I think you'll find that "Decent" sums up Kinetic/EA pretty well. That being said, don't be discouraged when you hit rough spots.
For KM/Ea, I'd suggest the following:
-Get every resistance or defense power you can for /EA, including Tough and Weave from the fighting pool and, yes, even Energy Cloak. The sole exception for this, if you're tight on powers, is Energy Protection, though I'd get it if you have space in your build for the toxic resistance it offers. /EA is fairly squishy when compared to /Invul or /WP.
-Use your KM PBAoE every chance you get, once you can get it at level 18 or so. It's comparable to SS's Foot Stomp, but with a smaller radius and usable in the air. The more enemies are knocked on their backs, the less chance they have of going through your defense.
-Get Hasten. The +Recharge is wonderful, and once you have Energy Drain I doubt you'll ever notice when Hasten crashes.
-Get Energy Drain and use it. Depending on how you play, you might even want Conserve Power also. KM can be a bit endurance heavy at times, I've found.
-When you slot for IOs, make a it priority to softcap Smashing/Lethal defense, since it's the most common type you'll run into. It's expensive, but your survivability will increase dramatically.
-Be careful with those ranged attacks when playing a Brute. Fighting at range doesn't build fury well, and you need that fury to keep smashing heads in.
Too many alts to list.
So I started a new toon over double exp weekend and both primary and secondary I have never played before as to why I am going to try it out and was looking for tips as far as it being a decent playable character or a stop now and delete. Btw its a kinetic/energy