To CoF or...

Howdy folks.

So I've been planning a Kat/DA for some time. I've raised three other /DA toons, and each has had their own charms, but now I'd like to raise the final one up as a Katana user, and I'm finding myself running into a dilemma.

Should I take Cloak of Fear or not?

On all my previous /DAs, the question has been CoF or OG. Depending on the toon, I've gone for both at different times. OG for fast and end-heavy toons that don't stay surrounded long, and CoF for heavy hitters who want the extra -ToHit to augment their defense. Now, though, I'm looking to make a fully IOed out and soft-capped character, and I'm realizing that if I do soft-cap him (and I have) I'm not really using the advantages of CoF. Since I wouldn't want OG (the damage you take when surrounded nullifies all attempts to benefit from regen), I find myself coming down on the side of not taking either.

Do any other experienced /DA players have input here? Right now, CoF is just acting as a placeholder for some set bonuses, but it could be much better used if I were to drop it in favor of something else (not to mention it would greatly help my endurance costs). Can anyone think of any unintended consequences of dropping the power? Might I seriously regret this later, and if so how?

Thanks ahead of time for any input you can give.

PS: I can post the build, but for now I'm just trying to get ideas on this. Picture any generic soft-capped like Claws or Werner if you need a placeholder

If you're softcapped then IMO Cloak of Fear is a waste of a pick and a huge waste of slots. And in my experience you need every slot you can scrounge in order to hit the softcap with a DA.

It sucks down more end than any other toggle in the set and requires at least 4 slots before you even start seeing much benefit from having it. I'd go Oppressive Gloom all the way on a softcapped Kat/DA.

If they fixed Cloak of Fear to either burn less endurance or to be more accurate out of the box it might be worth it, as it stands it's not.

Ironically, in messing around with the build without CoF, it's very difficult to find anything to replace it with. I had originally wanted Hasten in the build, but as I'm out of pool choices, that's not an option. In losing the full set of Cloud Senses, I also lost some difficult-to-replace ranged defense, some good recharge (6.25%), and some max end. All in all, it's a difficult power to give up if only because the Cloud Senses bonuses match the toon's needs so perfectly.

PS: Op Gloom is kinda out of the picture. On my sturdier toons, I don't like undermining what regen I can get them by putting a constant negative regen on them.

I think Cloak of Fear it is skippable on a soft-capped Dark Armor. I went ahead and took it, and slotted a level 53 Endoplasm and a Nightmare accuracy/endurance and called it good. Figured that it would give me enough benefit to be worth a power pick and one extra slot. I don't think it needs a lot of slots to provide some benefit. Even against +4s, I calculated a 70% uptime, and I don't always fight +4s. Yeah, it burns a lot of endurance, but I'm OK in most situations. In extra-long fights, I can turn off either Cloak of Fear (all minions will be dead) or Death Shroud (to keep from killing minions).

I don't think Oppressive Gloom is a viable substitute here, so if you're skipping Cloak of fear, I'd just go without any mez aura. Sure, you save endurance with Oppressive Gloom, but when I briefly glanced at the numbers, it seemed there would be very few situations on a softcapped Dark Armor where it would prevent more damage than it causes. Also, the wandering of the stunned mobs forces me to chase or switch targets, which is both annoying and puts me in danger of dropping my Divine Avalanche double-stack.

Hmmm, rather than just say "when I briefly glanced at the numbers", perhaps I should just redo some of the very basic calculations that I went through.

A stunned minion in range does 6 hit points every 2 seconds, or 3 DPS. Doesn't sound like much. But at the soft cap, only one in twenty attacks will get through. So that's like they're doing 60 DPS. And my weighted resists average about 50%, so now they're doing 120 DPS. And it isn't just ticking away from minions. Half the mobs in a typical fight might be bosses and lieutenants. Damage from trying and failing to stun them is ticking away too. So now we're looking at 240 DPS per minion. The effect of the stun wander occasionally causing my double-stack to drop would be difficult to quantify, but would raise it even further. Let's say that pushes it to 300 DPS per minion. Know any minions pushing out anything close to that? You could easily argue that I've ended up with an exaggeration, and perhaps I have, but to me, the answer is still pretty clear - Oppressive Gloom on a soft-capped Dark Armor is going to do more damage than it prevents in normal situations.

And lest this be interpreted too broadly, let me emphasize how important soft-capped is to this argument. The figures change rapidly and drastically as you move away from the soft cap. So it's a rare Dark Armor where this argument applies. I took Oppressive Gloom on my Spines/Dark. And even on a soft-capped Sword/Dark, if you're regularly fighting Cimerorans, for instance, it might be worth a power pick to have Oppressive Gloom, particularly since it's so easy to get away with one-slotting it. So it's not a bad tool to have in your toolbox, if you have no other power you'd rather have, but you'd very much want to use it situationally.