I'm just not getting the Samurai hype, what am I missing?

[KrenianKandos]

Simply put, each kenki you have has a specific potency to it. Five kenki is 60 potency. Multiply that times 4, and that means to plus on Kaiten, you need to gain at least 240 potency worth of damage. Both Gekko +Kasha, when Kaiten'd, only do 200 extra potency. Shinten, while 300 potency for 25 kenki, is still cashing in each kenki for, at worst, a break even effect. This is also why proccing Seigan via 3rd Eye is typically a DPS gain, because you're trading 180 potency worth of Kenki for a 200 pot attack.

Kaiten is only a gain if you can use it for a GCD that gains more than 240 potency, or to put it another way, it only does more damage when used with Iaijutsu; Higan, Midare, and Tekka.

Thanks for the breakdown; I didn't consider Kenki having potency. Interesting theory to it for sure. Perhaps I'll forego using Kaiten so much with my endskill and just oGCD it.