Node RAK811+Arduino

There are two ways to use these RAK811 boards it seems, someone tell me if I am wrong.

  1. simple AT commands from your own MCU board - not sure on the benefits of doing this given SX1276 solutions already in play, are the AT commands sent via the ST32L151? unsure
  2. programming the STM32L151 directly - this seems to be the pro approach but is technically more of a challenge as at present there are no ardiono cores working for the ST32L151 - unless someone knows better