Beginner Guide — Start Here

Welcome to Sophie

SAND: Raiders of Sophie is a dieselpunk PvPvE extraction shooter. You build giant walking mechs called Tramplers, crew them solo or with up to five allies, loot a procedural desert, and extract before rivals or sandstorms end your run. Everything is physical loot — die without extracting and you lose unsecured items.

Steam Early Access launches June 22, 2026. This guide assumes PC keyboard controls — see keyboard controls.

Your First Trampler

Hangar Trampler Editor minimum: chassis, engine, pilot seat, ladder, one storage bay. Save blueprint before first deploy — rebuild after loss needs Mechanical Parts.

Starter builds need not be pretty — function beats aesthetics.

First Voyage Deploy

Select Voyage mode — lower pressure than Storm Dive. Deploy, drive to Segen town on map, park with engine off 200m away, clear zombies on foot, loot brown crates, return to Trampler.

Voyage guide expands loop details.

Inventory Basics

Tab opens real-time inventory — game does not pause. One weapon equipped, valuables in hauling slots. Inventory guide covers weight.

First Combat

866/9 rifle is forgiving for headshots on town zombies. Bolt-action — aim, fire, rechamber. Town zombies guide.

First Extraction

Find radio tower on map. Park between masts. Carry Radio Beacon Box. Climb tower, hold F. Green smoke = ~2 minute timer. First extraction step-by-step.

• Beacon in inventory
• Fuel for drive to tower
• Loot in storage bay
• Smoke optional but helpful

What to Loot First

Mechanical Parts (rebuild), Black Box (~500 crowns), then weapons. Do not sell only Beacon pre-extract.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Extracting without Beacon. Looting during uncleared zombies. Leaving valuables on Trampler floor. Skipping blueprint save.

Next Steps

After three successful Voyage extracts: learn 80mm fort prep, squad roles, Storm Dive intro.

Helpful Links

Pre-deploy, items, tier lists, EA scope.

Beginner Guide — Start Here — Field Walkthrough

Complete beginner guide for new SAND players: first deploy, loot, and extract. Apply this guide during live raids in SAND: Raiders of Sophie, not just in hangar theory. Every technique assumes you will extract with a Radio Beacon Box (~2000 crowns), green smoke at the radio tower, and roughly two minutes of active defense.

Carry backup fuel rods, secure Black Boxes (~500 crowns) and Mechanical Parts in internal storage bays, and review storage safety before high-value POIs. Switch between 40mm cannons for zombies and drones and 80mm cannons for enemy Tramplers, Ironclad robots, and fort red doors.

Cross-reference How to Play sibling guides via related links at page bottom. Update strats after patch notes during Early Access from June 22, 2026.

Voyage and Storm Dive Context

Voyage mode is the safest environment to practice beginner guide — start here techniques: lower rival density, flexible extract timing, forgiving fuel economy. Master the loop here before Storm Dive finals where Dreadnought and Sandworm Pit concentrate artifacts and red-tier crates.

Storm Dive adds shrinking map pressure — plan extract vector before entering hot zones. Squads should assign driver, gunner, boarder, and quartermaster per solo vs squad roles. Solos prioritize stealth, early tower calls, and Sand Runner mobility.

If your Trampler is destroyed, pivot to on-foot extraction with Beacon and highest-value items only. Rebuild later via blueprint rebuild plus Mechanical Parts.

Loadout, Crafting, and Tech Tree Links

Hangar tech tree unlocks directly enable or gate beginner guide — start here strategies. Follow tech tree unlock order before selling Black Boxes for quick crowns. Research components from industrial POIs feed landmark crafting at landmark reactors.

Personal weapons: 866/9 rifle for general work, 1874 Petros shotgun for boarding, M82 for extraction overwatch — see weapon selection. Trampler cannons: cannon matchups explains 40mm versus 80mm.

Use tier lists for meta builds and map pages for POI navigation. Controls references cover tower F-key extraction and Trampler driving under fire.

Risk Management and PvP

Third-party squads contest profitable routes — audio discipline wins fights. Engine-off parking, ridge-line driving, and smoke disengages from smoke and stealth extend survival.

Boarding offense and defense decide vehicle fights: boarding offense versus boarding defense. NPC Tramplers and player walkers share 80mm weak-point doctrine from enemy Trampler combat.

Solo players avoid fort assaults and Storm finals until 80mm, parts stockpile, and insured blueprints are ready. Extract when bays are 70% full — greed causes death spirals.

Step-by-Step Raid Integration

Standard session: deploy with checklist → navigate using extraction point awareness → execute beginner guide — start here objectives → consolidate inventory → drive to tower → Beacon and green smoke → defend two minutes → bank loot in hangar.

Failure recovery: die with parts and blueprint intact, rebuild Trampler, run efficient Voyage recovery per efficient loot run. Never repeat the same overextended route without learning.

Share this page with squadmates so roles align — one guide read prevents five conflicting calls during extract timer.

Beginner Guide — Start Here — POI and Landmark Reference

Named landmarks anchor navigation: Segen and Kaiserplatz towns for mixed loot, Feste Königsmarck forts for 80mm doors, Archipel von Leopold shipwrecks for Black Boxes, Dreadnought and Sandworm Pit for Storm Dive finals — full list on landmarks map.

Town clears require zombie kills before crates unlock efficiently — town zombies. Fort pushes need minefield awareness and Ironclad clears — fort assault. NPC patrol farming between Hangar Citadel and open dunes feeds Black Box income.

Buried treasure and coastal wrecks supplement crown routes without max PvP — buried treasure, shipwrecks. High-tier red crates live in fort vaults and Dreadnought decks — high-tier crates.

Beginner Guide — Start Here — Economy and Inventory Discipline

Physical loot rules: secured inventory, internal Trampler bays, and loaded turret ammo extract; floor loot is lost. Radio Beacon Boxes (~2000 crowns) are simultaneously wealth and extract requirement — never drop during boarding.

Black Boxes (~500 crowns) compete with tech tree needs — consult hangar before selling. Mechanical Parts are rebuild insurance — mechanical parts guide. Chardonnay and Documents auto-convert to crowns on extract — efficient filler from town offices.

Inventory management uses real-time Tab — organize inside cover. Quartermaster squads haul green crates while gunners hold angles — inventory guide.