Illusion/Trick Arrow effective as a solo character? Yes. For farming? No, not really, although it could handle farming missions, but not very fast.
When I built my Ill/TA, I did it because I really wanted to experience the Trick Arrow set; I already had an Ill/Rad and an Ill/Storm at 50. As a result, I made my build so I could take as many of the Trick Arrow powers as possible. Since you already have a Trick Arrow character, you may be wanting to experience Illusion.
I think that Illusion is the best primary for Trick Arrow. TA does a great job at filling a lot of the holes in Illusion, and Illusion has powers that let TA use its tricks. The playstyle is pretty easy -- send in Phantom Army, then stand back and fire off the debuff arrows. Then go after individual foes, starting with the minions first, firing off more arrows as needed. I stay at range all the time. (I skipped the only power in Illusion that is not ranged, Flash.) One nice thing about Illusion over Fire -- Phantom Army and Phantasm can all attack from range, so the bug/feature that causes Controller pets to run away from the lit Oil Slick will have less effect than on Fire Imps, which only have melee attacks.
(While I think that Illusion is the best primary for TA, I feel the best secondary for Illusion is Rad, followed by Storm. If you mainly want to experience the Illusion set, consider an Ill/Rad.)
My build was pretty simple. I took Blind, Spectral Wounds and Deceive as my first three powers. Those three make any Illuionist able to solo in low levels. Glue Arrow gave me some AoE control. Sometimes Entangling Arrow would set up Containment for Blind. I took Superior Invis over Group Invis, skipped Flash but took everything else in Illusion pretty much as it became available. On Trick Arrow, I only skipped Flash Arrow, since the perception debuff isn't needed when you are invisible. Because Hasten is virtually required for an Illusion Controller, I used Super Speed for travel so that I could fit in all the other TA powers -- if I had taken a different travel power, I probably would have skipped Poison Gas Arrow.
I had the Tech Origin to be able to light the Oil Slick, but I chose Fire Blast and Fireball APP powers to add more damage and have more ways to light the slick. My last two choices were Aid Other and Aid Self.
Now that I have the 60 month vet badge, I plan to respec my Ill/TA into Fly over Super Speed, although I will miss the maneuverability of SS. I still have a few IO sets to gather before I do the respec, though.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
thanks
I have a 50 fire/ta troller; I am interested in rolling a ill/ta troller. Any suggestions on build? Will this be an effective solo toon? Farmer?