Lord Pendragon said:First, the nit-pick: Shout is 4th-level, but Cone of Cold is 5th-level. So one big reason it's better, energy-substitution or no energy-substitution, is because it's a level higher than its competition.
Lord Pendragon said:Btw, there are sounds that cannot be heard. My layman's brain is telling me, in fact, that most sounds that cause severe damage are outside of the range of human hearing. While this may or may not be true, I wouldn't say the Cone of Cacaphony must necessarily alert the entire dungeon to the party's presence...