Here’s an example of recent image with difficult dynamic range (shooting into a sunset with dark foreground) which I’ve largely corrected using almost exclusively DxO’s Selective Tone Sliders. First, here’s the settings (there’s no noise reduction or horizon - these are the only corrections made).
Notice the way I used multiple sliders, subtly correcting one another. The overlap is very helpful in getting a subtle tonal result. There’s no gradient masks or local adjustments. Here’s the result of that correction:
Based on this image, corrected almost entirely with the Selective Tone Sliders, it’s clear they work pretty well even if they don’t work exactly the way you are used to.