Ive now done the first mission three times trying non-lethal. The escape prison part to meet Samuel.

All three times I double checked bodies to make sure they were not dead after KO.
All three times I left the bodies out of general view.

Yet all three times I get "People killed: 2"

Coincidence that it is always two people that dies?

Im wondering what factors that may have done it. 2 guards get eaten by rats. But this cant be it? You are above them and the event seem scripted. Theres no way to save them. Is it mandatory to hide bodies inside containers or on high ground? The bomb. Will the bomb used to escape kill guards on the other side? The last sewer guards I place on top of the pipes. Is this a non-safe location? I almost always try to shoot some of the fish to take the hidden chest in the water before talking to samuel. To make sure I dont die. But Im not sure if the pistol even works when shooting fish. Regardless, they even said rats, fish and those plant-spitters dont count as kills.

I get Ghost bonus but 2 people always die. Despite being extremely careful each time to KO everyone and hide them safely.

Playing stealth/non-lethal is very rewarding and fun imo. Unless ofcourse you do it over and over taking all measures into account with people still dying leaving no clue as to what you do wrong.

I read somewhere that leaving unconscious take-downs where Rats can find them does count as a kill. Or dropping the unconscious mob from a very high height, or leaving them in water.

Edit: Oh - wait, you are talking about the scripted thing, which yeah, if that is what is counting that seems unfair, since it is obviously done to show the player the rat swarm effect.

Yeah the rat thing complicates everything. I feel you may need to always hide bodies on high ground with no pathing.

What Im wondering is if rats can eat people at the end of the level due to "Being vulnerable to it" as an automatic effect - even if there are no rats in that area when you go there yourself.

I didn't have a problem with this one at all, but I don't leave a lot of unconscious bodies. Maybe leaving them in places where there's rats or throwing them in water is not the way to go. If you can try to avoid them.

From what I remember, I knocked out everyone I saw, and got kills 0. I didn't try to hide bodies carefully if there wasn't anyone who could discover them. It could be down to the rats...
It'd really be nice, as mentioned in other threads, to have a way of seeing such "stats" during a mission.

Thinking about it again - I left guards on top of the pipes straight over water near the end. Could it be that sleeping guards can fall even if they are currently still?

Its as if the guards are all sleepwalking to their deaths -.-

Earlier on, during tutorial.... did you kill the 2 assassins that attacked the empress? They count as kills if you did, since I believe
that the tutorial is part of the first level.

2 guards attacked by rats don't count as kills; that's a scripted sequence.

My stats for the mission (to show that didn't count): http://imageshack.us/a/img803/3889/dishonored2012100921165.jpg

Hmm... That first "special action" I didn't do... Means I have more to discover in another playthrough on that mission

Killing the assassins doesn't count.

What's/where's the Hermit's Room? o_O

Yes it does.... I consulted the guide about that, it seems to think that it counts

Hermit's room is close to the end, where the 3 guards are. It's boarded up.

Ah.

That's odd... I killed the assassins at the beginning (well, they disappeared into ash...) and I still got the Clean Hands achievement :\

Well, I could well be wrong.... just saying that the guide lists that as a lethal action.

Thanks alot Sylthia! I thought that "Ofcourse they dont count" as I thought you HAD to kill them to progress the story.

The assassins make it hard though. They also appear at the art dealers house. They seem to be invisible, spawning on top of you. Will be hard to get "Never seen" with them. Anyway thanks for solving my problem. Cant believe I didnt think of it.

Those assassins (during the Gold Cat, right?) you can knock them out beforehand, if you carefully explore the rooftops. There are 3 total. Two were in ransacked apartments across from each other, and the third was on a distant rooftop nearby (above where Griff the pedder stands)

The assassins in the beginning, I blocked their attacks and they disappeared after a short while.