i like the upgraded fear totem my self, feels like it should now.
I as well favor the " fear howl " but the brotherhood totem is awesome all the same. They have the same combat powers that you have and will focus on what ever your fighting, not run off and attack what ever they like. It's a great opener from attacking forts as well, call in 2 werewolf spirits, stand back and watch the carnage, eat everything

OP you sound bummed out about having to restart a werewolf toon, may I suggest doing the Ogham exploit when you first start off so that you can pretty much pick up where you left off with your first werewolf. I have done this for a couple bugged save files where I had to restart a toon.