The Auraxis Firearms - 18 Stalker is a fully-automatic rifle, designed to fulfill a role not unlike an assault rifle. The Stalker has a relatively small magazine and moderate muzzle velocity plus relatively low damage-per-second, combined with poor hip accuracy. However, it has very controllable recoil, and extremely generous damage fall-off.
The Stalker is most easily compared to a weapon class not available to the Infiltrator; assault rifles. More specifically, the Stalker is most comparable to the NS-11A, which shares the same damage-per-second but is superior in most other regards besides recoil.
The AF-18 Stalker, Artemis VX26, and SOAS-20 are statistically nigh-identical weapons, with the only difference found in the Vanu option's muzzle velocity, which is lowered in exchange for the faction's 'no bullet drop' trait.
A compensator redirects gases upward, reducing vertical recoil by 30%, and increasing hipfire cone of fire by 15%. The added sound pressure causes the player to show on the minimap 35m farther away.
The weapon's muzzle flash and noise generation is reduced, and the player no longer appears on the minimap when firing. In exchange, the weapon's damage falls off 20 meters sooner and bullet velocity is reduced by 15%.
The rail mounted Darklight Flashlight can illuminate hostile cloaked infiltrators and dark areas but the light can give away your position. The light can be turned on and off with Toggle Attachment hotkey.
Underbarrel smoke grenade launcher attachment; increases the equip time of the attached weapon by 0.25 seconds. Pressing Gear Slot 1 hotkey will toggle the attachment.
High Velocity Ammunition increases the weapon's projectile velocity by 10% and minimum damage range by 20 meters, but reduces the weapon's maximum damage range by 2 meters.
It is possible to earn both Ribbons and Medals while using the AF-18 Stalker. Each ribbon is a standard reward for achieving a set amount of kills with the rifle. Medals are awarded upon reaching kill milestones with the weapon.