SAND: Raiders of Sophie Patch Notes

Patch 2026-08-20 August 20, 2026

  • Updated model of the energy rods
  • Possibly fixed an exploit when a cheater could steal items from the box in your hands remotely
  • Fixed a number of duplication exploits
  • Fixed an exploit where default ammo could be changed into special ammo type
  • Gear-based matchmaking BETA Matchmaking will now consider the gear score that is combined from the trampler compartments installed and the items placed into the outfitting
  • If matchmaking fails to find enough players at the matching player level, it will widen the search range.
  • This system is in BETA, and changes to the matchmaking might be made based on your feedback and information that we’ll see on our backend
  • These changes to matchmaking might also slightly increase the time required to find a match BUT even during the least player-saturated hours, you will get matched eventually because the Matchmaker will throw everyone into the general queue no matter the Gear Score at a certain point, so you won't be stuck because of it
  • 3 new armor sets for the trampler Can be unlocked in the Tech Tree
  • 3 new types of shells 70mm Armor-Piercing / Shrapnel Shell - Shot as a singular projectile. Penetrates the Armor and creates a burst of shrapnel on the other side
  • 80mm Subcaliber Shell - Has 100% Penetration Chance - Can penetrate multiple compartments in a row
  • 40mm Low Heat-Optimized Shells - Reduces the Overheat Buildup while shooting Autocannons by 50%
  • There are 4 types of shell hits: Hit - the projectile hit, dealt damage, and was destroyed
  • Ricochet - Shell deals 20% of its damage and gets deflected into the other direction from the compartment that it hit. The deflected shell can still deal its full damage if it hits something else on its way
  • Penetrate - Shell deals 50% of its damage to a compartment and keeps flying until it hits another obstacle (Basically you can deal 150% of shell's damage in one shot)
  • Clean Through - can be seen when the shell passes through a destroyed compartment. It Doesn't deal damage to it and doesn't get destroyed. It just goes cleanly through it. (This mechanic was always there; we just added a notification to make it less confusing when the shell flies through the trampler.
  • Trampler Reactor changes Reactor now visually show their health status and boost effects It reddens when it loses HP
  • All reactors now have 50% more HP
  • Shooting at the back of the reactor will deal critical damage
  • Reactor smoke VFX reacts to gear, boost, and reactor state
  • Anti-cheat false positive fixes: Fixed when driving towards the island and grabbing the ladder during the jump
  • Fixed when driving towards the island and starting parkour during the jump
  • Fixed issue with turret shooting giving “Suspicious Activity” message
  • Item changes “The Great Silence” is now a large item and can’t be stored in the character's inventory
  • Repair Kit can now be reloaded, so it no longer is destroyed after being fully used
  • Fuel for the Repair Kit is dropped from the ironclads
  • Empty Repair Kit can be purchased in the Storage
  • Repair kit taken to the expedition now starts with 0 fuel
  • Repair kit extracted from the expedition gets automatically unloaded, and its unloaded fuel gets extracted separately
  • Refactored Trampler Editor to support new armor types
  • Additional VFX improvements
  • Possibly fixed situations when a trampler can move through another trampler on collision
  • Fixed the issue where trampler legs would be in incorrect position after reentering the game
  • Fixed the issue that the weapon didn't have animation and recoil while shooting and activating the flashlight simultaneously
  • Fixed the issue when Upiors positions could be different between client and server
  • Trampler reactor might not be turned on while having a weapon in hip mode
  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by reentering the trigger area
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
  • Blueprint can’t be deleted
  • Character can become occluded in some cases
  • Character might get broken animations on turrets and steering wheel after using Orbital Strike on Smuggler control scheme Walkaround: get any tool or weapon in hands or respawn
  • 3440×1440 resolution is not available
  • Character hands are “broken” when they carry energy rods
  • We have recently instated new admins for managing bans and reviewing reports more quickly, efficiently and regularly.
  • We'll be implementing a code of conduct soon that requires acceptance before playing the game to make it clear which conduct is prohibited in SAND with an emphasis on discouraging third party cheats and pre-teaming.
  • We are actively working on mitigating the ability queue snipe within the game itself, with the full implementation of GBMM being a starting point. We are looking into queue delays and active checks for players regularly placed together in the same server to limit peoples ability to manipulate the system, and identify anyone who continues to engage in such activity.
  • We're also working on getting an advanced in-game admin system set up so that we can look into reports in real time and spectate reportees for immediate confirmation, but this is in the early stages.
  • We have begun processing reports and issuing bans to pre-teamers daily. (Previously, bans were issued in large waves)
View full patch notes ↗

Patch 2026-08-10 August 10, 2026

  • You can ping with the middle mouse button
  • Improved the position of the killed character
  • Fixed an issue when the character would respawn outside of the trampler
  • Previously, if the owner was away from the trampler, it would stop or turn off even if another player was on it. Now the trampler will not stop or turn off if another player is on it.
View full patch notes ↗

Patch 2026-08-03 August 3, 2026

  • Trampler capture has been reactivated
  • Includes fixes for some of the false positives
  • We are continuing to improve the anticheat and fixing any false positives that will be found
  • Added “Duo only” queue
  • Small Crews now teams of 3 and 4
  • Large Crews now teams of 5 and 6
  • The boost that the energy rod provides now scales with the trampler’s maneuverability
  • The boost will remain 100% until 30% maneuverability. After that, it will steadily decline until 50% at 0% maneuverability.
  • Trampler with low maneuverability now has a stun penalty when the leg breaks
  • The lower the maneuverability, the longer the stun
  • Trampler’s max speed is capped to 20% during stun
  • The penalty starts when the maneuverability is below 30%. From there it goes from 0 (at 30% maneuverability or more) to 5 sec (at 0% maneuverability)
  • Using engines to compensate for the maneuverability will also decrease stun duration and negate the rod boost penalty since the maneuverability is increased
  • Ownership device will no longer be destroyed when the Captain’s compartment is destroyed
  • This means that tramplers can be captured even if the Captain’s compartment is destroyed
  • The large extraction icon will now be displayed when you enter the extraction zone, not while you remain inside it.
  • Fixed the issue where interaction animations would end earlier than the interaction
  • Fixed the issue where trampler would bounce after being destroyed
  • Fixed the issue where a large item could be displayed on the character’s back in Spectator mode
  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
  • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn’t receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
  • On Low and Medium settings, “seams” can be seen on the terrain
  • Terrain can be occluded in some cases
  • Crafing on islands doesn’t work correctly
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
  • Blueprint can’t be deleted
  • Character can become occluded in some cases
  • Jumping and staying on the enemy character head can give you ban
View full patch notes ↗

Patch 2026-07-24 July 24, 2026

  • Battleye anti-cheat improvements
  • Optimized rendering and streaming of the terrain Loading of terrain is now smoother
  • Artifacts rebalance: Sphere shield is now impenetrable from both sides
  • Increased sphere shield HP from 15k to 25k
  • Activated artifacts can be destroyed by dealing direct damage to them. They have 900HP and can take Infantry and Siege damage. WOK Bomb can’t be destroyed by Infantry and Siege damage
  • Activated artifacts are now instantly destroyed if being hit by an EMP Wave WOK Bomb can be destroyed by EMP
  • Artifacts now play small VFX and SFX on destruction
  • Smoke no longer attaches to the trampler
  • Fixed item duplication exploit with boxes
  • Fixed issue that trampler can go under terrain after being destroyed One of the causes for the “suspicious activity” kicks
  • Fixed issue that the character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Fixed softlock on the extraction for teams of 2 and more
  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server On the client, it looks like Upior doesn’t receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
  • On Low and Medium settings, " seams " can be seen on the terrain
  • Terrain can be occluded in some cases
  • Crafing on islands doesn’t work correctly
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
View full patch notes ↗

Patch 2026-07-23 July 23, 2026

  • Re-enabled trampler capture
  • Fixed issue that trampler can go under terrain after being destroyed (one of the reasons why some players were kicked due to suspicious activity)
  • Fixed issue that the character was missing customization on the spectator
  • Fixed softlock on the extraction
  • Anti-cheat improvements
  • Fixes for a number of significant exploits
View full patch notes ↗