Still better than kill XP, even with its flaws.
Poppycock. If kill XP is problematic, then so by extension is Underrail, because the game itself is extremely combat-heavy and combat encounters are one of the primary sources of Underrail's content (exploration, quite fortunately, is another primary source). The vast majority of skills and feats also pertain exclusively or at least primarily to combat; only a small minority do not. Crafting skills indirectly augment your combat capabilities, that's their main draw, and they may as well be considered combat skills themselves.
I have no doubt it's possible to pull off a "minimal kills run," I'm sure, as a challenge; but in actual practice, a good chunk of the fun in this game comes from using your current build to obliterate enemies differently than you did the last time, and that's what people are discussing 99% of the time.
Keep in mind that exploration is extremely important to me, so much so that I'm still salty about the addition of the automap. I like the ability to get lost and confused, and I love to explore.
This game is way, way more about killing shit than it is about not killing shit. Subterfuge skills merely allow you to steal shit to use in combat, and to start combat with the element of surprise on your side. Therefore, I have no idea why people consider combat XP to be sinful when the game itself is so very clearly a combatfag game.
Perhaps Oddity is one big cope from people who are in denial that it's a combatfag game. I fucking love Underrail, but I'm not in denial about what it actually is.
