User blog comment:Supermutantslayer450/What exactly contributes to chaos?/@comment-27202257-20121126033239

There was actually a discussion about this in the comments on the Assassins page. According to 8-Bit Jack, the chaos calculation works as such:

"The rule is 20% of the people per level = high chaos. this loads the chaos version of the next level

50% of the full game total loads the VERY high chaos version of Light at the End, which is where samuel hates you and fires the flare."

When you say 'right at the beginning,' do you mean in one level? Or in more than one? Depending on how the math shakes out, that is almost certainly why you have high chaos. (And no, choking people out will not increase your chaos.)

The best way to go about getting low chaos is to not kill anyone at all, or severely restrict who you kill. It's tricky, but it's a sure-fire way to get low chaos, and just feel better about yourself all around. :D