D3 Publisher has released new information and screenshots of Earth Defense Force 5, detailing the third-person shooter’s “Fencer” class, “Grim Reaper” ally NPCs, flying disc-class “Immigrant Ship” enemy, and a bit more story background.

Get the information below.

■ Soldier: Fencer

Strengthened soldiers equipped with a “Powered Skeleton,” a military use exoskeleton developed by the army. Its brute strength surpasses one ton, and it is able to wield a form of heavy equipment that possess the firepower of a tank and cannot be carried by ordinary foot soldiers. The origin of its name, “Fencer,” comes from the “Blasthole Spear” it wields.

Spear

A machine-style spear that projects at high speed while rotating and can pierce through all objects. With the spear’s instant projection, it is possible to attack quickly before the enemy is able to see that the spear is projecting. Its range is short, but it has overwhelming destructive force and can pierce through several enemies at once. It is also possible to use while setting up a shield.

Hammer

Not only does it generate tremendous vibrations on the objects it hits, this hammer has a built-in super vibration generator that demolishes the surrounding area. However, since the super vibrations spread through objects, it cannot be expected to have an effect on enemies in the sky. The output of the hammer can be adjusted to several levels, and if its output is raised to the maximum level, it will exhibit enough power to cause an explosion on impact.

Shield

A special alloy-make shield that possesses great defensive power and decreases the amount of damage received when set up. It is impossible to use with a weapon that requires the entire body to attack, but for one-handed weapons such as the spear, the shield can be set up while attacking. However, as the amount of damage it receives increases, the shield will become impossible to use until it cools down.

Gatling Gun

A personal use, heavy weapon made portable for the Powered Skeleton. Its weakness is that it takes some time before the first bullets are fired, but after that fires at rapid speed with tremendous destructive force. By holding the “attack button,” the barrel will continue to rotate and bullets fire when the rotation reaches a certain speed. There is a strong recoil when the gun is fired, and since the muzzle jumps up while firing, aim has to be manually adjusted during discharge.

Cannon

A personal use, heavy firearm that launches special shells with excellent penetration force. It is the highest class in the category of personal use weapons, and its weight is at the level of “just barely transportable” when equipped to a Powered Skeleton. Since it is a high caliber weapon, the recoil alone could cause serious injuries to humans. Although the Powered Skeleton absorbs the recoil, time for shock absorption is nevertheless necessary, leaving the unit defenseless during that time. Since the muzzle jumps up when shooting and misaligns the aim, it has to be manually adjusted when the gun is fired again.

■ Elite Troops EDF: Grim Reaper (NPC)

A feared, elite Fencer unit named after death himself.

Their black Powered Skeletons are specialized in the “Blasthole Spear.” The Blasthole Spear, a formidable weapon developed alongside the Powered Skeleton, is a special spear that can pierce through objects. Since its weight and impact do not allow ordinary foot soldiers to wield it, a Powered Skeleton is necessary. This weapon possesses tremendous destructive force, but runs at high risk to use as it is only effective at close range. Other than Grim Reapers, only a few others wield it.

Grim Reapers have polished their tactics using this weapon in their strict training and combat. They move around quickly on the battlefield, close in on their enemy, and pulverize them with the Blasthole Spear. It can be said that the weapon itself is the Grim Reaper’s most reliable ally.

The commanding officer of the Grim Reapers destroyed three Combat Frames in a previous battle. He was called a hero, but lost a lot of comrades in that battle, and has wandered from dangerous battlefield to battlefield looking for a place to die ever since. The Grim Reapers, who always volunteer for difficult missions and use tactics that put their lives at risk, have made them feared by soldiers death himself.

However, Grim Reapers are not just looking for a meaningless death. They are seeking a meaningful death where they can save a great number of their comrades.

■ Earth Defense Force Soldiers Who Started as Civilians: Powered Skeleton Walker

A general-purpose Powered Skeleton used by laborers. The Powered Skeleton has the power to lift objects of one ton or greater, and is mainly used in the fields of cargo transportation and civil engineering and construction. It was originally a power assist device that began from private research, but due to the development of the high power military use exoskeleton, it was widespread to various industries by putting that technology to other use. Specifically in the fields of transportation and civil engineering and construction, those with nearly the same structure of a military use Powered Skeleton are used. However, because it its power is dangerous, a license is necessary to mount it.

One of the protagonists of Earth Defense Force 5, who will later join the Fencer unit, is a laborer with a license to operate a Powered Skeleton. Similar to the protagonist that is a Ranger or a Wing Diver, this incident occurs during work at the Earth Defense Force base underground warehouse. This protagonist will get involved in an incident that shakes the world.

■ Immigrant: Immigrant Ship

The biggest, flying saucer-style space ship that flew to Earth. Currently, 12 Immigrant Ships have been confirmed. It would seem that these discs are allocated around the planet and function as a base for their Earth invasion army. There has not been any success in shooting it down, nor can we even damage it.