[Anyone have an ill/kin build that has durability?]

On 11/9/2019 at 3:32 PM, Extor Prime said:

It's doable, of course. Still, going to be a much tougher life with this combo.

 

Too bad decoys aren't buffable.

Too bad intelligence is not buffable. And REALLY too bad that Spectral Terror can't fear jerks.

[Anyone have an ill/kin build that has durability?]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:31 AM, Extor Prime said:

Unfortunately it is relevant. This character will always suffer performance issues, even on teams. Here is why: the primary and secondary work against each other rather than together. Illusion favors being at range and flying. Kinetics favors being in PBAoE and on the ground.

 

/Kin's main mechanism is "steal from the enemy, give to the team"; and its preferred position in combat is PBAoE range, so in the middle of enemy spawn.

 

Illusion is very light on actual controls. Flash is a PBAoE hold, but the animation makes it bad. Other AoE "control" and main damage dealer is PA. PA cannot prevent the character from being hit by enemy PBAoE attacks, and while its taunt is strong, a character standing next to the decoys using /Kin powers can in fact steal the aggro from the decoys. Not good already; now add to that the fact that decoys cannot be buffed by /Kin's "steal from the enemy, give to the team" and things start looking really bleak.

 

Even a defense-capped controller is fairly sqiushy. You cannot cap both defenses and resistances through set bonuses alone, so even though you will get hit rarely, when you do get hit, it will hurt a lot. Generally it is easier to avoid damage being at range (and flying), but /Kin can't do that and remain effective. So it has to kill everything quicky before it becomes a threat.

 

The reason why Fire/Kin works is because it has several tools for AoE/PBAoE mitigation and damage, and imps are buffed by /Kin. It puts out a lot of damage quickly. Illusion can't do that. Decoys CAN be very damaging, but you have to debuff the enemy resistance for them to really shine. /Kin cannot do that.

 

So, to sum up. We have a relatively squishy character that needs to be in PBAoE range, that has one slow AoE hold for mitigation and actual control. Said character has a solid ST attack chain, but its AoE is produced by pets that are unbuffable (PA) and a permanent pet that is quite squishy in melee range (but needs to be close by in order to receive /Kin buffs). Solo, he will struggle. On teams, he'll be annoying because he'll need extra attention to be kept alive.

 

You can play any combo of primary/secondary, sure. But some just don't work very well. Even the gimpiest character can play at -1/1/0/0, but the weakness will show as soon as a proper challenge comes along. I myself would LOVE to play Ill/Kin, but it's just not a combination that will ever work well enough to carry its own weight.

I know this thread is old but I just can't help myself. This is for anyone, like me, who finds this post late while looking for something else or exactly this. Sounds to me like you just have a skill issue. I have an Ill/Kin troller who solos +4/X8 w/AVs, to include incarnate content, and it is not even my MAIN toon. You just don't understand how to use/slot the primary/secondary sets and/or choose/slot power pools to fill the gaps. I have Perma PA and perma Spectral Terror. Spectral Terror, properly slotted, is amazing crowd control, which my tanks comment on frequently. However, they do complain about the noise.  Deceive, properly slotted, is awesome for alternating with Blind to CC mobs missed by Flash. Now before you cry "but you don't get exp from mobs killed by deceived mobs", if you are not able to kill mobs quickly enough it is not an issue with the power, again, that is an issue with skill. When mobs are Blind, Feared, or better, fighting for you, they are not attacking you, so being in PBAoE range means nothing for the BRIEF moment I have to be there. Since Phantasm does KB, KB to KD is essential to keeping the mobs from being scattered. With SB and ID (Kin), and Spirit Ward and Enflame (Sorcery) on my Phantasm, FS enables him to mow down mobs pretty well while I keep the CCs up and Transfusion going. I have no problem getting my Phantasm in range of FS and Transfusion with my play style. I just move so fast that he is IN the mob before he knows it. I am able to put teams in God Mode with endless END, amazing RECH, and Perma Fulcrum Shift. FS is regularly X2 with my build so we are always >/= Dmg Cap. And I am always able to make Ill/Kin "carry its own weight". I even take up the slack lesser skilled team mates that show up on PUGs sometimes. Just b/c some power set combos may require more thought and skill does not make them inferior to ones that we may start our kids out playing with b/c they are easier to learn and use.