Got both athena and kratos, my kratos one is better in my opinion. I use sdd team and if you have lifesteal slaves, his heal won't be noticeable, you only get it for the extra ticks, for extra procs. He can survive crits, unlike my athena one.
It will only suck if you don't know how to play them.
Looking down on other's strategy just because it's less appealing won't make your strategy stronger.