If you can stop someone from shooting at us, even if momentarily, it's a HUGE boon and can really tilt the odds in our favor. A character that can do that and keep himself safe while doing it is definitely "combat competent". The bit about prisoners is good. My characters makes big holes into people from a distance. That's about his only way of fighting. There can be times where you *have* to bring someone down but you *must not* kill said person - and in those instances it's a god sent. Ie, your proposed combat style adds flexibility to the party.

I'll note that because surprise attacks are so *vicious* in Hero, that anyone with good stealth and just a wee bit of combat skills can be very potent - that's what makes hunter-type character like Nev, Robert, Mathieu or Jacob extremely dangerous. Because stealth is usually = high dex, you'd only need weapon familiarity and one or 2 OCV skill ranks and you're "good to go".

I like the comment on the code being personal, because otherwise it could become a very big irritant very quickly in the party.