Mass Effect 3: Retaliation weapons, enemies and kits detailed

Mass Effect 3's massive free multiplayer update, Retaliation, goes live today, and while not every one of it secrets has been revealed, you can plunder its contents within.

The pack, which arrived on Xbox Live today, and is winging its way to Origin and the PSN, has been detailed on BioWare's developer blog.

The pack includes four new unlockable class kits, two of which are detailed below. The remaining two - "top-secret reinforcements from far-off parts of the galaxy" - are being kept kind of quiet, but Kotaku has some videos of them in action if you want to spoil it and coincidentally spend all day grinning.

• The Turian Ghost is a new Infiltrator type with a custom Tactical cloak that that boosts Assault Rifle damage. Ghosts have extra damage potential and better survivability in tight situations—a new Stim Pack grants a short damage immunity that allows the Ghosts to survive situations no one else can.Ghosts also utilize Overload for crowd-control and anti-shield ability.
• The aggressive Turian Havoc kit uses the propulsion pack to slam a Soldier into enemies at long range, similar to Biotic Charge. This high-damage power obliterates smaller enemies. The Havoc also uses the new Stim Pack ability to provide impressive close-range survivability, and Cryo Blast for great crowd control and debuffs.

Interestingly, the post mentions that "12 more kits will become available in the coming weeks". Gosh.

Three new weapons join the fold at this time:

• Collector Sniper Rifle: This beam-based weapon is capable of sustained fire. Does not require thermal clips.
• Collector SMG: A low-recoil weapon, this SMG has a high rate of fire and is effective against armor. Does not require thermal clips.
• Collector AR: The Collector assault rifle uses advanced accuracy stabilization.

As ever, new kits and weapons are unlocked by purchasing equipment packs with either BioWare Points or credits earned in-match.

There are also a few more details on the Hazard maps. Hazards will be added to two of the existing Firebases each week, and choosing to play on a Hazard-active map will net extra XP. Two examples were given - acid rain on Firebase Ghost, trapping players inside, and the ability to activate Firebase Reactor, hopefully with a couple of Geth Pyros inside amirite.

And finally, the pack adds in a fourth enemy faction, the Collectors, adding the Scion, Captain, and boss-level Praetorian as well as the remote effects of Harbinger.