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in: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gameplay

Ghost (bonus)

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"Ghost" redirects here. For Deus Ex: Human Revolution achievement, see Ghost (achievement).

Ghost is a stealth-related XP bonus in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its DLC. It is awarded along with Getting Things Done bonus for completing some of the main mission objectives, if the player met a certain set of criteria. This page is dedicated to revealing all these restrictions (including the ones that have no impact on this rating).

There are 3 general rules for qualifying for Ghost rating:

  1. Do not be seen by human enemies or bots. This does not include being seen briefly (without radar going red) when enemies simply become alarmed. Radar going Normal→Hostile or Alarmed→Hostile is usually a good indicator that Ghost bonus was ruined — but not always.
  2. Do not physically touch enemies (except when performing a takedown) and do not move objects in such a way that enemies may spot you (i.e. do not hold objects in your hands where enemies can see them, even when using the invisibility cloak).
  3. Do not let human enemies and bots see the bodies of their allies, or other bots exploding.

Ghost is worth 500 XP. Receiving a Ghost bonus for a first time will earn the player the Ghost achievement. Smooth Operator is another stealth-related XP bonus in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (with its own set of rules).

AI reactions[]

This section is dedicated to revealing the enemies' reactions to different player's actions and their effect on Ghost rating.

Notation[]

  • Enemy — A human enemy or a bot (security bot and boxguard). Bots have the same AI as humans, so most of the rules apply to them too. Take note that bots reprogrammed to friendly status with Robot Domination aug treat the bodies of their former allies the same way as if they were hostile to the player, meaning that if bot sees a body it will ruin Ghost rating regardless of bot's status. So if, for example, a reprogrammed bot kills someone it will cancel your Ghost rating, since it will see the body of the person it killed. Friendly bots and turrets can be destroyed by the player, even from within the bot's field of view, without affecting Ghost. Turrets have very simple AI and do not affect any stealth ratings in any way, so they are not included in this definition and examined separately.
  • Enemy states (as they appear on a radar) and the states they transition into:
    • Normal (gray)
    • Suspicious (yellow) [→Normal]: applies only to cameras and turrets (when they see the player briefly).
    • Alarmed (orange) [Lasts until enemy investigates the disturbance → Normal]: caused by small, innocuous disturbances. Even if several enemies witness the disturbance only one of them will stay alarmed and check it.
    • High Alert (orange) [Lasts 80 seconds → Normal]: caused by more aggressive players' actions. The vision range of enemies in this state increases to 50 meters (from the normal 19 meters). Enemies become much more cautious: they usually run to check the disturbances when alarmed by player's actions, and try to cover each other if two or more enemies hear the noise made by the player. Enemies can also alert others while in this state.
    • Permanent Alert (orange): appears only in a few scripted situations (Alice Garden Pods, TYM Penthouse, Picus, Rifleman Bank Station). It is, basically, a permanent High Alert state.
    • Hostile (red) [Lasts 40 seconds → High Alert → Normal]: lasts until the time runs out or until an enemy gets disturbed again.
  • FOV — field of view (vision cone).
  • Investigate — a standard action type of action: enemy goes to a place of a disturbance, performs a 360 degrees look around, returns to a relaxed state and goes back to his original position.
  • x in "Ghost" column — shows that corresponding action cancels the Ghost bonus.

Player-initiated actions[]

Action Conditions Enemy State Enemy Reaction Ghost
Being seen by an enemy <0,3–1 seconds, proportional to distance from an enemy Alarmed Investigate
Being seen by an enemy >1 second Hostile Attack x
Bumping into an enemy uncloaked/cloaked Hostile Attack x
Moving an object with Use button inside enemy's FOV + behind the object Hostile Attack x
Nudging an object (inside enemy's FOV) uncloaked/cloaked + behind the object Normal No reaction
Nudging an object (inside enemy's FOV) cloaked + in position where enemy could possibly see the player without the cloak Hostile Attack x
Producing a noise jump, run, hit something with physical object, hit something with a weapon's projectile Alarmed Investigate
Opening a door Door is inside enemy's FOV and/or audible range Alarmed Investigate
Hitting something with a physical object inside enemy's FOV Alarmed Investigate a place object was thrown from
Breaking a window High Alert Investigate
Breaking a fragile wall inside/outside enemy's FOV High Alert Investigate
Shooting a gun (non-silenced/silenced, inside enemy's FOV) blind fire from cover, uncloaked Hostile Attack x
Shooting a gun (non-silenced/silenced, inside enemy's FOV) cloaked Hostile Attack/Investigate
Performing an Icarus stun Hostile Gets stunned for 9 seconds

Enemy-initiated actions[]

Event Conditions Enemy State Enemy Reaction Ghost
Hearing a gunshot non-silenced [<50 m, depending on weapon], silenced [<1 m] High Alert Investigate
Hearing a turret's gunfire Hostile Investigates player's last known location (as seen by a turret)
Receiving damage regardless of damage source Hostile Attack damage source (including non-friendly turret/bot)
Seeing a body dead High Alert Trigger an alarm x
Seeing a body unconscious High Alert Trigger an alarm, Wake up an unconscious ally x
Hearing a death scream High Alert Trigger an alarm, Investigate
Seeing a bot/turret explode High Alert Trigger an alarm x
Seeing a thrown mine/grenade/UR-DED <4 m distance High Alert
Hearing an explosion (grenade, mine, UR-DED, barrel, gas canister) High Alert Trigger an alarm, Investigate
Seeing an explosion (grenade, mine, UR-DED, barrel, gas canister) High Alert Trigger an alarm, Investigate
Getting caught in a concussion grenade explosion Hostile Gets stunned (9 seconds)
Getting caught in a gas grenade explosion Hostile Gets knocked out (after 3–5 seconds)
Seeing an unconscious comrade Alarmed Comes up to wake up the comrade x

Turret's reactions[]

Event Conditions Enemy State Enemy Reaction Ghost
Seeing the player [<1 second] Suspicious → Hostile [after it loses the sight of the player] → Normal
Seeing the player [>1 second] Hostile Open fire

Misconceptions[]

There are some misconceptions regarding certain actions supposedly canceling Ghost, which turn out to be a completely distinct issue or not an issue at all.

For example:

  • Enemy turning hostile: seeing hostile appear on radar is not 100% guarantee that you've lost Ghost. There are a lot of cases where this does not apply, like when an enemy is stunned by a grenade or Icarus stun, or gassed, or even hurt by the player. Likewise, in case of enemies seeing bodies no one turns hostile and yet that still cancels Ghost.
  • Shooting an enemy without killing: what happens when you shoot an enemy is that
    1. he turns hostile (no effect on Ghost),
    2. he quickly turns in the direction the damage came from,
    3. he sees the player — it is the third action that cancels Ghost here.
    • Quickly hiding after shooting will do the trick (but may lead to enemies triggering an alarm as a reaction to the gunfire, if there are alarm panels nearby). Also, being cloaked and shooting at enemy while standing in front of him is perfectly fine — you may even see the last known position indicator appear and enemies may open fire on your last known position — and all this still won't cancel the Ghost rating by itself.
  • Reprogrammed turret killing enemies: it is a combination of enemies hearing turret's gunfire, coming to investigate it and seeing the bodies of killed allies that ruins Ghost in this case. As long as turret is used to kill the last standing enemy, or a lone boxguard, for example, Ghost will be fine.

List of objectives in Deus Ex: Human Revolution that award Ghost bonus[]

There are 29 Ghost bonuses available in the Deus Ex: Human Revolution (30 with additional mission from Explosive Mission Pack DLC and 36 in the Director's Cut).

As the case with Smooth Operator bonus there are some objectives in the game that have two mutually exclusive ways of resolving them, meaning sometimes it's possible to earn either Silver Tongue bonus or Ghost bonus, but not both. To see which way is more profitable XP-wise consult the Experience by area page.

Sarif Manufacturing Plant[]

Detroit Police Station[]

Derelict Row[]

  • M7 - Stopping the Transmission
    • 5) Locate and shut down antenna in Derelict Row - if you do this before you connect the neural hub to your computer, the mission completes the next instant you get it, and you get the Ghost bonus even if you went to Derelict Row guns blazing.

Highland Park[]

Hengsha Court Gardens[]

The Hive[]

  • M1 - Hunting the Hacker
    • 9) Find and speak with Tong Si Hung. Note that as in the Police Station, Ghost and Silver Tongue bonuses here are mutually exclusive.

Alice Garden Pods[]

Tai Yong Medical[]

  • M1 - Searching for Proof
    • 11) Enter TYM's tower by passing through the Pangu
    • 12) Find and view Van Bruggen's recording
  • M2 - Entering the Dragon's Lair
    • 13) Confront Zhao in the Penthouse
    • 14) Escape and get to the hangar
    • 15) Open the hangar bay doors

Picus[]

  • M1 - Confronting Eliza Cassan
    • 16) Escape the ambush by reaching the lower floor
    • 17) Get to the funicular
    • 18) Summon the funicular
    • 19) Get inside room 802-11

Detroit - second visit[]

  • M2 - Finding Isaias Sandoval
    • 20) Obtain Sandoval's location from Taggart. There are two ways to handle this objective: either convince Taggart or hack his computer. And though the Smooth Operator bonus can be earned for either of them, the Ghost bonus will be given only for hacking.
    • 21) Find and confront Sandoval

Hengsha - second visit[]

Hei Zhin Zhu (Missing Link DLC or Director's Cut)[]

Rifleman Bank Station (Missing Link DLC or Director's Cut)[]

Omega Ranch[]

  • M1 - Rescuing Megan and Her Team
    • 32) Search for Signs of Megan's Team
    • 33) Disable the Signal Jammer
    • 34) Upload a virus to the security computer and enter the restricted area

Panchaea[]

Bugs[]

There is a bug present in both console versions and the recent PC build (v1.4.651.0) of the original game, including The Missing Link (1.0.62.9), where (among other things) some Ghost and Smooth Operator bonuses may not be awarded to certain players when they complete an objective stealthily (see this video for an illustration). The details about causes and occurrences are not clear, but it seems that it has something to do with save game files of former playthroughs. If you're not getting a bonus you think you should get, you're most probably affected by the bug. It is strongly recommended to remove all save game information before starting a new playthrough. For PC users, the files are located at .../Steam/userdata/*UID*/28050/ for the original game, at .../Steam/userdata/*UID*/201280/ for The Missing Link and at .../Steam/userdata/*UID*/238010/ for Director's cut. Steam Cloud has to be disabled, otherwise it will restore all files from the cloud. For affected Console users, creating a new profile for each playthrough seems to be the way to go.


For the PC version of Deus Ex MD, a Steam user te47 has discovered that loading saves and dragging bodies disables the Ghost XP bonus.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/337000/discussions/1/133257959064428569/?ctp=4

So always hide bodies before saving and never touch bodies after loading to workaround this bug.

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