During arkfalls, incursions & Shadow wars etc, quite a lot of new/different mechanics come into play.

In order to be considered a part of any instance, you need to damage/kill monsters from it.
You can switch to the instance of your friends via the applicable menus. (ctrl default)

Weapons, vehicles and stationary weapons can be "unlocked" during the various encounters.
Shadow wars shows this the most clearly.
Weapons can have a colour floating over them, indicating if they are single-use, stationary or elementary.

Queues:
Some queues can be rather long but for me they are worth the wait; i just go do different missions/time trials in the meantime.
-remember: people are in different timezones. :D

Game also has ingame help, so it is a good idea to read up on it.

Items worth zero scrip can be converted into ark salvage in the salvage matrix.

Mods can be added to an equipped weapon.
Items and weapons must be unequipped before choosing them in the salvage matrix,
in order to gain acces to all modding options.

Some options requires your ego rating to be high enough.
Weapons need mod slots to be enabled before a specific mod can be added.
Which mod slots are enabled, can be seen below the weapons' EGO rating.

They are:
Stock, Barrel, Magazine, Scope

Some types of mods (eg. some scopes for rocket launchers), can only be added to certain weapons.
-a scope for a guided rocket launcher won't work on a non-guided rocket launcher.
The same goes for all other mods; it has to make sense to fit it.

Update: A sight-category have been introduced for scopes, so it should be easier to tell the difference.

[Scope Style Guide]

Items have rarity ranging from grey to yellow.

• Grey - generic
  
• White - common
  
• Green - uncommon
  
• Blue - rare
  
• Purple - epic
  
• Orange - legendary
  
• Yellow - supreme

-this is my rarest gun: a Legendary Wolfhound. B-)

Synergies are potentially powerful bonuses which unlock
by having one or more equipped at a time.

Your class[1] activates a synergy of the same name.
Synergy has to be the same on both[2] equipped weapons to fully activate.
The same goes for mods, all[4] have to be the same type for full bonus.
Full set of synergies, ie. [1]class + [2]weapons + 2[x4]mods will give full bonus.
Wrong class[0] + [1]weapon + [0]mods = no bonus.
Wrong class[0] + [1]weapon + [X]mods = some bonus.
Etc etc.
The numbers in brackets on the item description in-game, like i have used above,
shows how many mods of the same type you need to activate the different bonuses listed there.

[Wiki: Synergies][www.defiancedata.com]

Update: You can now rightclick items in your inventory for an item menu.
.


Most items have a three-digit number representing their rating.
Those with three bars(like above) have no rating, and are usually worth zero scrip.
The double numbers on the weapons above are ammunition-counters(# of rounds & clip size).
Weapons can have many different attributes, some even depending on different circumstances.
Information about damage types (the different icons on some weapons like the lightning symbol),
can be found by going to Intel -> Help -> Combat -> Nano Effects via the radial menu(hold space on most screens).

.
[Weapons & Weapon Skills][community.defiance.com]

Every time you want to equip/unequip a perk or a weapon, cancel adding a mod or cycle compare, you must click on the extra lines of text at the lower left/right of the window.
(The text is usually orange, blue or white)

Update: You can now favorite weapons & items, and mass sell & breakdown items too.
Again: Be careful with mass breakdown, as there is no undo function for it!
(Favorite Items to exclude them from mass sell//breakdown)

In the salvage matrix after choosing an item, you can simply single-left-click the item again to return to the item selection list. There are many screens where the same function can be achieved in different ways. (see key config below)

Most keys can be reconfigured by turning ON Key config in the settings-controls Menu.
If you have extra mouse buttons, they can be configured too.
If you have a controller, you can turn ON config for that instead.

F1-F6: Screens
WASD/mouse: Movement/Turning
Space while in menus: Radial Menu

Shortcuts to note:
Extract, Extract Content, Grenade.

Extract is for respawn when down & out.
Extract Content is your activate button.
Grenade is usually on G, so it might be good to change.
(eg. you can set MMB for reload, so R can be grenades)

There are several secret vendors scattered around the world.
Some of the areas need to be cleared of enemies before they appear.

There are also many data recorders and hidden missions scattered around the different maps.
Some with unique loot, so keep an eye out for anything shiny.
Steam:[All data recorders location]

Learn to drive!
-no seriously: as you drive a vehicle your skill will go up, giving you boosts in speed and hitpoints etc.
Steam:[Dodge Challenger Vendor]

Sources of information:

Steam:[Lexinator's Defiance guide for the new player]
Wiki: [Defiance Wiki][defiance.wikia.com]

Feel free to let me know in the comments if something needs clarification or otherwise.

Hope this helps some.

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All items (C) of their respective owners.
Thanks to everyone involved in making this a great game.
Thanks to the community for being so good at helping each other.