

 

[BearCash]

Firstly, I definitely don't think that current ranking is always an exact representation of the player's actual skill. Sometimes far from it, in fact. Because of the way the system works, particularly once you reach S/higher tiers, it's a huge grind to advance much further, and plummeting back into A from S can send you into some serious yo-yoing. It's very frustrating and sometimes overly reliant on who you have the luck...or lack thereof...of being matched with.

Generally speaking, I don't stick with terrible teams. If I was in a match that was lost horribly and had a team that either provided little to no backup or just flat out had bad synergy, I will almost always exit the room. When the opposite of this happens and you come across a team that clicks with you and your play style, I highly suggest sticking with them as long as you can. This doesn't necessarily mean you should leave every time you lose and stick around every time you win. It's more an observation of how well you and your team worked together, and how even of a fight it seemed to be.

I've said so many times that I desperately wished the matchmaking system factored weapon types into its process....it seriously just makes me want to kill myself when I'm paired with a team full of rollers only to face a team full of Luna Blasters. This is another facet to consider when deciding to stay with a team or bail. If you notice too many duplicates of one weapon, or too many bad matchups, it isn't generally wise to stay.

As for the disconnects, obnoxiously Splatoon and Nintendo as a whole has done a comparatively poor job of handling online multiplayer servers. It's too often a hot mess, even when your own wifi seems to be pretty solid elsewhere. That being said, always double check your own connection strength. Turn off wifi on other devices you aren't using if you need to, and if you yourself are disconnected more than once consecutively, stop playing for awhile. Unfortunately when other players vanish and you stay connected, that isn't usually because of you. The good news is you lose fewer points if you lose at a team count disadvantage.

In terms of general gameplay suggestions to rank up, it's critical to know your stages, your modes and your role depending on play style/weapon type & ability build. If you're running Ninja Squid or Stealth Jump, expect to be in charge of a lot of flanking and surprise attacks. If you're running Special Duration Up, position yourself to stay alive and push the objective forward aggressively when your Special's readied. Changing weapons depending on mode/stage is fine, but generally speaking once you reach higher tier Ranked you should really only be using weapons you're skilled and confident with. And back up your teammates-this is maybe the most critical. Give aggressive support to whoever has the tower or Rainmaker. Protect teammates who are Super Jumping to you. Teamwork is key in almost every Ranked mode. Know when they need you, and be there ASAP when they do. Hope some of this helps.

Again, fantastic advice. This community is solid. It's clear you really know this game, so let me ask you. I am Tentatek/Octoshot replica player predominantly. I know it will change depending on make up, but what do you feel the primary role of my type of player is? I see myself as a frontline fighter, and mostly responsible for carrying the RM or riding the tower in those game modes. In SZ, I try and engage the other team a ton (probably too much) and keep the perimeter in our color. What else should I be cogitating on/planning for?

Sincerest thanks for your insights. Happy Splatting!!

 

[BearCash]

As a C+ myself, I find it rude that people underestimate us, I mean come on, we ALL started on C- so 5 words for you guys NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE C CLASS

I have played some brutal C+ players, so you have my respect friend. I have no delusions that I am "safe" from moving back down, so I will never bag on the lower ranks

 

[HypernovaSoul]

Again, fantastic advice. This community is solid. It's clear you really know this game, so let me ask you. I am Tentatek/Octoshot replica player predominantly. I know it will change depending on make up, but what do you feel the primary role of my type of player is? I see myself as a frontline fighter, and mostly responsible for carrying the RM or riding the tower in those game modes. In SZ, I try and engage the other team a ton (probably too much) and keep the perimeter in our color. What else should I be cogitating on/planning for?

Sincerest thanks for your insights. Happy Splatting!!

I'm glad I was able to help! :) Tentateks are extremely versatile, among the most adaptable weapons in the game actually. Players with that set from what I've seen will most often bounce between front-line assault and pressure-heavy support, depending on the scenario. Tentateks kill very quickly and have great maneuverability, although their range limitations can sometimes prevent them from holding down a tower on their own. Because of this, you may want to focus on path-clearing, flanks and advancement pressure in matches where you're outranged by multiple opponents or have a teammate more capable of staying alive on the tower or advancing the Rainmaker. When you're outranged by too many opponents to do this effectively, cover turf quickly and come back hard with an onslaught of subs or your Special.

Your sub will constantly be needed in general-Suction Bombs are one of the most useful subs in Tower Control. They're very effective in both pressuring the enemy team back as well as forcing them off the tower. You mentioned you frequently engage the opposing team, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but choose your confrontations wisely. Tentateks are highly formidable, but they're outranged by a good number of weapons. Know which weapons those are and stick to sub/Special assaults and stealthier flanks in those cases. You also have an insanely good Special with that set; Inkzookas as I'm sure you know can be total death machines, and even in most worst-case scenarios at least apply overwhelming pushback to the opposing team. But of course because you aren't invincible while using it, choose where you activate it wisely.

It's also great that you mentioned covering turf, because this is another important role Tentateks tend to play. Aside from rollers, they're actually probably among the most effective weapons at claiming turf, which is SO much more important in Ranked modes than people give it credit for. I guess a broader suggestion would be to know that as a Tentatek/Octoshot user, you're honestly the chameleon on your team, since you're using such a well-rounded weapon. Recognizing when your team needs aggression, support or defense I think will be most useful in the long run, because you're capable of all 3 with that set. Tentateks can excel in front lines, but unlike rollers or brushes, they can have trouble handling close combat with multiple foes, so you'll most often need backup if the other team is getting equally aggressive. It sounds like you're definitely having the right idea, it's just a matter of applying different strategies to the right situations.

 

[Nero86]

As a C+ myself, I find it rude that people underestimate us, I mean come on, we ALL started on C- so 5 words for you guys NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE C CLASS

I don't think there's such thing like C class or S class, ranking is something that's always changing. You're a C+ today, you can be a S+ tomorrow.

 

[BlackZero]

As a C+ myself, I find it rude that people underestimate us, I mean come on, we ALL started on C- so 5 words for you guys NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE C CLASS

Aww, how cute. The C Rank thinks he's people.

Aside from rollers, they're actually probably among the most effective weapons at claiming turf, which is SO much more important in Ranked modes than people give it credit for.

Precisely. The more turf you cover, the more mobile your team is and the more contained the opponent's team will be. They'll have fewer routes they can use to attack and will have to ink a path, which will slow them down. Take the time to cover turf. It's definitely worth it.