Without_Pause

Yep.

/temp works well regardless, but Water/temp is one of the few builds I want to play after hitting 50. It is certainly in the Top 3.

My golden rule tends to be go for something with a def based armor and go from there. This way you can stack it with other def based powers and IOs. Powers which can give you defense to range also help.

See also:

Are we to believe TW and WM had the same times in the same order or is that a copy/paste?

For me personally, it is one AoE with a small cone which roots you for a decent amount of time. Even if the damage scaling is correct, it isn't an AoE I enjoy using.

My one hope is at some point the code gets the needed overhaul it deserves. This is the only game I have played where it generates the graphic issues which it does. I can run the latest game I want to and experience zero issues. CoH can be a slideshow.

This was pretty much my only gripe with the OP. If a build doesn't work for you, dumping influ into it likely won't either. Maybe the build just simply isn't right for you. Roll another and try it out. From live and HC I have rolled 70+ characters. I have 1 level 50 on HC although I will have another one this week. I currently have 3-4 builds I want to invest in once they hit 50. Anything else so far has been merely getting it to 50 and calling it good.

SJ is in the running for my favorite melee set. I can't say I have a favorite armor just yet but went /ea on my SJ. I have been debating Ice for melee and armor but not settled on anything. Closest would likely be Kat/ice or Dark/ice scrapper. I have thought about Ice/sd, so that might be an option for a stalker once I get the main three guys who I know I want to play after hitting 50 to 50, and I'm willing to just playing around with builds and seeing what else works really well. I pause on /ice for stalkers as it gives up the damage aura. On a Dark/ice scrapper, it would help fill in Dark's lack of AoE. I feel like need to try BS and Elec/sd just to fully see what the hype is about.

Also easier to do with being in that level range. Level 50 would be different, but you also have other options for counter it as well. Manouvers is one power everybody should try to make room for. Eight players even without additional slotting makes for easy teaming.

Played /elec and /sonic to 50. Since /elec isn't an option, /sonic is very good and would likely be the one Kin I would roll these days. /rad and /dark would be the others worthy of note. Bah, how the hell did a forget water? LOVE the set, although nothing super specific which helps out Kin. The AoE KD is nice though. The regen/attack is less useful. The set is just awesome, but just not something I would mentally pair together with Kin. /ice and /fire are simply better on a corr.

Corr would be an easy pick for me. I even stumbled upon the idea after thinking how good it could be. Unfortunately Fire is simply better on a corr.

I ran a Kin as my main on live. Run teams even if they are radio missions. Since you consider yourself still a newbie, learn how to build teams. Not everything needs to be TF or +4 content. Part of the reason your teammates are blowing through content is due to the fact you should be putting them at damage cap and giving them +recharge and +end. I often felt like I was getting a free ride on teams since we could blow though content at such a pace. If you are doing heavy amount of TFs, then that's where heavier Incarnate teams are running. Build teams and run at +2. Say all levels welcome. This opens up as an example people being in their 30s joining. Kins benefit from having melee/tanks and controllers/doms on a team. Ice can survive from a distance so try to do that and going in closer range as needed as mezz is a high issue late game as you have noticed. Make sure to have purples and break frees on hand as you will likely need them. Learn what mobs do what. Don't sweat death so much. Debt is merely a badge. You are new. It is okay to mess up and feel underpowered compared to other people. There are times where some of my builds or just me in general feel underpowered and I've played for roughly 8 years. FYI, back on live I leveled a En/en blaster to 41 without a death and no Med pool. No 2x XP back then either. Run the kind of teams you want and learn.

A tank who can control melee and mobs in general.

Playing with friends doesn't level multiple characters for me at the same time. Some people prefer this method as it can be done well as an added challenge. You don't do it nor understand it and that's fine, but please go pee in your own pool. FYI, due to an issue which started after that last patch, I can be forced to reboot when playing the game. This has made being on teams difficult. If I dual-box across two PCs, I can level characters at my own pace and not having to worry about getting dropped from teams at a decent rate, so that's what I'm doing this weekend.

War Mace/wp has to be as easy as any.

FYI:

I think anything with a damage aura should generate a certain amount of hate. I still tend to go brute on those though. I think Ice is one of the best as it has Chilling Embrace. I have thought about making a Dark/ice scrapper more than once. Plenty of hate and more AoE which helps Dark. /regen should be maybe the weakest.

I had someone ask if I wanted to team on a fairly high level team as a melee character(brute maybe) and then I said I had just hit 22 so I had nothing slotted and would prefer switching to something which did have things slotted. They said they preferred what I had because they wanted something which couldn't pull agro from the tank. Not the first time I had comments about agro and tanks on teams, but that felt like the most odd. Almost felt like grabbing my Spines/bio brute. 😛

I wouldn't directly blame AE for that. With 2x XP people can hit 50 in less time which means they have less time with their builds. I finally got a build to 50 and still feel like I can spend more time with it. On live, many builds felt like once I hit 50 I was done with them.

Board gaming. I have run a game group for over 7 years. At my peak I have been able to play 88-125 different games per year. Not a 100% correlation, but yeah, it was very much something I moved unto once CoH died.

I played Earth and /dark to 50. The combo would be a beast.

32-Bit and nothing else running and still happened. I wasn't even on long. It was due to zoning from my base, so that might be a first or a rare instance. Again, it ran for months without issue until the last patch. My work laptop did get a RAM upgrade, so I'll try on it.

Vets of the game aren't wasting time on SOs, or at least they shouldn't be.

Good luck doing damage.