SD/dark melee attack sequence

[hobopete]

Sorry, uses search but couldn’t find what I was looking for.   What’s the optimal attack sequence for shield/dark melee?

 

shadow punch or smite?   Is dark maul recommended?

[Maelwys]

IIRC Midnight Grasp > Smite > Siphon Life > Smite is the basic ST damage chain; but it needs a lot of recharge to get it seamless: +185% is needed for Smite; +117% for Siphon Life and +235% for Midnight Grasp (although MG can cope with +12.28% local Recharge% slotting before 3.5PPM procs start dropping below a 90% activation rate).
If you have less recharge than that then you'll need to swap in other powers and/or Epic Blasts (Gloom is still very good).