Hey, thanks for posting a guide for this combo, as thin as it may be. I just started a Dark/Stone brute. To give an example of another character theme that works really well with this combo, he's a waterlogged zombie pirate encrusted with rocks, shell, and other bits from the bottom of the ocean; like a member of Davy Jones' crew from movie PotC 2. Rock Armor looks brilliant on Barnacle Bart.
There is a bit of synergy with Dark Melee's -Acc ability and Stone's primarily +Def based armors. Recharge times for Dark's bread-and-butter attacks are the same as Fire's; while not the best, they're not the worst either and that doesn't hurt when in Granite.
Shadow Punch, Air Superiority, and Smite are good all-purpose attacks and I would recommend getting all three. Newbies avoid the temptation of picking up Shadow Maul right away. The three others I just mentioned will serve you much better. It's a cool power, but taking it too soon will only slow you down. Shadow Maul is most useful as a Big Shot after you've built up some fury and can afford to lose some. The animation is so long that you will see your fury bar drop even if you hit with it. You can catch more than one enemy with the power, but it helps to be tricky and use the environment to clump enemies together. The normal spread of enemies surrounding you in melee will usually be too wide for Shadow Maul to catch more than one, so you need to be proactive in your herding. The slow effect from Mud Pots could assist with clumping.
I recommend this progression for the first 6 levels:
1 - Shadow Punch
1 - Rock Armor
2 - Smite
4 - Earth's Embrace
6 - Air Superiority
Level 8 is the earliest you should consider taking Shadow Maul. And I would recommend Air Sup for basically any melee character, it's so awesome.
My troubles are with the 'utility' powers in Dark... I don't have any experience with them yet, and can't decide which ones to take and which to leave behind. Siphon Life, Touch of Darkness, Dark Consumption, Soul Drain... I'm not going to take them all. I figure I can make room for three.
Of the four, I figure Touch of Darkness and Soul Drain will be the most useful. I plan on taking Swift > Health > Stamina, so the question is whether I'll want the extra health more, or the AE damage and endurance boost of Dark Consumption.
any tips, anyone?
