Doctrine Dark
Brief Overview
Type of Character
Doctrine Dark is a fairly unorthodox character that both plays lame and zone-y, but also can pull off powerful mixups and setups up close. A combination of wires and mines allow him to constrict the opponent's movement options very easily and also let him get full combos off any confirm. While he suffers from poor damage and some bad normals, Doctrine Dark dictates the pace of each match and frustrates the other player into making bad decisions which he can fully capitalize on.
Strengths
- Strong defensive play with his Dark Wire, Dark Defender and EX-Plosive, shutting down many approachs from both air and ground.
- Dark Wire can be both combo'd out of and into, making it a great combo starter and combo linker.
- A decent suite of anti-air Normals and Specials and can often goad the enemy into jumping.
- With the right gougi, can easily play both very defensively and very offensively, switching as needed.
- Fantastic setups if D.Dark gets the knockdown, even allowing him to get unblockables with the right setup and Gougi.
Weaknesses
- Has quite a few stubby normals, making his strings fairly awkward and limited
- Very low damage even with meter, making him a poor comeback character
- Doesn't have particularly good ways of spending all his meter in a combo.
- No meterless reversals, and his metered reversals aren't great either.
- Fairly technical and doesn't have as many easy rewarding combo routes as other characters
5 Minute Guide
(if you don't know what the abbreviations mean, check the notation guide below.)
Take Shinobi as your deck, D.Dark can easily lame out the opponent for 12 seconds at the start of the match to get Ghost Triggered, letting you turn invisible when you dash. You also get Guard Cancel, which lets you do Specials and Supers out of blockstun.
2MP, 2LK, 2MK and 5LK are decent pokes.
Keep the opponent out the opponent with EX-Plosive and Dark Wire (236P). This'll often force them to jump. If they land or walk into EX-Plosive, it's often a free combo and even from faraway you can catch them with Dark Wire. You still want to be close enough that you can easily dash in to start your offense and also have EX-plosive threaten the opponent.
If someone is jumping in on you, either do 5HK or 2HP. Super Cancel into Dark Knife (236236P) if you get the hit. D.Dark can instead use Dark Defender (623P) and juggle into 5HK/2HP > Dark Knife.
For jump-ins, stick to j.MK. This is also your crossup jump-in normal.
D.Dark has some particularly awkward normals, so for chains stick to 2LK > 2MK > 2HK. The 2HK is almost completely safe so feel free to end blockstrings with it.
If your chain hits, instead of 2HK, you can either do 6MK > Dark Shackle (236236K) or go from the 2MK into Dark Wire (236P).
When you hit with Dark Wire, pull them in by doing Dark Hold (4P). If you want to activate G.Break by doing Hard Attack (MP + MK), you can easily do Hard Attack > Dark Knife. Otherwise, quickly dash forward (66) and immediately do 5LK > 5MK > 5HK > Dark Knife.
If the opponent is knocked down, put a EX-Plosive on top or in front of them as they get up. Mix it up with his 2LK/2MK, normal throws, Hard Attack and cross-up j.MK along with any gougi-specific mixups such as Hunting or Guard Break.
Recommended Decks
Shinobi
- Very solid Blue Gougi granting him an 5% damage increase and 10% speed increase almost immediately into the match.
- Guard Break is a perfect fit for D.Dark as not only does he get truly unblockable setups from it, but also is able to combo into Hard Attacks through Dark Wire very easily, making him far and away the best character to Trigger the Gougi.
- Ghost massively improves D.Dark's offense. It's also very easy to Trigger as D.Dark has the tools to zone out the opponent for 12 seconds right out of the gate.
- Guard Cancel as always is a fantastic defensive Gougi. This helps out D.Dark's poor defense.
Stealth Raptor
- Very solid selection of Blue Gougi, the 2 Speed Ups boosts D.Dark's mobility by 20% while the Grab Up gives him a handy range increase, making his shimmying even stronger.
- Utsusemi helps with D.Dark's poor defense and lack of real escapes. Not on the level of Guard Cancel, but a decent defensive buff regardless.
- Hunting gives D.Dark a strong short hop, massively improving his mixup.
Move Analysis
Notation
This guide uses Numpad notation. That means that directions correspond to the numbers on your keyboard numpad (ie. 6 is right, 4 is left, 8 s up, 2 is down). 5 means no direction held. For example, the classic Hadoken quartercircle motion would look like 236, the classic Tatsumaki/Hurricane Kick motion is 214 and the classic Shoryuken motion is 623.
| Notation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| LP | Light Punch |
| MP | Medium Punch |
| HP | Heavy Punch |
| LK | Light Kick |
| MK | Medium Kick |
| HK | Heavy Kick |
| MP+MK | Press both MP and MK at the same time. |
This guide uses Numpad notation. That means that directions correspond to the numbers on your keyboard numpad (ie. 6 is right, 4 is left, 8 s up, 2 is down). 5 means no direction held. For example, the classic Hadoken quartercircle motion would look like 236, the classic Tatsumaki/Hurricane Kick motion is 214 and the classic Shoryuken motion is 623.
| Notation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| LP | Light Punch |
| MP | Medium Punch |
| HP | Heavy Punch |
| LK | Light Kick |
| MK | Medium Kick |
| HK | Heavy Kick |
| MP+MK | Press both MP and MK at the same time. |
For the special and super moves listed later on, the first input is the classic input, the second is the progressive input.
Cancel means you can do something else as soon as your first move hits IE. 2MK on hit can go straight into a special move if you input the special move as 2MK would hit. Special Cancel means you can cancel into Special Moves and Super Cancel means you can cancel into Super Moves.
Link means you have to let the move finish first before you can do another move. An example is 2MP into 2MK where 2MP has to completely start up, hit and recover before the 2MK can come out.
Lows are moves that have to be blocked crouching. Most crouching kicks hit low.
Mids are moves that can blocked either crouching or standing. Almost all standing moves, special moves, supers and crouching punches hit mid.
Highs/overheads are moves that must be blocked standing. Most jumping attacks and all Hard Attacks (MP + MK) hit high/overhead.
FEXL runs at 60 frames per second, so 1 frame is a 60th of a second. 2 frames would be 1/30th etc.
Startup means how long it takes for the move to actually hit.
Active means how long the move will actually hit for before recovering. The more active frames the better as a rule.
S.blo stands for standing block. In this case, it shows the difference in time between you recovering from your attack and the opponent recovering from blocking your attack. If it's 0, you both recover and can act at the same time. If it's -1 or lower, the opponent recovers faster and can act before you. If it's 1 or higher, you recover faster and can act before the opponent.
C.blo is similar but when the opponent crouch blocks instead.
When editing, use this guide for the frame data, it's all here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aQF9jqGPcFRkoLZwxK7pgEhdNT3vwWf_zrRHusydbrE/edit#gid=382523961
Normal Moves
| Normal | Description | Startup | S.blo | C.blo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5LP | A pretty poor jab that'll often whiff on crouchers, you're best sticking to `2LP` for a jab. Is his fastest normal however. Special and Super Cancellable. | 4 | -5 | -1 |
| 5MP | An advancing elbow strike with a deceptively large hitbox. Sadly whiffs on crouchers so not particularly useful in strings. Special and Super Cancellable. | 6 | -13 | -9 |
| 5HP | A short-range swing, has a fairly weird hitbox that'll sometimes whiff or hit depending on whether it's point blank or not, and this varies between characters. Not a great normal in any case. Super Cancellable. | 9 | -1 | 1 |
| 5LK | A kick upwards, outside of point blank range will whiff on crouchers, can be used as a quick antiair if needs be but you're generally better off stick to `2HK` and `5HK` for that. Special and Super Cancellable. | 5 | -12 | -8 |
| 5MK | An advancing knee strike, short range but actually does hit crouchers, making it his most reliable standing normal for block strings. Special and Super Cancellable. | 7 | -12 | -8 |
| 5HK | A roundhouse kick. One of D.Dark's dedicated antiair buttons, has a pretty good range to it. This one is better if characters are jumping in from further away, but if the character is close enough to you `2HP` is preferred. Super Cancellable. | 9 | -2 | 0 |
| 2LP | A quick jab with decent range, this is your preferred quick normal as it's only a frame slower than `5LP`. Special and Super Cancellable. | 5 | -5 | -1 |
| 2MP | A decent long range punch, one of your main combo starters along with `2LK` and `2MK`. Special and Super Cancellable. | 6 | -4 | 0 |
| 2HP | A short ranged uppercut. D.Dark's other dedicated anti-air button, this one is better for opponents jumping right on top of you, with `5HK` being preferred for opponents jumping in from further away. Is also your most reliable heavy normal to chain into for combos as it doesn't whiff on crouchers, but you'll need to do it from a dash-in combo due to its poor range. Super Cancellable. | 8 | -8 | -5 |
| 2LK | A decent-ranged kick, D.Dark's quickest main combo starter normal and also his quickest Low. Pretty decent for tick throws as it's only -1 on block. Special and Super Cancellable. | 5 | Hits Low | -1 |
| 2MK | A long range kick that hits low, generally the normal to end your chain with before you cancel into a Dark Wire. In neutral, this is preferred over `2LK` as it has better range and damage and is only 1 frame slower. Special and Super Cancellable. | 6 | Hits Low | -1 |
| 2HK | A long range sweep, a solid block string ender as it is only -3. Also scores a knockdown which D.Dark thrives on, although unfortunately it isn't a hard knockdown, allowing the opponent to Recover. Is also the key to Kara-cancelling into EX-Plosive. Super Cancellable (however, no supers will combo from it.) | 10 | Hits Low | -3 |
| j.LP | A downwards jab, is useful for setting up tick throws as it keeps them in blockstun for less time compared to `j.MP` and `j.HP`. Is also active for a fairly long time, making it good for anti-airing. | 4 | 5 | Hits Overhead |
| j.MP | A downwards jab, almost exactly the same as `j.HP` but does less damage so use that as your go-to move. | 5 | 13 | Hits Overhead |
| j.HP | Another downwards jab, use this over `j.MP`. | 5 | 13 | Hits Overhead |
| j.LK | A jumping knee strike, similarly to j.LP is pretty decent for tick throws. Is also active for a long time, making it a decent air-to-air. | 5 | 5 | Hits Overhead |
| j.MK | >D.Dark's crossup jump-in normal, also a pretty great air-to-air given its range. | 4 | 13 | Hits Overhead |
| j.HK | A dedicated air-to-air normal and what D.Dark uses in certain Dark Wire combos. | 7 | 13 | Hits Overhead |
Command Normals
| Command Normal | Description | Startup | S.blo | C.blo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death Spinkick (4MK) | As per most command normals this can be chained into from any other normal and is super cancellable only. From a full chain into `Death Spinkick`, the best super to cancel into is `Dark Shackle` (236236K/46K) which leads to roughly 70 damage which is pretty decent for a bar of meter. However, Dark Wire confirms from strings are generally more safe, reliable and can potentially lead to more damage. Specific interactions with Gougi (IE. landing 4 Hard Attacks) also make Dark Wire routes generally the better option. Feel free to use `Death Spinkick` if you want a clean way to end the round and you only have 1 bar of meter to work. | 18 | -8 | -4 |
| Knife Nightmare(4MP) | A faster overhead than Hard Attack but is neither special or super cancellable and is actually 0 on hit, meaning the opponent gets to act the same time you do. It can be chained into from any normal like `Death Spinkick`, so it can be used to insert a surprise overhead into chains. Given its shorter reach, this should be relegated to dash-in chains. As it's unsafe and there's no option of super cancelling to catch a punish, this is a move you should only throw out once or twice a match. | 18 | -10 | -4 |
| Shudder Blade (Hard Attack, MP+MK) | D.Dark's universal overhead. As always, massively unsafe on block but is super cancellable and keeps them grounded on hit which allows him to get decent damage off a `Dark Shackle`. Can be combo'd into from a Dark Wire confirm and then into `Dark Knife` which is what allows D.Dark to get the Guard Break gougi Triggered easier than any other character. Has a strange interaction with `EX-plosive`, causing it to instantly go off as `Shudder Blade` starts up. Most likely intended to prevent easy unblockable setups. | 28 | -34 | Hits Overhead |
Specials
| Special Move | Description | Startup | S.blo | C.blo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Wire (236P/4P) | D.Dark sends out a wire that destroys projectiles and if it hits a grounded opponent, will latch onto them, allowing you to do `Dark Spark` or `Dark Hold`. The strength of the punch affects how far the wire will go. `Dark Hold` is almost always the better option, allowing you to pull the opponent in and extend your combo, Mortal Kombat's Scorpion style. Almost all of your grounded combos should lead in this move, and there's several extensions that are worth learning. | 11/11/11 | -24/-24/-24 | -20/-20/-20 |
| Dark Spark(After Dark Wire, do nothing) | D.Dark sends out a spark that goes down the wire and deals fairly low damage to the opponent. Really, `Dark Hold` is what you should be using a majority of the time, although 'Dark Spark' finds its niche as a easy meterless knockdown in the corner. Super Cancellable. | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dark Hold(After Dark Wire, 4P) | D.Dark pulls the opponent in, staggering them and allowing him to easily combo. This will only work if Dark Wire hit a grounded opponent. This is your main followup after a `Dark Wire`. A few things to note is that it is a fixed distance that the opponent stumbles, so certain combos (particularly combos involving j.HK as a starter) may need to be adjusted to still land. Also, the opponent is in a special state that means they won't be grounded after being hit. This prevents you from just doing yet another regular combo back into Dark Wire, but does still allow decent followups. Check the combo section below to figure out your followups. | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dark Defender(623P/3P) | D.Dark sends out a wire at a 45 degree angle. The strength of the punch button affects how far the wire travels. A fairly decent anti-air that can lead into a solid juggle combo. If it hits an airborne opponent raw, it'll send them into a slow descending spiral. Otherwise, it'll knock them up slightly instead and cannot be followed up on except with a Super Cancel into `Dark Knife`. As a result, it's not a combo extension tool like `Dark Wire` but is an excellent anti-air combo starter. Use this to catch out obvious jump-ins, especially when the opponent is trying to get over a `EX-plosive`. | 11/11/11 | -6/-6/-6 | Whiffs on crouchers. |
| EX-plosive(236K/6K) | D.Dark throws out a bomb directly in front of him. The bomb will explode on contact with the opponent, if D.Dark gets hit or after a certain amount of time. The strength of the kick determines how long it takes for the bomb to go off. Along with `Dark Wire`, this is D.Dark's main zoning tool, but is also used for many of his setups. Unless the bomb hits the opponent before it even gets to the ground, a hit can easily be followed up on. This is both good for catching people jumping or walking into it in neutral and using it as a meaty on a knocked down opponent. A regular `2LK` > `2MK` > etc. combo will work as normal off a successful bomb hit. Importantly it becomes even better if kara-cancelled from a `2HK`, giving the bomb toss more effective range and moving D.Dark forward. | 13/13/13 | -8/-8/-8 | -5/-5/-5 |
Supers
Quick note, in startup framedata (eg. x + y), x means the startup until Super Freeze and Y is the startup for the super to come out afterwards.
| Super | Description | Startup | S.blo | C.blo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Knife (236236P/46P) | D.Dark does a series of uppercuts with his energy blade. Use this super as a combo tool on airborne/launched opponents (In particular, from a Dark Wire combo.. Unfortunately does very little damage but is mostly useful as it can score a hard knockdown on opponents, allowing you to have enough times to get your setups while the opponent is knocked down. Comes out slightly quicker than Dark Shackle, so is generally the better reversal. |
3 + 2 | ? | ? |
| Dark Shackle(236236K/46K) | D.Dark does a series of thrusts with his energy blade before impaling and smashing them to the ground and then bombing them. Does fairly decent damage and is the super of choice on a grounded opponent. If for whatever reason you won't be doing a Dark Wire route, you'll be using this. |
5 + 3 | ? | ? |
| EX-prominence(236236K/46K) | D.Dark throws out a massive bomb which detonates as it hits the ground. Has an incredibly slow startup and has a deceptively small vertical hitbox (basically the top half of the actual explosion doesn't count as a hitbox.) This usually can't be combo'd into outside of Dark Wire or Dark Defender either and if it lands cannot be combo'd out of. It is plus on block however. |
7 + 33 | ? | ? |
Gameplan
Neutral
D.Dark doesn't have too many pokes given that a lot of his standing normals are very close ranged elbow and knee strikes. Use 2LK, 2MK and 2MP as your general normal pokes.
D.Dark instead shines in neutral through use of his Dark Wire and EX-Plosive. The bombs can easily prevent grounded approaches and forces the opponent to take obvious jump arcs to avoid it, playing into D.Dark's anti-air game. His Dark Wire also destroys fireballs, forcing a stalemate against other fireball character.
Unlike other fireball characters however, D.Dark can't really chip the opponent out from full screen, so he will need to eventually go on the offense. He has decent mobility but no dedicated moves to help him out and a standard jump arc which is why Gougi Decks such as Shinobi and Stealth Raptor help him out so much.
Your general gameplan for most of D.Dark's Decks is to lame out the opponent for long enough to get Ghost at which point you'll mix it up between zoning and approaching the opponent. D.Dark's damage is very poor and he struggles to really dump his meter, so getting health leads and keeping them is key. Don't hesitate to use your offense and setups to get the health lead and then just stick to laming out the opponent. The threat of the short timer will also often coerce the opponent into making risky approaches, and D.Dark's EX-Plosive and the threat of his Dark Wire are perfect for capitalizing on that.
For anti-airing, you'll want to stick to 2HP and 5HK. Dark Defender can be used but has a fairly awkward angle and is awful to whiff.
Offense
D.Dark isn't necessarily the best character to rush down an opponent with, but his defensive play often either allows him to approach easily or catch a frustrated enemy attempting to approach. If D.Dark can score a knockdown on the opponent, he can also enforce extremely strong mixups that lead into knockdowns as well. His deck choices are based on buffing his offense as a result.
Mix-Ups
D.Dark has incredibly solid mix ups and ways to force the mixup on opponents. You have access to the usual arsenal of quick low-hitting attacks, command Overheads (Hard Attack and Knife Nightmare crossups, jumps into jumping normals that hit overhead or otherwise doing a empty jump into a low, frametraps and tick-throws. His EX-plosive placed as a meaty forces the opponent to block as they get up, giving D.Dark free reign to enforce his mixup.
He does have 2 command overheads, but in particular if he takes a deck with Guard Break he gets access to a unblockable that leads to full combos and even gets unblockable setups.
Set-Ups
Hard Knockdown (From a Dark Knife for example) > EX-Plosive > Just block
The most basic okizeme/vortex you can pull off, if an opponent is consistently attempt to mash/reversal out as they get back up, you'll be able to block them and combo them for free either as they come back down or from getting hit by the EX-Plosive. Otherwise, if they block in turn you have enough time to react and then continue your pressure on the blocking opponent
In the corner, 2HK > Whiff 2LP > 236LK/236MK (EX-Plosive)
A excellent setup which will be a meaty on both a normal getup and a Recover. If it connects, you can combo into 2MP/2MK. Otherwise, you'll be +2 on crouching block or -1 on standing block. On a normal getup you'll also have enough time to set the bomb and block any reversals, including Allen's Rising Dragon and Blair Dame's Lightning Knee/Shoot Upper. The EX-Plosive will combo into Hard Attack as well, and if they block the bomb a Guard Break Hard Attack is almost guaranteed to land. (Credit to Labryz.)
Frame-Traps
Any Delayed Chain
As there is always a big window for you to chain one move to a higher strength, essentially any button can become a frame trap by simply delaying the next button just enough to allow a gap for an opponent to press a button that'll then get hit by your delayed button before their move can start up.
The easiest way of practicing this by setting the training dummy to "After First Hit" and Guard All (Standing) or Guard All (Crouching), and setting either 5LP or 2LP in a slot for "Recording Settings (After Guard).
The dummy will try to jab their way out of any gaps and if you've delayed correctly, you'll hit the dummy out of the startup of their jab. 2MP or 2MK are great normals to try and frame trap from.
2MK > 4MK
A very nice frametrap for catching people jumping out of your pressure. Requires no manual timing and is a easy combo into Dark Knife. A sample string into this frametrap would be 2LK > 2MK > 4MK > Dark Knife on hit. 4MK unfortunately is fairly unsafe on block but since it's super cancellable you can still catch punish attempts.
Dash-in 2MP > 2HP
Requires a slightly delay, but is good for catching people attempting to throw you if you keep trying to link 2MP. from a dash-in.
Defense
Doctrine Dark's defensive play is strong from the start of the match. A backdash that covers a huge amount of ground allows him to quickly peel himself away from the opponent. It's a decent round opener.
Once you have enough space, laying down a EX-Plosive makes it much more difficult for the opponent to approach. Opponents running into it without blocking or jumping on top of it keeps them grounded and is a free Dark Wire or Dash-in 2LK combo.
The opponent can jump over it, but their jump arc will be much more obvious as they'll get to get clear over the bomb. D.Dark has a suite of good anti-airs to deal with this as well. His 2HP will catch opponents jumping in on top of him, while 2HK catches opponent jumping in from further away. Both of these can cancel into a Dark Knife and score a hard knockdown. Dark Defender, while having a fairly awkward arc, leads to a much stronger follow up (check the Dark Wire/Dark Defender Routes). Dark Wire is both long ranged and pretty active so it makes a decent anti-air for jump-ins that neither your normals or Dark Defender could reach.
D.Dark however doesn't completely zone out the opponent from anywhere on the screen. His Dark Wire isn't quite fullscreen and without the threat of a nearby EX-Plosive opponents can move forward safely. Playing fullscreen won't allow you to chip out an opponent or even effectively control space that well, so you want to make sure you're within around 2/3rds camera distance from the opponent as a rule.
This also makes D.Dark a bit dangerous to play as. One wrong move and an opponent can be on top of you very quickly and pump out a lot more damage than D.Dark. He also lacks particularly good reversals or escapes, making him quite susceptible to other characters' vortex/pressure.
Reversals
D.Dark unfortunately has no meterless reversals. Dark Knife is probably your best bet due to its quick startup and potential to start your own vortex as it'll hard knockdown the opponent. Shinobi allows him to Guard Cancel, which massively buffs his options while blocking, either going immediately into a Dark Knife or pulling off a Dark Wire.
Escapes
D.Dark has a particularly good backdash that travels a long distance. While the usual weaknesses of being grounded for the duration and a lack of non-throw invuln still apply, D.Dark can be pretty slippery. Utsusemi (part of the Stealth Raptor deck) also heavily buffs his Recovery and makes potential backdashes and jump outs much less obvious.
Character Specific Techniques
Combos
All characters can chain from a normal to a higher strength normal, either punch or kick. Chains work off cancels, meaning that the button doesn't have to finish its animation and can go immediately to the next normal. When links are mentioned, that means the normal HAS to finish and then you can get the next normal to come out. These tend to be harder. Unique/command normals chain from any normal.
Bread And Butter Combos
(Note: Almost all of these strings will work from jump in starters.)
Universal Strings
2/5LK > 2/5MK > 2HK
A nice, safe and fairly rewarding chain as it scores you a knockdown and works off your standing or crouching kicks.
Becomes even better in the corner where even if the opponent Recovers, they still have to hold your mixup.
2/5LK > 2/5MK > (2HP) > 4MK > Dark Shackle
The 2HP can be added if you're dashing in, otherwise it'll likely drop. A decent combo if you're catching the opponent grounded but generally getting into a Dark Wire Combo is preferred.
Dark Wire/Dark Defender Routes
2/5LK > 2/5MK > Dark Wire > Dash-in 5MP > 5HK > Dark Knife
The main bread and butter combo for D.Dark. You have to dash in with the 5MP as otherwise when you cancel into Dark Knife, the opponent will be too far away.
j.HP/j.HK, dash-in 5MP > 5HK > (In Corner, 4MK) > Dark Knife
Similar to the combo before but is a bit more finicky and spacing dependent. You'll want to be closer to your opponent, but too close and you'll either jump too far back or otherwise jump over the opponent. If the opponent is more than a half screen away, you'll mostly likely need to jump straight up instead of back.
Dark Hold > EX-Prominence
A potential route to take if you land a full screen Dark Wire. The opponent gets to stumble into EX-Prominence and is one of the few times you'll get to combo into it.
2/5LK > 2/5MK > Dark Wire > Hard Attack > Dark Knife
Another route, this one is mainly useful for activating Guard Break as the Hard Attack is guaranteed to combo.
(In the corner) dash-in 5MP > 5HK > 4MK > Dark Knife
A corner only variant which does good damage and is a lot less awkward than pulling off a j.HK close to the corner.
Dash-In combos
2MP > 2MP > 2MK > Dark Wire Route
The momentum from your dash allows you to link (Not chain, so timing is a lot more strict) a second 2MP which can then link into 2MK. This is definitely more difficult than your chains and on blocks there's fairly noticeable gaps that the opponent can jab through. Mix it up with cancelling your 2MPs into a slightly delayed 2HP.
Hit-Confirms
D.Dark's normal combo routes unfortunately end with unsafe specials or supers. For the most part, ending your combo routes in 2HK is the way to go.
Anti-Air Conversions
5HK/2HP > Dark Knife
A easy and consistent route that leads to a hard knockdown.
Dark Defender > EX-Plosive > Dash-in 5MP > 5HK > Dark Knife
A easy enough conversion to make from Dark Defender which leads to a hard knockdown.
Air to Air Conversions
Air-To-Air Normal > (5HK) > Dark Knife
As D.Dark has no air supers, he relies on this height dependent route, and it's entirely possible that the opponent will land before you do. Your safest bet is to try and combo into 5HK and THEN go into Dark Knife.
Spending More than 1 bar
Dark Shackle > Dark Knife > Dark Shackle
D.Dark isn't particularly good at dumping all his meter into a combo. From a grounded hit, this is the best 3 super route to make. You'll want to cancel into the second Dark Shackle before the Dark Knife can launch the opponent so you can hit Dark Shackle grounded and get the second part of the super. If the opponent is airborne, you can invert the combo (Dark Knife > Dark Shackle > Dark Knife) but this is even less damage.
Dark Knife > EX-Prominence
Another grounded route, this time from Dark Knife which will most likely be from when you use it as a reversal. On the fourth hit, as D.Dark is about to make his second uppercut lunge, cancel into the EX-Prominence.
Credits
The FEXL discord for providing info and tech, in particular, Labryz, Eddy_Bam, Sinjul and AyoItsDave.