Fearsome Stare

Currently debating with myself over whether it'd be better to slot FS for -tohit or Fear duration. My recharge is currently high enough to where how I have it currently slotted (Glimpse x5) I can stack it. On the other hand, my attack chain of Nightfall/Tenebrous Tentacles has a tendency to allow them to attack through fear anyway, thus really only making it good for inital lockdowns (which don't require much duration anyway). Anyone have their own preference and can weigh in on this?

Fearsome Stare? -ToHit. Personally I slot the tentacles either for damage or Enfeebleds for S/L/Melee defense, but that's just me. And I think if they have Negative Energy Resistance then they'll resist a portion of the debuff... but I honestly don't remember how that works for sure.

Edit: And if you have Power Boost or Power Build Up your Fearsome Stare becomes even more amazing.

Slot for fear. If you need -ToHit, you got Darkest Night, which also lowers their damage output for when the fear breaks. Both powers have a base -18,75% to hit, so slot Darkest for -ToHit and you'll floor them just as effectively. Better by far to keep them feared with Stare. I put 4 Dark Watcher's Despair in Darkest Night, 5 Glimpse in Stare. Good hting is, when they are feared, Darkest won't break the effect, so you can debuff them BEFORE you break teh fear with attacks.

I tend to slot for -ToHit.

I use Darkest Night as well.

I like Fearsome Stare for the -ToHit when I'm on a team because I don't need to worry about losing my anchor or having it detoggle.

I have a different approach, maybe inferior, but it's what I usually do especially on /dark masterminds. As my /dark levels up I heavily slot it for -tohit. Darkest Night and the blasts early on do not have all the slots to effectively debuff -tohit. As the build matures, and I get slotting more heavily in set and additional slots in other /dark powers, I flip my slotting to 5 pieces of Glimpse of the Abyss. I trade the -tohit for increased recharge and the accuracy set bonus to help the accuracy beyond the enhancement diversification limit.

Also, I am usually at least level 38 and have Dark Servant's extra -tohit to bolster the debuffing. Chill of the Night makes Dark Servant a tohit debuffing beast.

As the OP mentioned, if you're using Nightfall, then all the feared foes are going to retaliate. It's better if they miss.

If you're going to focus on single target attacks, then perma-Fear would be more useful.

I vote for -to hit also even though I slotted both. As you get closer to 50 all your teams will begin killing way faster than the fear duration anyway. I slotted mine with two HamiO Endoplasm exposure and 4 Cloud Senses. Seemed to be the best way to get both effects some good slotting. -27 tohit for 20 seconds and the fear lasts for 37 seconds.

The only reason to keep the fear effect long is for solo mop up duty on Lts and the like. Or for stealthing past a group if you don't have invis.

I remember my dad giving me a fearsome stare once or twice when I was younger.

-To Hit. Fearsome Stare will do something for you, that Darkest Night can't - it keeps enemies debuffed even when you're mezzed. -To Hit lowers the chance that you get hit with yet another mez. In theory Fear could provide a similar protection, but since you're using Tenebrous Tentacles, it won't.

Cheers,
Silver