Thoughts on a Mind/Kinetics Controller

Hi, I am wanting to create a Mind/Kinetics controller. Just as the thread title says, I am looking for other players' thoughts on this setup. It looks fun and I thought of pairing Mind with radiation at first, but I decided to use kinetics.

So, if anyone has thoughts or has actually played this combo.... please share!

Aah, Mind/Kin is a great, though busy, combo.

First, I'll link you up with my guide. I haven't updated it in a while, though 95% of it is still accurate:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=122388

Though I'll ask a few things: What ATs have you played before? What controller combinations? I ask because Mind/Kin plays a bit more like a Corruptor with Mez than anything else. You use AoEs to lock down a mob, debuff them, buff yourself, then go in killing with your 4 attacks.

Some controller sets let you sit back and watch the action. Some buff/debuff sets let you do the same. Both Mind and Kin are the opposite and require a lot of attention. If you like that style of play, then you'll love Mind/Kin. if, however, that sounds like too much, you might wanna go Illu/Kin or Mind/Rad, or something else to take some of the pressure off.

So read the guide, and come back with any other questions you may have =)

Mind/Kin is ... All Clicks, All The Time.

You get two toggle powers ... Telekinesis and Repel. Quite a lot of people don't even bother with taking either of these powers (which is a mistake, imnsho).

Ironically enough, Mind/Kin is one of the few combos that is able to make VERY good use of Repel. That's because you've got Transference to "refuel" yourself with after letting your END get drained via Repel. And you've got the necessary tools to lock things down into very stable positions so that you CAN make use of Transference while Repel is running. That's because the AoE radius on Transference is bigger than the PBAoE on Repel. It's very counter-intuitive, but it works (I know, I've done it with my Mind/Kin) and it can give any of the other squishies around you a "Keep Out" zone to protect them from melee attacks in close quarters combat.

Mind/Kin is something of a "switch hitter" combo and there are going to be times when you're primarily focused on Mind Controlling and other times when the most important thing you can do for yourself and your team is to be Kinetics every single second. Even on Hamidon Raids, I find myself switching between these two modes of operation, depending on which phase of the raid we're in. Monster clearing, Green Mitos and Nucleus phases are mainly about Kinetics. Blue Mitos are mainly about Mind Control (to do damage).

Mind/Kin is also a combination that "never really settles down" into any one spot. It's very dynamic in that respect, very active. Your Mind Control powers "like" to operate at a distance, but your Kinetics powers "like" to operate up close ... often while next to the Main Tank. This very basic push-pull of the two powersets means that unlike some combos, Mind/Kin doesn't really have a "comfort zone" where you can just plunk yourself down and push buttons all day. Positioning, relative to the ongoing battles, becomes important because you have Kinetics powers that spawn PBAoEs around the target, and other Kinetics powers that spawn PBAoEs around you ... so *where* you are in the battlespace becomes more important than it otherwise might with different powersets.

Suffice it to say, that life as a Mind/Kin is never dull. You will ALWAYS have "something to do" when playing Mind/Kin. Plus there's the fact that you move around like a Spaz while hopped up on Siphon Speed.

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

Like everyone else has said... this is a very very busy combo. Insane in the things you can do... but very clicky.

I took a few years off and came back to find I wasn't used to it anymore.. and made a mind dom. But I keep getting drawn back to the mind/kin and it's once again becoming one of my favorite characters.

Mind lets you utilize kinetics the most I feel (both the extra damage getting boosted by kin plus all the tools to let you use your kinetics safely) ... but mind/rad would be awesome too (I would have done that but rad is my favorite sets which means like every other char is rad... so I needed a change).

I'd suggest if you try mind/kin it take fire APP ... for me I find fire shield might be skippable but rise of the pheonix is drawing me more and more (sometimes you just epicly fail as mind/kin... something gets unmezzed or something and the pain is too much for fire shield to make up for). Plus... fulcrum shift works best with the higher damage attacks in the fire pool.

I'd also suggest taking stealth.. you should have enough endurance to run sprint with a stealth proc in it constantly so being permanantly invis helps A lot with so many powers that do not draw aggro.

There's a ton of good information in the above posts, so I'll just focus on a few call-outs.

1. As mentioned, Mind/Kin is VERY clicky, and has the highest # of powers that make a to-hit check of almost anything in the game. As such, I've found that Tactics is worth it's weight in gold, especially on the way up.

2. Stealth: Get it. Superspeed + Stealth or with a +Celerity stealth IO is VASTLY useful as you will spend a lot of time scouting out spawns and maneuvering for best effect.

3. Repel gets a bad rap. As mentioned above it CAN be quite useful, and it will help protect you from melee attacks when things go south. It's also a GREAT place to slot a set of Kinetic Crash which has to be the BEST bang for your buck if doing a IO build on a budget. Mind/Kin is a hella tight build though, I'd keep repel in mind when you need to chop a power.

4. Epic set choice: I've tried just about everything, and found that the Status protection in /Psi was the hands down winner for me. With enough +rech you can make IW perma, and getting mezzed is the single fastest way to die as a Mind/Kin.

5. Hover. Get it. You'll be running like a rabid weasel on siphon speed, and Hover with SS boosting it is great for all the times that you need to get over something but need better positioning control than you get from Inertial Reduction. You will absolutely love having it in all the Oranbega and cave maps that have the layer cake with a central hole and lots of places to fall through to the next level down. Plus it gives you another place to slot a Luck of the Gambler +rech if you go that route.

6. Sleeps get a bad rap from many players too. Mez is a golden power, slot and use it like a ranged attack that happens to leave your target sleeping forever. On the way up use it to snipe the mobs on the edge of the spawn (esp lts and bosses) that the team doesn't see yet. It'll keep them out of your hair till the team gets to them (most of the time). Mass Hyp is GODLIKE when soloing and for setting up a spawn for you to get a good Fulcrum shift off. Slot it up with a 5 pack of Sandman and enjoy. Cheap and very effective. Also invaluable for a whole bunch of TF's. Mez + Mass Hyp = stacked sleep. :-)

Great GREAT build, incredibly versatile and always has something to do and a way to help the team. I teamed and soloed my Mind/Kin extensively, she was my main from I2 and first 50. Things have gotten MUCH better for a Mind/Kin since then so you should have a blast!

First off. My Mind/kin is my main. Like others have said, it's fun and fast passed and there's always something to do. But there's one power that no one has mentioned yet: Mass Confusion. It one of my favorite powers in the game; it basically locks down an entire spawn with zero aggro allowing the entire team to jump in and wipe them out. Also, MC used in conjunction with Fulcrum Shift makes spawns disappear fast.

A couple other points.

Mesmerize stops bosses with one application.

And then there's Levitate. It's a power I absolutely love. It knocks bosses up taking them out of the fight for a few seconds, and it gives mind another damage type, also cool. I also love patrolling low levels and levitating enemies 50 feet into the air. The power is just so fun. Then there's the whole moving things with your mind that I enjoy as we.

There's another combo I don't see many talk about and it's the TK+terrify combo. It's nice, first you tk a spawn, then terrify. You get containment damage and soft control with two powers that recharge pretty fast.

Anyway, with mind/kin you have just about everything in your toolbox and you can use all those tools with super speed, and if your nice everyone on your team is going just as fast.