Question: In most stealth games, the game rates you as having done the best job if you get in and out without anyone being suspicious, and without killing anyone. *Mark of the Ninja* is no different - there's a score bonus for being undetected, and a score bonus for making it through an entire level without making a kill.

However, there are also large score bonuses for murdering people in particularly brutal fashion. For instance, consider a vent kill:

* 600 points for the kill (a "Prowling Spider")
* 250 points for hiding the body (automatic, I drag him into the vent)

If I avoid him instead, though, I just get +400 at the end of the level, plus if I manage to do the entire level perfectly I might get +3000, but with 20 or more guards per level, this works out to 150 or fewer points per guard.

Stacked on top of this, I could have gotten "Undetected" (+200) by hiding in the room with him previously, and/or "Distracted" (+150) for getting him to look the other way by breaking a light for example. These bonuses can occur either way, though, so they're not useful to this discussion.

That leaves us with 850 points for a kill (or even 650 in the worst case where I don't get "fancy" about it and just stab him through the neck while his back is turned) versus ~550 for leaving him undisturbed.

It seems to me like the best idea is to murder everyone and hide their bodies. Is this the case, or are there other bonuses/points I can get from being especially sneaky and not very stabby?

Answer: 
You get a bonus for finishing the level undetected **even if you use distractions**, so adding Distracted, Undetected, and Terrorized bonuses to the points for getting kills and hiding bodies is silly -- you can get those points regardless of whether or not you kill the guards.

The **special kills** that give you more brutality options and more points all **have to be unlocked.** When first playing the game, sneaking may be the only options a player has.

Once the special skills are unlocked you can indeed get up to 850 points for a single kill. However, **not all guards can be killed using them and not all bodies can be hidden.** The average number of points for each kill is lower than 850, but is likely still higher than the average for sneaking around.

**So yes, it is still more profitable in terms of sheer point numbers to kill everyone you can.**

The developers do include other encouragements for taking the stealth route. There is at least one outfit (I only have three outfits unlocked) which does not allow you to kill. There are also achievements for taking the stealth route.
I stealthed one level for the achievement, and as I recall my bonuses were much less than when I went around murdering people. Repeatedly.