Dovion PC Controls: Mouse, Space, the E Key
Three commands. That's all there is to remember about Dovion's PC controls: mouse for heading, Space to fire, E for your line's active ability. A handful of seconds to learn them, dozens of hours to master them — like every good .io game. Let's look at what each one really hides.
The mouse: your rudder
On PC, your ship follows the cursor: the mouse sets your heading. That simplicity has a direct effect on how you play — your cursor position IS your trajectory. A few practical implications:
- A cursor glued to your ship gives jittery turns; a cursor far ahead traces a cleaner course.
- In combat, you don't think "I'm turning left," you think "I want to be there": piloting becomes a matter of anticipation.
- Fleeing is also a mouse move: place your cursor behind an island, and let the terrain soak up cannonballs on your behalf.
Space: shooting, plain and simple
The Space bar triggers your guns. Every hull spits fire differently depending on its line, but the command stays the same from level 1 to level 50. Two gunner's tips:
- Fire ahead of your target: cannonballs take time to travel, aim where the enemy will be, not where it is.
- Save your volleys near rocks: a shot that hits a boulder is a shot that didn't hit a hull.
The E key: where matches are won
Starting at level 15, your line unlocks one unique active ability, on the E key, with a cooldown visible on screen. It's what separates a decent pilot from a dangerous captain:
- The Narval's Charge, whose damage scales with your speed (but watch out for self-stun if you charge into empty water);
- The Torpedo Fan (3 torpedoes, 5 at level 45);
- The Grande Bordée (full double broadside), whose recoil can even work as a dash;
- The Mortar's lobbed shell, aimed at the cursor, which arcs over obstacles;
- And plenty more — the full rundown is in our feature on E-key abilities.
The real skill isn't pressing E — it's knowing when not to: an ability still on cooldown at the wrong moment is a duel lost in advance.
Finding your feet without pressure
Good news for training: every Dovion room is populated with 30 to 48 AI-controlled ships, at varied levels. So you always have targets within reach to practice on — trajectories, lead shots, ability timing — before hunting human players. Pair that with our 10 tips for beginners and you'll level up in no time.
And if you switch from keyboard to touch, the same principles apply with two joysticks: we wrote the mobile controls guide for exactly that.
Mouse in hand, all that's left is to practice: Play Dovion for free and let the powder speak.