SAND: Raiders of Sophie Update #9 Adds New Tools Against Pre-Expedition Teaming

SAND: Raiders of Sophie Update #9 is live, and its biggest system change is aimed at players who try to team up before an expedition begins. Hologryph and tinyBuild changed the backend to reduce the chances of those players landing in the same expedition, while a bundle of control options, Repair Kit changes, and bug fixes rounds out the patch.

Players can now assign buttons to side mouse keys and set different sensitivity for Idle, Hip, Scope, Sniper Scope, Turret, and Turret Scope. Repair Kits carry more fuel and stack higher, while SteamIDs now appear near player names to help with reports made outside the in-game “Report Player” tool.

Update #9 also addresses two anti-cheat false positives, several Trampler blueprint and compartment problems, and a backend issue that could leave crews on the “Waiting for rival expeditions 0/0” screen. The game still has a list of known issues, including brief freezes after repeatedly closing the Players List and several interaction and animation bugs.

The matchmaking work follows Update #8’s gear-based matchmaking, which gave crews another way to find opponents based on their Trampler setup. Update #9 instead focuses on reducing pre-expedition teaming before players enter a match.

Patch Notes for SAND: Raiders of Sophie Update #9

The official changelist covers matchmaking backend work, Repair Kit capacity, item handling, mouse and sensitivity controls, player identification, onboarding screens, anti-cheat corrections, Trampler building, turret behavior, extraction messaging, and expedition loading. The known issues section remains active for freezes, damage interactions, animation problems, and other cases.

• Made changes on the backend to decrease the chances that players who team up before the start of the expedition would be placed into the same expedition
• Repair Kit balance changes:
  • Repair Kit Orbital Storage Stack Capacity 10 -> 20
  • Repair Kit Fuel Stack Capacity increased
    • Orbital Storage 24 -> 60
    • Large Stack 30 -> 60
    • Medium Stack 12 -> 24
    • Small Stack 3 -> 6
  • Repair Kit Fuel Capacity increased 3 -> 6
• Changes to the Drop and Hide Item Actions
  • Press X:
    • While holding Small Items (or Weapons) – Put the item back into inventory from the hands.
    • While holding Large Items – Drop the carried item from the hands onto the ground. Equip the last carried small item (when possible; if not, equip the hands)
  • Hold X:
    • While holding Small Items – Drop the carried item from the hands onto the ground.
    • While holding Large Items – Drop the carried item from the hands onto the ground. Equip the last carried small item (when possible; if not, equip the hands)
• Items/Weapons currently held in the hands can be placed in storage
  • Previously, you had to unequip the item/weapon before placing it in storage
• Added the ability to assign buttons to the side mouse keys
• Added separate sensitivity for the following states
  • Idle
  • Hip
  • Scope
  • Sniper Scope
  • Turret
  • Turret Scope
• SteamID is displayed near the player’s name
  • This makes it easier to find players when processing reports that were not submitted via “Report Player” in the game
• Added EULA and Players Conduct to be shown at the start of the game
  • These screens will only be shown during the first launch and when changes are made to them
• Possibly fixed an exploit that allowed artifacts to be used more than once
• Fixed anticheat false positives:
  • Where the player was flagged by anticheat while using the trampler ladder below a certain height
  • Where the player was flagged by anticheat after exiting to the Main Menu while crouched and then resuming the expedition
• Fixed turret icons
  • “New icons” should’ve been shown only in the Outfitting stage when turrets are added to the trampler, not everywhere.
• Fixed an issue where the trampler reactor could not be turned on while a weapon was in hip mode
• Fixed an issue where compartments that can be passed through, such as cargo decks and framed stairs,could block access to the Essential Compartments without triggering a pathfinding error
• Fixed an issue where blueprints with no access to Core Compartments could’ve been created
• Fixed an issue that allowed building a trampler with compartments outside the designated area
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Evacuation Temporarily unavailable’ message was displayed on a previously activated tower
• Fixed an issue where the item prompt in Storage had too many hotkey options
• Fixed an issue where a crew member’s body might’ve partially remained in the Captain’s lobby after leaving the party in any way
• Fixed an issue where the trampler kept moving after the steering wheel was destroyed
• Fixed a backend issue where players could get stuck on the “Waiting for rival expeditions 0/0” screen

Known Issues

• The game may freeze briefly when closing the Players List.
  • This occurs after closing the player list four or more times
• 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
• 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
• Character hands are “broken” when they carry energy rods

Update #9 has plenty for crews to test across their next expeditions. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

Source: Steam

Sand: Raiders Of Sophie

Developed by Hologryph, TowerHaus

In an alternate 1910, scavenge the sands of Sophie in towering Tramplers. Build your highly customizable walking base. Squad up or go solo. Gather loot, weapons, precious artifacts. Clash with other players in a brutal procedurally generated desert forged by history and chaos.

• Genre Adventure
• Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
• Perspective First person
• Modes Single player, Multiplayer
• Release June 22, 2026
• Publisher tinyBuild
• Age Rating

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