What are the criteria to gain the stealth bonus experience at the end of missions?

Question

What are the rewards you can receive at the end of missions for a stealth approach and how does it compare versus killing every enemy you come across in terms of experience and rewards.

Can I do take downs on enemies I come across and still receive the Ghost bonus? Since technically no one has seen me.

Also, do turrets count as being detected by a hostile?

Answer

This post is a wiki post. Please feel free to edit it, but with first-hand information only.

First-hand testing has established that the Ghost rating is still achievable with:

• A camera becoming "suspicious".
• A guard getting "alarmed" by seeing an indirect effect, like a door opening.
• Killing or knocking-out enemies with a takedown from behind.
• Killing someone with a headshot, as long as they didn't have a chance to see you.
• Knocking out an enemy with a tranquilizer dart to the head. (You'll see the Marksman reward.)

However, you will not get the rating if:

• Anything causes your minimap to turn red. This includes enemies finding bodies, and enemies/turrets opening fire.

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Note that the Smooth Operator reward is an easier version of Ghost. (If you get "Ghost" you will always get "Smooth Operator" as well.) Smooth Operator is used for the Foxiest of the Hounds achievement. It deals almost only with alarm panels and security-system alarms, rather than "alarmed" guards.

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