Dispatch Sonar Guide: Recruit, Use and Keep Sonar on the Z-Team

Sonar in Dispatch: How to Recruit, Build and Keep the Z-Team's Bat

Keep Sonar in this sonar dispatch guide. His Charisma and Intellect stats are his best stats, Talk Sh!t gives you a free reattempt on a failed call once it's trained, and Mega-Bat form removes injury risk while halving his rest time. Polygon's guide recommends thinking about how your points are allocated across your roster and whether anyone can fill the role of the leaving hero — and notes that if you simply prefer Coupé, you're free to fire Sonar.

Sonar is the bat-headed hero voiced by Charles "MoistCr1TiKaL" White, and he's one of two characters you can cut loose in that Episode 3 decision - the other being Coupé. Whoever you fire is gone from every later dispatch sequence, so this is the roster call that shapes the rest of your run. Below is everything you need to get him trained, deployed and protected before you commit.

What you need before you start

1. A copy of Dispatch on PS5, Xbox, Switch or PC (per IGN's anniversary trailer coverage). All episodes are out. A mobile version arrives December 9, 2026 (per AdHoc's anniversary announcement).
2. Progress to Episode 3 ("Turnover"), where the fire-one-hero choice lands at the end of the chapter.
3. Training sessions banked. Only Instincts comes free - the other three abilities unlock in sequence through training.
4. Firing Sonar earns the achievement "Watch Your Back, Robert", and Malevola will be angry and leave the next dispatch shift in Episode 4 early.

One platform note: a mobile version arrives December 9, 2026. If you plan to move to phones, keep that Episode 3 decision in mind rather than starting clean. Switch players weighing the port should also read our coverage of Nintendo's Censorship Controversy before buying.

Sonar's kit, stat by stat

His stat spread is the reason he's so easy to slot in. Charisma and Intellect are listed as Sonar's best stats. His listed synergy partner is Malevola.

If you want the wider picture of who covers what, our Dispatch Characters Guide maps the full cast, their voice actors and who to dispatch first.

Unlock Sonar's three trained abilities

Instincts is known automatically from the start, and it's the one that catches people out. Its effect is a straight swap: after Sonar returns from a call, his INT and CBT values trade places, and his CHA and VIG values trade places. That means his stat readout flips between shifts, so check it before you assign him to anything.

The other three have to be learned in training, and the game unlocks them in a fixed order:

1. Bat Sh!t - in Mega-Bat form, Sonar is immune to injuries and his resting time is cut in half. This is what makes him a low-maintenance pick across long shifts.
2. Strong Back - in Mega-Bat form he flies to call locations, greatly reducing travel time. Once trained, he can also carry non-flying heroes.
3. Talk Sh!t - in Hybrid form he can reattempt a failed call.

Don't expect Talk Sh!t on day one. Train in the order above and it arrives last.

How to deploy Sonar on dispatch calls

• Prioritise Charisma and Intellect tests. That's where his base stats carry the check outright.
• Re-check the stat readout after every return. The Instincts swap trades INT with CBT and CHA with VIG, so a call that suited him last shift may not suit him now.
• Save Talk Sh!t for high-stakes calls. A free reattempt is wasted on a check you'd pass anyway.
• Lean on Strong Back once it's trained. Flying to call locations cuts travel time, and carrying grounded heroes is worth more across a full shift than one extra body on a single mission.

Should you fire Sonar or Coupé in Episode 3?

At the end of "Turnover" you must let go of either Coupé or Sonar, and the fired hero is unavailable for all later dispatch sequences. Work through this before you click:

1. Check your roster first. If nobody else covers both Charisma and Intellect, keeping Sonar is the safer play.
2. Confirm your replacement. If you do fire him, make sure you have cover for both stat lanes before the next shift starts.
3. Weigh the consequences. Firing Sonar earns the achievement "Watch Your Back, Robert", and Malevola will be angry and leave the next dispatch shift in Episode 4 early.

There's a story reason too: Sonar is one of two characters who can turn heel in the finale and join Shroud's siege of Los Angeles after being fired from the Z-Team. That's worth weighing on its own.

Mistakes that cost you Sonar's value

• Firing him without checking stat coverage, then finding nobody left on the Z-Team can pass Charisma checks.
• Ignoring the Instincts swap and sending him into a call using his pre-swap stat line.
• Delaying his training queue, which pushes Strong Back's hero-carry and travel-time benefit later into the run.
• Forgetting that firing him angers Malevola, who will leave the next dispatch shift in Episode 4 early.

Build the rest of the Z-Team around him

Sonar only pays off if the heroes around him don't duplicate his lanes. Map every hero's best stats against his so you know exactly which calls belong to him before Episode 8's finale shifts the board.

Run Malevola alongside him, then experiment. A second playthrough where you fire Sonar instead of Coupé lets you see the heel turn in the finale and tells you whether your roster really could survive without him. Keep an eye on AdHoc's patch notes for any changes to abilities before you start a fresh playthrough. The one-year anniversary update added a Commentary track and Storyboard mode (per AdHoc's anniversary announcement); neither is documented as affecting Sonar's kit, so treat them as a separate reason to replay rather than part of this build.