Drive: WASD  ·  Aim: mouse / right stick  ·  Fire: hold click / SPACE
Bike sidearm: right-click (cycle: C)  ·  Class special (tank/hovertank/hoverjet/starfighter CANNON, mech LASER, buggy SAW): hold right-click  ·  Blower: hold SHIFT (boost, then it overheats and runs 15% down while it cools)  ·  Tow hook: hold right-click (or Z) on wrecker + wartruck  ·  Weapons: number keys / Q,E / wheel  ·  Drop a charge: B  ·  Horn: H (roadking)
You start in the top-down map view — the one that shows the whole arena and the red AoE rings your shells are arcing onto. Swap to chase view with F1, or by tapping the live inset in the top-right corner, which always shows the view you are not in  ·  Kit (inventory & equip): V  ·  Character sheet (name, kin, trade, skill tree): K
Armour has facings — flank them, and don't let them flank you.
You start on the warbike. rigs at THE OUTPOST — from the starter sedan to the ROAD KING itself. Level up to open them.
Spend your scrap in the salvage bay between waves — parts across branches, and they last this run only. The bay is a town service: not every town has a mechanic.
THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE THE ARENA. Towns hire you, contracts pay, and roads lead to the next region — all of it at THE OUTPOST ▸ ROAD. Press G mid-fight to disengage and go there. F2 or ? opens the FIELD MANUAL.

Left stick: drive  ·  Right stick: aim — slam it to fire (it IS the flight stick in a flyer)
On the bike the ⛓ button swings the sidearm; the ⇋ chip beside it cycles chain / grenade / caltrops. On a rig with a signature gun that button becomes the special (⊙ cannon, ≣ laser, ✵ saw) — hold it to fire without leaving your main gun.
You start in the top-down map view. Top-right corner: the live inset shows the view you are NOT in — tap it to swap to chase view. The map reads far better on a small screen, and up there both sticks become compasses: the right one aims where you point it, and the left one drives where you point it — push a direction on the map and the rig goes that way, instead of throttle-and-rudder. In chase view the left stick is throttle-and-rudder exactly as before.
Armour has facings — flank them, don't get flanked.
You start on the warbike. K opens the character sheet — name, kin, trade and the skill tree. rigs at THE OUTPOST, and scrap buys parts in the salvage bay between waves — of them, and they last this run only.
THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE THE ARENA. Towns hire you, contracts pay, and roads lead to the next region — all of it at THE OUTPOST ▸ ROAD. The ⌂ button mid-fight disengages and takes you there. FIELD MANUAL above explains the rest.