SAND: Raiders of Sophie Strategy Guide

01 · The Raid Loop

Four beats a session: fit out, deploy, raid, leave.

Fit out first Mount the guns, carry shells up to them, stock rods and fuel. Half-ready machines fight at half strength.
The machine is the run Your Trampler is transport, armory, respawn point and vault at once. Almost every call is really about it.
Loot counts when it lands Nothing in the hold is yours until you and the machine are both off the map.
Pick a target, not a heading Choose the location before you start the engine. Wandering burns fuel and drops you into other crews’ lanes.
Park with an exit in mind Leave the hull pointed down a clean route out. A Trampler turning under fire is a stationary target.
One stays, one goes An empty machine gets boarded, and a runner with nobody on the mounts has no covering fire.
Read the horizon on a timer Walking machines are visible from far off. Spot the silhouette early and you get to choose the fight.
Bank early, gamble later Make the first run short and safe, then spend the Crowns on a deeper second one.

02 · Voyage & Storm Dive

The mode sets the clock, and the clock sets your risk.

Voyage Open run, no closing ring

Exits are live from the first minute
Their positions shuffle every session
No shrinking play area herding you

Bring: A cheap machine you can afford to lose while you learn the routes.
Take: Route knowledge and Crowns at a pace you set.

Voyage is where you learn to drive. Practice parking, turning and repairs here, not under a storm.

Storm Dive Encroaching sandstorm, richer loot

The storm closes the map over a long match
Exits open partway in, not at the start
The best vaults only spawn in this mode

Bring: Full magazines, spare rods, and a crew that repairs under fire.
Take: The strongest cargo in the game, if the exit holds.

Every surviving crew converges on the last doors, so plan to be early rather than rich.

Solo servers One crew, one machine, no fills

Dedicated queues for raiders playing alone
Every station on board is your job in turn
Small hulls and short loops win here

Bring: A light build you can steer, gun and repair alone.
Take: A quieter map where the only mistakes aboard are yours.

Solo is not the same game with fewer people. Build what one person can cross at a sprint.

03 · Trampler Module Families

Well over a hundred parts. Each one costs weight, power and grid space.

Module family	What it does	Build note
Chassis	The structural grid every other module bolts onto.	Take the smallest one that fits the role. Empty grid is weight and exposed surface.
Motor-reactor	Power for movement, mounts, doors and crew respawns.	Protect it like the objective it is. Everything else stops when it goes dark.
Maneuver engines	Acceleration and turn rate, the hull’s answer to the helm.	Under-engine a heavy hull and it handles like terrain. Engines before plates.
Steering deck	The helm station with the levers, manned to drive.	Site it where the driver can see, with a second way out.
Cabins	Crew slots and the respawn points used after a death aboard.	Bury them deep. Cabins on an outer wall are what boarders look for.
Cargo bays	Capacity for loot, shells, fuel and contract items.	Capacity is income and capacity is weight. Build for the run you finish.
Turret decks and armor	Cannon mounts, plating and embrasures to shoot from.	Cover the arcs you cannot outrun. Good crews sit in your blind quarter.
Decks, balconies and frames	Hull structure, walkways and firing platforms.	Walkways are how the crew reaches a fire. Long routes lose winnable ones.
Access and utility	Stairs, corridors, ladders and workbench space.	Fewer entrances, fewer things to watch. Keep the layout short.

04 · Power, Fuel & Getting Under Way

Nothing moves until you start it by hand.

Start the reactor first Rods feed the motor-reactor, which feeds everything else. A cold machine has no guns and no respawns.
Know the drill by heart Rods in, reactor live, engine running, then the helm. Practice it until you never read a prompt.
The helm is a set of levers Steering happens at a physical station, so somebody stands there. That is one pair of hands not shooting.
Momentum is slow both ways A loaded Trampler gathers speed slowly and stops slower. Plan turns two landmarks ahead.
Never halt in the open A stopped machine is a gunnery problem with an easy answer. Halt behind a ridge or a wreck.
Fuel and rods are cargo Consumption scales with load and pace. Budget the return leg before you spend the outbound one.
Weight is a speed setting Every plate and full bay slows you. Armour that leaves you too slow to disengage is not protection.
Respect the power budget Mounts, doors and workbenches share one reactor. Ask for more than it makes and you brown out.

05 · Gunnery & Machine Combat

Cannon duels are naval duels: angles, reloads, and whoever stops moving first.

Load the mounts before contact Exterior cannons need shells carried up by hand. An 80mm with an empty rack is roof decoration.
Mix caliber by range Heavy cannons open armor at distance while autocannons and flak answer close work. Two calibers cover a fight.
Present the broadside Show your gun side, not your nose. Turning to bring one forward mount to bear wastes the window.
Legs to strand, hull to finish Crippling the locomotion ends the chase and hands you the tempo. Opening the hull ends the crew.
Shells travel and drop Lead the target and allow for the arc. At range you fire two strides ahead of where it stands.
Cycle ammunition behind cover Rock formations and wrecks break line of fire. Reload with terrain between you and the barrel.
Count the mounts facing you A hull with four barrels facing you is not a fight a two-gun build wins. Disengage early.
Do not chase a limping hull A crippled Trampler is usually still crewed and often bait. Take the ground it stood on instead.

06 · Boarding & Repelling Boarders

The highest-value play in the game, and the easiest one to die attempting.

Board after the guns stop Cross to a hull that can still traverse its cannons and you are a target twice over. Silence the mounts first.
The reactor is the objective Power runs their doors, guns and respawns. A crew on a dead reactor has lost and not noticed.
Expect locked doors and airlocks Interiors are built to be defended. Bring the tools and the patience, or do not cross at all.
They know the layout, you do not Attackers bring momentum, defenders bring the map. Move in pairs and clear in one direction.
Cut the cabins off Cabins are where defenders come back. Hold the corridor to them instead of chasing crew around the decks.
Defending starts at the ladders There are only so many ways onto a deck. Keep one crew member off the guns and listening.
Close what you open A door left open is the route back in. Shut and lock behind you on either hull.
Leave with the cargo instead You do not have to capture a machine to profit from boarding it. Pull the crates and go.

07 · Crew Roles & Solo Play

Four jobs and never enough hands. Name them out loud before you deploy.

Helm Drives, parks, picks the exit

Works the levers at the steering deck
Owns the route, the speed and the turns
Calls the halts and chooses the parking

Bring: A plan for where the machine goes and which door it leaves by.
Take: Control of the range, which is control of the fight.

The helm never goes looting. When the driver leaves, the machine stops being a vehicle.

Gunner Works the mounts and the ammo chain

Loads and fires the exterior cannons
Keeps shells moving from hold to deck
Calls targets by bearing, not by vibe

Bring: Enough shells on the deck for two engagements, not one.
Take: The damage that settles machine against machine.

A gunner with no ammunition runner empties the ready rack, then watches.

Engineer Reactor, fuel and damage control

Starts and then protects the motor-reactor
Tracks fuel, rods and total power draw
Repairs legs and compartments under fire

Bring: Repair kits, a multi-tool and spare rods, in that order.
Take: The difference between a damaged machine and a lost one.

In a long fight the engineer stops being a gunner. An upright hull beats another barrel.

Runner Goes out for loot and brings it back

Clears locations on foot and fills the hold
Ferries crates back instead of hoarding
Scouts the approach before the hull commits

Bring: A light kit, a sidearm for indoors, hands clear to carry.
Take: Almost all of the session income.

Runners die by carrying too much too far. Two short trips beat one heroic one.

Solo raider All four jobs, one at a time

Builds small so stations are seconds apart
Parks defensively before stepping off
Loots short loops with the engine still hot

Bring: Patience, and a machine you can cross at a sprint.
Take: Every Crown you earn, and none of the arguments.

A fortress you cannot cross alone is a liability in armor.

08 · Looting On Foot

The machine gets you there. Everything worth having is on the ground or behind a door.

Containers are tiered by color Common crates pay for the trip; rarer ones carry weapons, gear and experimental equipment.
Keys are progression Coloured keys open safes, grates and back rooms the rest of the map cannot touch. Carry them home.
Upiors hold the good rooms The ghouls guarding locations sprint at you and fire on sight. They are loud, and that noise travels.
Automatons are another problem The machines that drop from orbit hit hard and soak ammunition. Fight them only when the loot justifies it.
Coral feeds the workbench Coral colonies and the drops from dead Upiors supply the crafting recipes. Unglamorous, reliable income.
Aurogen is the steady earner Crystal deposits in the dead coral country are heavy, obvious and worth hundreds of Crowns each.
Carry a sidearm for corners A long gun you cannot swing indoors kills you in doorways. Keep a pistol for close range.
Loot with your ears Engine noise carries over open sand. Hear a machine walking and your quiet exit has already gone.
Fill the hold, not the backpack What you carry on your body dies with you; what you stow on the Trampler rides home.

09 · Damage Control & Repair

What you fix first, and what you deliberately leave broken.

Multi-tool small, kit large Panels and fittings take the multi-tool. Compartments, legs and cannons need a proper repair kit.
Legs before guns A machine that cannot walk cannot leave, and leaving is the whole game. Mobility is always first.
Repair in cover, not under fire The animation pins you in place, usually somewhere exposed. Break contact, then start work.
Reactor damage is the emergency Power loss cascades into steering, mounts and respawns at once. Station somebody beside it.
Carry spares of cheap things Repair kits, rods and ammunition weigh very little against what they save. Run dry and the run ends.
Patch on the move where you can Some repairs can be made while the machine keeps walking. Momentum through a slow fix beats standing still.
Triage out loud Say what you are fixing and what you are ignoring. Two crew on the same plate loses machines.
Reset properly at base Deploying on a half-repaired hull to save minutes turns one bad session into three.

10 · Calling The Extraction

The exit is the content. Leaving is a procedure, not a button.

Both of you leave or neither does A run counts when crew and machine are out together. Escaping on foot is survival, not success.
Clear the ground before you call Sweep the approach, then climb the tower. Calling into uncleared ground means fighting on a running clock.
Park facing out Point the hull down your route before the timer starts. Do the turning while turning is cheap.
Stow the cargo first Contract items and rare crates go into the hold before the call, never during the wait.
Guard the window, do not loot it The timer is for watching approach lanes. One more container is the last mistake of most sessions.
Exits are the busiest ground Every crew wants the same doors. Assume somebody else called too, and hold your angles.
Leave on the first good window The run you extend is the one that gets taken from you. A landed hold beats a bigger one lost.
The storm sets the deadline In Storm Dive, doors behind the front are gone. Track which remain reachable and commit early.
Always have a second door If your exit is camped or swallowed, the next one needs a route and fuel you can spare.

11 · Pro Tips

Habits that compound.

Learn one build properly A modest machine you can steer, repair and fight blindfolded beats an ambitious one you are still learning.
Drill the startup The crew that gets under way thirty seconds sooner wins fights it never has to have.
Leave before you are rich The hold that comes home is worth infinitely more than the hold that does not.
Talk in headings and distances "Machine, north-east, far, closing" is a callout. "Behind us" is noise, and noise kills crews.
Weight discipline wins fights Most crews over-build, then wonder why they cannot break contact. Take a plate off and feel the difference.
Review the wreck, not the death Work out what killed the machine, not what killed you. The mistake is usually three minutes earlier.
Respect a quiet map A long silence in a mode full of engines means somebody nearby is being patient.
Match the build to the clock A Voyage machine taken into a Storm Dive is a donation to whoever finds it.