Dishonored Low chaos and Clean Hands: kills, detection and body safety
Understand why a quiet takedown can still spoil a no-kill run.
Edition covered
Original 2012 Corvo campaign with original PC publisher pictures. The Knife of Dunwall, The Brigmore Witches, Dunwall City Trials and Dishonored 2 have different content and are excluded.
Low chaos is not identical to zero kills
Chaos responds to actions across the campaign and affects the world and ending. A no-kill playthrough is a stricter goal than merely keeping chaos low; use the end-mission statistics to check both.
| Goal | What matters | Do not assume |
|---|---|---|
| Low chaos | Overall actions and resulting chaos | Every kill automatically forces high chaos |
| Clean Hands | Avoiding kills across the campaign | A choke guarantees the body survives afterward |
| Never detected | Avoiding confirmed detection | An unseen kill is nonlethal |
| No kills result | The mission’s recorded deaths | A quiet-looking route necessarily passes |
Detection and killing are separate
Being spotted does not automatically create a kill, and an unseen lethal attack is still lethal. For a combined stealth and nonlethal run, verify the no-kills and never-detected results independently.
| Hazard | Why it matters | Safer action |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Unconscious people can drown | Place on dry ground |
| High ledge | A fall can be fatal | Use a stable low surface |
| Rat swarm | Can consume a helpless body | Move the body away from rats |
| Rewired security | Kills are still attributable | Avoid lethal rewiring on a no-kill route |
| Explosive object | Can kill during later combat | Keep bodies away from the fight |
Unconscious bodies can die later
A choke or sleep dart is only safely nonlethal if the body remains safe. Do not leave someone in water, beside a dangerous drop, on a lethal device or where rats can consume them.
Keep a save before uncertain actions
Save before a target solution or risky body move. Check the mission results before continuing a clean run, so a problem can be corrected from the relevant earlier save.
Save before a target solution or risky body move.
References
| Reference | Website |
|---|---|
| Dishonored publisher listing | store.steampowered.com |
| Official Dishonored PC manual | store.steampowered.com |
| Bethesda explanation of chaos | help.bethesda.net |
| Authorized strategy guide sample | ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com |