Dishonored, at times, can be a frustrating game. There are many different ways to play it, resulting in many different playthroughs. You could do a very high chaos playthrough fight and kill everyone you see. Or you could adopt a stealthier approach, avoiding your enemies and accomplish your objective without them ever knowing you were there. You could mix it up a little by eliminating key targets or everyone who stands in your way by means of knocking them out or other non-lethal options. Possibilities are endless when playing this game. (If, of course, your computer can handle it. But this guide is not about that misfortune.) But if you are doing a fancy playthrough, whether that being clean hands or ghost, one mistake can be your undoing. This guide will teach you how to avoid these mistakes from happening to you.

This next section is really important. I'm sure any experienced Dishonored player already does this, but for anyone who does not make sure to save your game often. This game's autosaving system is horrid. If you do not remember to save the game yourself, you can revert AN ENTIRE MISSION BACK because the game didn't save itself when you ended the mission. Always remember to use quicksave (default key is F5) whenever you advance, even slightly. I highly suggest you bind the quicksave key to something like G to make it easier on your fingers to constantly save. For example, every time you neutralize a guard and successfully hide the body, save your game. I cannot stress this enough because I always forget to do so, and I pay the price. Saving extremely often can be used to your advantage especially on ghost playthroughs because if someone spots you, you can quickly do a quick-load (default key is F9) and start from the last point you did a quicksave. If you do this in conjunction with frequent quicksaves, you can fix any errors you make during your playthrough so you get your desired end mission stats. You can view your stats in-game (ESC -> Stats) and you can view the number of 'kills' in your current mission. Which is better than finishing the entire mission to see that an unknown guard inexplicably died because you decided to throw their body instead of dropping. Make a habit of checking it before you hardsave.

• Person falls into the water and drowns: This can happen under various circumstances. Dishonored is a glitchy game, so it is not unlikely for the A.I. itself to just go plundering off the edge. Remember to place unconscious bodies is safe locations with no water nearby, so they do not drown. Unconscious bodies drowning in water will count you as a kill. People falling to their deaths sometimes does not count you a kill, but other times, they do. Best to eliminate anyone at risk of falling before it happens.
  
  
• Person is lit on fire: This can happen in multiple ways. I if you try to shoot something (such as bloodfly nests) with an incendiary bolt, you risk lighting anyone in the close vicinity also on fire. After someone is on fire, they cannot be saved. This will count you a kill. Remember that dropping unconscious bodies onto or near anything burning (such as civilian campfires) will burn the body and count you as a kill.
  
  
  
• Guard or hostile kills someone while you are choking that person: This is why combat choke is not a good idea if you are trying to do a non-lethal playthrough. A guard will try to slice or shoot you while you are choking one of their comrades. This will kill the person being choked, but you still will get the kill.
  
  
• Someone is killed by rewired Wall of Light, Arc Pylon, or Watchtower: NEVER REWIRE ARC PYLONS, WALLS OF LIGHT, OR WATCHTOWERS WHEN DOING A NON-LETHAL PLAYTHROUGH Even if you think nobody is around to be killed by these things, better safe then sorry. Rewire tools should only be used on alarms.
  
  
• Headless or rewired Clockwork Soldiers kills someome: Never re-wire Clockworks if doing a non-lethal playthrough. If you need to destroy a Clockwork, do it all the way.
  
  
• Unconcious bodies killed by rats or bloodflies: This part drives me insane during non-lethal playthroughs. Always make sure that bodies are placed away from bloodflies. Unlike rats, bloodflies will kill someone regardless of the number in their swarm. A single bloodfly can kill a sleeping person. Any deaths caused by bloodflies or rats are your fault... For some reason...
  
  
• Killing a Nest Keeper: Probably the best thing you can do to a nest keeper is to put them out of their misery. But if you are doing clean hands, you have to knock them unconscious.
  
  
• Careless Body Placement: Be very careful when trying to hide a body. If you throw a body too hard or against a wall, it will kill the unconscious person. This will credit you with a kill. Thowing bodies is always ill advised. Try only to lay your unconscious victem softly and in a safe spot.

• Hostiles (Guards and Witches): The primary thing that you have to avoid. Keep in mind that stealth mode does not make you invisible, neither does shadow walk. Both make you harder to see. You can use shadow walk to walk among guards, but be careful; a guard will still notice a moving shadow. Guards can also hear you. Remember only to sprint when you are sure nobody is around. Guards can hear you behind cover and through ceilings/floorboards. Note that high places are to your advantage, as guards do not look up.
  
  
• Hounds (Wolfhounds and Gravehounds): Both kinds of hound are considered things that detect you. (Not sure if a gravehound that spawns multiple times and detects you both times, does it count as detection twice?) Note that hounds have similar eyesight and hearing to that of guards, but can smell you. Keep this in mind because hounds can find your cover via sent. You can use this to your advantage though because you can lead them into traps using your smell. Rember that even if gravehounds are killed, they can still respawn unless you crush their skulls.
  
  
• Clockwork Soldiers: This one is difficult because they can see you from their backside. This makes you unable to sneak up on them. Clockworks can also hear you. Remember that even if you jump on the Clockwork and remove its head, it will detect you the moment you jump off. Note that if you remove a Clockwork's head, it can still hear you. Clockwork soldiers can have their heads shot off with crossbow bolts then you can drop assassinate them. Also with the Monkey Wrench sword upgrade you gain ability to assassinate Clockworks from the side, finishing them in one animation instead of two. Clockworks have a panel on one of their legs that can be rewired. Rewiring a Clockwork does not count as detection if you are stealthy about it. This is ill-advised because a rewired Clockwork will kill your enemies.
  
  
• Bloodbriars: These witch plants are quickly dealt with. Bloodbriars can not see nor can they hear you well, so they are easier to evade. This does not mean they cannot detect you. If you attack a Bloodbriar in any way, it will count as detection. You can simply slink away from them in stealth mode similar to how you would sneak away from Bloodflies.You kill them using flame attacks such as bolts and flammable bottles on them. This counts as silent insta-kill and won't trigger detection/alarm as long as there's no witches to see bloodbriar burn.
  
  
• Civilians: Remember that in public areas, civiliasns do not care about seeing you and will not count as detection. If you go into a civilian's home or a servant's work area, they will ask you to leave. If you do not leave, they will detect you and alert guards. If you are aggressive, like fighting or assassinating guards, civilians will detect you instantly.

A quick run-down of things that you can kill and let them see you without changing end mission stats.

• Rats
  
• Bloodflies
  
• Fish
  
• Dellilah Replicas (Can detect you, but you can kill them without it effecting your clean hands. Note that You don't have to kill them, because the real Delilah is located right above you when you enter the painting. Blink or Far Reach to the top and kill or knock her unconscious. )
  
• Clockwork Soldiers (Can detect you, but you can kill them without it effecting your clean hands.)
  
• Hounds (Can detect you, but you can kill them without it effecting your clean hands.)
  
• Assassinating Palo when you meet him at the black market. (Can detect you, but you can kill him without it effecting your clean hands.)
  
• Bloodbriars (Can detect you, but you can kill them without it effecting your clean hands.)

I spent a lot of time creating this guide so I hope this will help you in your future endevors.
Did I miss anything? If so, please comment so it can be edited ASAP.

Know the answers to the things I don't? If so, please comment so it can be filled in ASAP.

Did I make a mistake? If so, please comment so it can be fixed ASAP.
Feel free to comment anything related to this guide. Please remember to like and favorate. :)

EDIT: Because of the fact that this is an old guide, and I don't play this game anymore. I'm going to retire this part of the guide. This means I WILL NOT be adding any more. Thank you all SO MUCH for all the suggestions. I am sorry for any inconvenicne.