So, my first playthrough was a low-chaos run where I tried to be careful and sneaky but still got detected and had to escape a few times, or had to kill when attacked. Ended with the happy ending.

Close to finishing my second playthrough which is high chaos kill-em-all style.

I'd like to try for Ghost Shadow and Clean Hands for a third playthrough. Low exploration and side quests, beeline for the objectives, quick and clean. But I'm curious about skillsets. Tempted to try for Mostly Flesh and Steel in this same run, but I dunno if you can go undetected without Improved Blink and Agility to buff your mobility.

If I decide not to go for Clean Hands, is Shadow Kill good for Ghost and Shadow? If there is no trace of a body to be discovered, it should be a low chaos result right? Or does killing create chaos even if bodies aren't discovered?

Also, Ghost and Shadow don't count the first mission to escape from Coldridge Prison right? Because without Blink I'm not sure how to escape it undetected.

As far as I know, there is only one part of the game where you need to use blink, you shoudn't require anything else, although it certainly won't be easy. Chaos will increase if you kill someone regardless of where you put the body, although you can still get the low chaos ending if you kill less than 20% of enemies.

Coldridge doesn't count until you escape, but I'd advise you to still aim for a sneaky run through the prison.

Edit: repeated myself there.