When playing DeusEx:Human Revolutions, should I try and take someone down always in order to get the most XP from them?
I like maxing out when I play games, and getting as much level ups as I can. I've only been playing a few minutes, but have already noticed that if I get a kill I only get 10 XP, where as a HS will be 20XP.
And when I accepted the first mission, I said that I would stun everybody. After running out of ammo, I ended up just killing everyone. Does that mean that I lost out on bonus XP?
Best Answer
If you kill people from range you are potentially missing out on XP, because:
Neutralize an enemy: 10XP
Hand-to-hand takedown: 20XP
Non-lethal: 20XP
Headshot: 10XP
So a non-lethal hand-to-hand takedown is worth 50XP, where just shooting someone is only worth 10XP (or 20XP if it was a headshot) and a lethal hand-to-hand takedown is 30XP.
However, playing non-lethal is more difficult as enemies can be revived and traq darts are slow to act (so non-lethal at range needs careful planning), and only using hand-to-hand takedowns means you're more likely to be spotted or trip an alarm.
Remember that you can get the Ghost (500XP) and Smooth Operator (250XP) bonuses for completing objectives undetected and without alarms (respectively), and I imagine they're usually worth more than the few XP lost by not taking down everyone hand-to-hand, so do whatever you need to do to avoid being detected whenever possible.
You might find What actions give XP in Deus Ex: Human Revolution? helpful.