What is the point of playing non-lethal?

[Aigisu-]

I play mostly non-lethal, and there are lot of gigs (some main missions too) that ask you to be discrete. A fair amount of side gigs give you a huge cash bonus at the end for not killing anyone. There's also a side story mission that I can think off the top of my head where if you make dialogue choices to keep everything non lethal then it impacts 'news' you get later on about certain NPC's (trying to be spoiler-free here).

 

[emcee009]

Whether you kill the NPC or knock them out, it's the exact same result. They lay on the floor and never get back up. Whenever I had a choice in the matter, I always did the non-lethal option when dealing with women, for my own peace of mind. I don't know if that makes me a gentleman or a sexist now days.

 

[Willowhugger]

The game gives you a fair amount of options for playing non-lethal, flashbangs, non-lethal takedowns, you can even get cyberware to make your smartguns non-lethal. But what is the point? It doesn't seem to affect anything in the story outside of maybe one fight and it doesn't seem to affect anyone's opinions about V. Just something I noticed today. It might be cool if there were things that got affected by whether or not V actually gives a damn about human life.

Roleplaying as a non-psychopath?

It also does affect a few quests like Pisces. If you kill Maiko, the reaction from Judy is different than if you just punch her out.

 

[Jan0sh]

Because... let me quote everone's favourite gun, Skippy, "the f... is wrong with you?"

 

[ImmortalXJ]

It matters for one of the big side gigs! The Cyberpsychos but uh... it is a lil' disappointing that there's no point to it otherwise

Maybe eventually tho, eh?

Yeah I was pretty disappointed that you're hassled to keep them alive and yet there's no "hey we think we might have found a cure" or a reward worth the effort.

 

[Ortana]

I think it's cut content, really. Or was just never designed to be fully fleshed out.

Cyberpsychos have to be defeated by non-lethal weapons, supposedly, but you can use normal weapons to take them down and they still survive. I think originally non-lethal weapons were primarily for this purpose and the few side-gigs that require non-lethal approaches.

Funny enough, there's a side gig out in the Badlands where you have to rescue a smuggler from Militech and you're explicitly told to not kill any of Militech's personnel. So, I went in and only used non-lethal stealth takedowns on very few of their soldiers, and yet it still said I failed that side objective, despite me never killing any of them.

I think the whole system is just bugged or not fully implemented, unfortunately.

 

[VirtualMe]

That quest with monks was the first time when the game irritated me so much (not counting crashes of course). I have silently put all psychos to sleep but the monk yelled at me too. It was the moment when something broke inside me and I started killing with cold blood...
No, there was no way to safe that monk without fight. Quest was quite specific to eliminate all hostiles. If you tried to approach the maelstorm guarding a front door, he threatened you with a gun to go away.

That's not true. I did the mission twice (2 play-throughs) non-lethal. First, it was strictly sneak, grab, and knockout. Second time, it was using poison and overheat. The guard in front, you just have to climb the crates to sneak behind him--that's all.

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

If this is the Cyberpsycho mission I assume you're referencing; I pumped several shotgun rounds into his face and killed him but by the end of the mission I, apparently, still spared his life, according to what I told Regina!

There’s something weird going on with this chain of missions, because the psychos seem to sometimes either be scripted to die or survive, or the result is bugged.

System Reset and short circuit allegedly shouldn’t kill enemies, but sometimes they do kill the psychos.

 

[Gorance]

In the end you still kill if you continue Panam story... that tank kills people xD ...

 

[Jaster_Rogue]

Well, makes me feel like batman for one if my normal bullets somehow just leaves them unsconsciously moving in pain on the ground. But i do agree some consequence for killing or better end-mission rewards for not-killing anyone

 

[Garrison72]

It makes zero sense and is obviously a remnant of something that got cut. Its ridiculous you fill someone with lead and for some magical reason they end up alive and writhing on the ground.

 

[Clayr1982]

I found quite a few quests where non-lethal gets more exp/cash/street-cred just like going in stealth/unnoticed on some quests gives you bonus rewards and cash.

I could be wrong but it seems like non-lethal take downs give a huge amount of street cred compared to just shooting people.

Some weapons like the cattle prod can 1-hit KO while being non-lethal.

Another bonus, if you take out an enemy non-lethally, they will award exp, cash and drops. Then you can kill them for more exp and drops.

Also noticed that when you take-down and dump body in one move, they tend to only drop food.

 

[CamilCorbeau]

That's not true. I did the mission twice (2 play-throughs) non-lethal. First, it was strictly sneak, grab, and knockout. Second time, it was using poison and overheat. The guard in front, you just have to climb the crates to sneak behind him--that's all.

So maybe the result is random. I have knocked them all like you did in your first playthrough. Still the monk was yelling at me.

Also noticed that when you take-down and dump body in one move, they tend to only drop food.

I have noticed that too. However, I haven't loaded to see if the enemy had different loot on him.

 

[Realgametester]

I think it is fairly obvious that some type of consequence was intended to be implemented regarding killing or not and is simply cut content.

 

[Aasimar-X]

its a part of how you wanna play...
i like playing as a ghost...
sneaking in, takedown the targget, get him out, put him in the trunk of a car...
its way more rewarding for me
and its kinda harder to do then going in gunsblazing like a lunatic

 

[VirtualMe]

So maybe the result is random. I have knocked them all like you did in your first playthrough. Still the monk was yelling at me.

Given alpha state of this bug infested game, I sincerely believe you.

 

[joseflolz]

I almost certain this system was another causality of a larger karma type system that was cut.

This exactly. I'd bet my left pinky toe on it. Hell, even my right one.

 

[mbrto]

i love how non-lethal weapons & mods are implemented
hopefully they will keep this system for future titles

 

[Aniketos]

If this is the Cyberpsycho mission I assume you're referencing; I pumped several shotgun rounds into his face and killed him but by the end of the mission I, apparently, still spared his life, according to what I told Regina!

Really??! In my first cyberpsycho encounter I killed him. I told Regina I took him down and she was not happy that I killed him. She said something to the effect that she was NOT happy but that they will collect the body and see what they can glean from it. Since then, I have been working hard to incapacitate the cyberpyschos and noticed an immediate difference in Regina's attitude.

 

[Simpson3000]

I am not sure but i think if you leave Hanako Arasakis bodyguard alive, he might assist you later in the fight when you ally with her against her brother.