So, does the game award you points for sneaking past dudes and leaving them alive and patrolling or should I play this as I did Batman and just obsessively take out every guard I come across in a non-lethal way to min-max the experience system? I'm rarely spotted so often getting the Ghost bonus for sneaking at the end of missions but I was wondering if there was any reward for being completely silent and non-confrontational.

@Vitor: That's a really good question. Although I'm mostly stealthy, I don't think I've ever left every guard standing in an area. A few here and there, but I usually end up taking out most, if not all of them. If there's not, there should be. That'd be some tricky business.

@cinemandrew: It just seems like taking the effort to actual sneak and leave behind no trace of you ever having been there should be a legitimate tactic. Especially for the sorts of missions you're being sent on.

Admittedly, I'm gaming the exp system as much as I can to maximise what I get out of it (find every vent, get every traveller bonus, take out everyone non-lethally etc.) but I'd also be a little annoyed if I didn't get anything for having taken the time to let dudes be and just sneak on by.

Ghost and Smooth Operator are the only two bonuses I'm aware of. Knock those bastards out for a quick 50 extra XP.

"Ghost": Complete an objective without slipping into "HOSTILE" status.
"Smooth Operator": Complete a full primary mission without slipping into "HOSTILE" status.
 Also you get an achievement called "Foxiest of Hounds"  for completing the game without causing an alert.

so yeah there is a bonus. 

@Vitor: I have to assume it would be difficult to come up with an xp value for each enemy. There's so many times where you can circumvent entire rooms, or even floors sometimes, that it might be a little too much to reward you equally for every enemy you leave alone. If you pass over a room with 10 enemies by crawling through a vent, should you get the same as if you sneaked through the same room? Hmmm...

@Marz: He's asking if there's a bonus for being stealthy AND not knocking anyone unconscious. You can get Ghost and Smooth Operator AND knock out every guy you see for ~50 xp + loot.

@Vitor: If you want to min-max then knock them all silly.

@StarvingGamer said:

@Marz: He's asking if there's a bonus for being stealthy AND not knocking anyone unconscious. You can get Ghost and Smooth Operator AND knock out every guy you see for ~50 xp + loot.

@Vitor: If you want to min-max then knock them all silly.

Yeah, pretty much this.

Also, if I can spotted briefly by an enemy before taking them out (I sometimes like to take one out with the stun gun and then melee his friend standing nearby), even if they don't have the time to react, does it negate those bonuses? Would be somewhat annoying if so because the only other way to play would be to cheese the AI and stun gun/tranq them which is nowhere near as satisfying.

There's no additional XP for not engaging them. Like others have said, tranq/stun/melee them for the extra points, otherwise all you get is "ghost" and "smooth operator".

@Vitor: It should be ok as long as they never reach the HOSTILE status. ALERT should be fine. I'm not 100% sure on this one though.

no there's no extra xp bonus for not touching them.   Other than you guarantee the no kills achievement at the end of the game.

@StarvingGamer said:

@Vitor: It should be ok as long as they never reach the HOSTILE status. ALERT should be fine. I'm not 100% sure on this one though.

Oh that's great. Crossing my fingers for this one.

@Marz said:

no there's no extra xp bonus for not touching them. Other than you guarantee the no kills achievement at the end of the game.

So, say I blew up a wall with a grenade because I didn't have the 'punch through a wall' upgrade. And there was a dude standing on the other side that I didn't know about. What are the chances of him just having been knocked out? Only potential death so far...

@StarvingGamer said:

@Vitor: It should be ok as long as they never reach the HOSTILE status. ALERT should be fine. I'm not 100% sure on this one though.

Oh that's great. Crossing my fingers for this one.

@Marz said:

no there's no extra xp bonus for not touching them. Other than you guarantee the no kills achievement at the end of the game.

So, say I blew up a wall with a grenade because I didn't have the 'punch through a wall' upgrade. And there was a dude standing on the other side that I didn't know about. What are the chances of him just having been knocked out? Only potential death so far...

@Marz: I'm guessing by hacking turrets you mean using them against the enemy, not just turning them off etc.?

I was hoping I'd be rewarded with XP points for non-confrontation in DEX:HR, but it seems like there aren't any.
Can it be possible that Alpha Protocol is still the only game (to my knowledge) that properly reward you for avoiding combat? : /

@Marz: I'm guessing by hacking turrets you mean using them against the enemy, not just turning them off etc.?

So, say I blew up a wall with a grenade because I didn't have the 'punch through a wall' upgrade. And there was a dude standing on the other side that I didn't know about. What are the chances of him just having been knocked out? Only potential death so far...

@Marz said:

"Ghost": Complete an objective without slipping into "HOSTILE" status. "Smooth Operator": Complete a full primary mission without slipping into "HOSTILE" status. Also you get an achievement called "Foxiest of Hounds" for completing the game without causing an alert.so yeah there is a bonus.

I believe it's a bit different:

• Ghost is only given if you are not seen. If enemies get a glimpse at you and go into alarmed state you don't get the Ghost bonus (hence the bigger XP amount of 500)
• Smooth Operator is for not setting of an actual alarm (which are present only in main mission segments)

At least that's what the loading tool tips say and how I have experienced it.

Does it seem weird to anyone that this game only rewards, and therefore encourages, stealth gameplay? I mean, I prefer stealth myself but Deus Ex is about approaching the situation the way you want to. Yet, they only reward stealth. Shouldn't they reward all styles of gamplay or none at all if they want you to play the way you want?

@Liquidus: I mean, theoretically, if you were playing aggressively, you'd get a comparable amount of XP (if slightly less) by killing everyone since you can get a handful of XP per kill.

@Marz: yes alert state

@Liquidus:  To be fair, it seems to me that there are far more stealth-essential upgrades than there are combat-essential upgrades.  If you're going guns blazing you'll probably get plenty of xp to max that style out.