Foxiest of the Hounds

Forget about Smooth Operator. Smooth Operator is glitched and isn't always rewarded.
A few guidelines for you:

• You CAN be seen by the enemy. Heck they can even become hostile and it won't cost you the trophy.
• Alarms can ONLY be triggered by Security Cameras, Alarm Panels and by been booted from a hack attempt. Those are the only ways you might trigger an alarm.
• If you see a guard running then it's likely he's running to trigger an alarm panel.
• You CAN hack Alarm Panels to disable them.
• If a guard sees you the status above your radar changes to "Alarmed" but that doesn't mean you set off an alarm.
• If an alarm is triggered you will hear the alarm sound.
• There are no alarms during side missions.
• Smooth Operator is just a guideline to know for certain that you passed that objective without raising an alarm. Don't rely on Smooth Operator. If you get it, great. If you didn't get it, don't panic. As long as no alarms were triggered then you're fine.

So basically Smooth Operator is "No physical alarms were activated by an enemy", and absolutely nothing else matters?

I'm trying to get this and the No Kills trophy right now, just finished the Police Station mission but I'm pretty sure I haven't had Ghost or Smooth Operator flash up at all so far. Any time I've messed up, I instantly reloaded my last save so I'm guessing I'm safe so far?

It's a pain in the backside but I do kinda like how it forces you to play differently. In the Police Station, there was a room with 4 cops and someone arrested sitting in a seat. I threw a flash-bang (concussive grenade) through one door and ran through the entrance, using take-down on the first, double take-down on two others and then finally finishing off the last guy with a tranq. Felt god-like.

From what I've gathered with Mnmfan's tips above, it sounds as though you'll be fine. I'm pretty sure I did the same thing once or twice, so I hope so at least!

I've almost finished the T.Y.M building mission, had a couple of annoying moments at times and I keep forgetting to save often, which can be a pain in the ass when there hasn't been an auto-save for a while and I need to reload.

Which part was the hardest for you guys whilst trying to get this trophy?

First:
"Smooth Operator" Exp bonus can only be had where alarms actually exists and you are a intruder and that is far from everywhere and it's thus not as glitchy as people seem to think. Not getting it when intruding on an area with alarms and I'd be worried.

Second:
There are only three ways an alarm may go off.

*Security camera going red. No other state of a camera counts.
*Guard pressing an alarm panel. No other action of a guard counts.
*Failing some hack attempts in areas with alarms. If you disconnect before failing you are safe.


This gives a lot of things that don't count.

*Turrets and robots do not set of alarms even if they shoot at you. Note though that their shooting may very well call the attention of nearby guards so they come to investigate.

*No state by your enemies directly triggers an alarm even if they shoot at you. However if enemies go hostile in an area where there is an alarm panel chances are high one of them will use it and sound an alarm. If you hear someone shout "call for back up" you're probably toast unless you bring out that mini-nuke and instantly kill everyone in the room and next.

*All hacks outside areas with alarms are safe to fail.

In areas where the are no alarm panels (which are several) you can do whatever without fear of loosing on this trophy.
Note though that some places have cameras but no alarm panels so here you are safe as long as you stay out of view of the camera.

So you failed getting the Pacifist trophy because of 1 guy? Why didn't you just reload?

quote Scott Cee

I'm trying this right now. No Kills and this chievo in the same run.

That's what I did, though I did it on Easy mode hoping the AI would be dumbed down, which in theory would mean getting spotted less.