As my nickname here suggests, I'm a rogue deep in my heart, therefore every upcoming green card piques my interest. Sadly, so far Dario El-Amin only brought me disappointment. Breakdown goes like this:

• to gain his bonus, you have to pay 4 upfront, spend an action and fill your ally slot AND sit on 10 resources. Now, one might say that in rogue class, having 10 resources is a cakewalk, with all those Hot Streaks and Lone Wolves, right? Well, in theory, yes. In practice though, you really need to be able to spend them to either gain more actions or pump your stats during skill checks - you need the cash flow, not the trust fund. What Dario does effectively need you to do then, is to treat 10 as your new 0. One might still think that's easy, since
• you can use Dario as an action, to get 2 resources every round. Without him, one action can give you only one resource, so doubling that looks like a value proposition... Untill you realize that to get it, you have to: spend 4 resources, an action, fill your ally slot and spend another action... It's just too much and one might call it "slow"... It's a snail move. Rogues ain't no snails, we wanna go fast. Which brings us to the elephant in the room. Or, err, lion. Lion in the room.
• Since the Dawn of Core Set, rogues have access to arguably the strongest ally in the game, namely Leo De Luca. Played early in the game it's a gift that keeps on giving, everyone loves him and we know that for some time now. Sadly, every green ally printed since then is always going to be compared to him, and so far none have proven to be worthy. In my games in last few weeks, every time I had Dario in play, I wished he was Leo instead. Which is really depressing, because
• Dario's bonus is excellent when it's there. My old man was looking forward to boost his that was kicking him down all the way through Dunwich, and even Sefina thought she might be able to reach mystic-like state, but to no avail. On that note, Sefina is probably most likely to effectively use Dario's bonus stats, because she can paint herself a juicy hot streak of Hot Streaks. That one additional is also very nice, even if not as substantial. But that's the problem with Dario in general: he seems nice. He wants you to think that he is this friendly companion, but can he take a hit for you, with his 2 health/2 sanity? He offers exotic boost of two stats, but in that regard his business proposition is merely a distorted and mutilated echo of what Peter Sylvestre has brought to the table.

By now I hope I've proven that Dario is not good enough to be the new number one ally in rogue decks, but can he be number 2? I wish I could tell you that he's good enough to warrant taking Charisma for him, but that'd be very optimistic on my behalf, and I have Hospital Debts to worry about, so optimism is not really my thing. I do, however, hope that his time will come at some point, only on the basis of his promise and flavor, even if those things were - so far - very deceptive.

This is an absolute must have card for pretty much every investigator that can take it.

Not having to worry about running out of cards during The Dunwich Legacy is wonderful (Can't say any more than that to avoid spoilers). Potentially getting good one use cards like Astral Travel/Storm of Spirits/Hypnotic Gaze/Blinding Light back into your hand "quickly" is super-powerful. Combine this with Arcane Initiate & Scrying, and you can fairly quickly get those cards back.

I used this card in my Sefina Rousseau deck (i included mainly spell cards) yesterday and i think he's very strong for 3 reaons:

1. Boosts , mystics main stat
2. Damage soak. Only mystic ally with more than 1 HP.
3. Provides ressources for mystics many expansive assets, like Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking.

Other advantages:

• He's also pretty cheap at 1 ressource (including discount from his own ability).
• Ability always succeedes, unlike Alchemical Transmutation and does not harm user, unlike Forbidden Knowledge
• You MAY to add doom to him, when using his ability. You'll get less ressources, but decreases the risk of advancing the agenda
• Can be killed by placing damage on him, if doom is an issue

Disadvantages

• Occupies ally slot, which has other strong options like Arcane Initiate I, II and Alyssa Graham
• Doom can be a problem
• boost requires doom on him

Combos to deal with doom

• Any card that deals damage to character, so you can kill him if needed, like Shrivelling (if a symbol is revealed) or Forbidden Knowledge
• Moonlight Ritual to remove doom on him
• Calling in Favors to remove doom, damage on him and get another ally out (Alyssa Graham, Arcane Initiate,...)
• Another ally, so he is discarded when you play the other (be careful with Charisma)

This card gets better, when you know the scenario and "ambush" fixed spawns (advancing act or agenda).

It doesn't matter which player stays behind. This allows the parties fighter to "protect" a clue gatherer, as long as the gatherer stays at same location.

Even if it does not trigger, it may safe a lot of time if the gatherer knows he is safe for 1-2 rounds while the fighter saves someone else or hunts specific enemy (Smite the Wicked).

It's very useful when there's lots of clues on one location, like in bigger parties (3-4 players) or special locations (The Hidden Chamber).

It also helps on higher difficulties, as the damage is an "auto success".

This card can be used on enemies and the other investigator does not have to be at your location.

This card is great to protect other (noncombat) players because it can be used on enemies and spawns them on the users location, instead. It also saves the user lots of move actions, if he's the main killer.

So long a player has this card, other players are basically immune to monsters. This allows noncombatants to split from the rest of the team and do some power clue gathering. But be aware, when there's 3 or more players, there's a chance all players draw an enemy.

Combos:

• William Yorick can salvage this card with his effect.
• Ambush, for higher chance to trigger it.
• If your deck can include the appropriate class, combine with the following to cancel any encounter card: Ward of Protection I, Ward of Protection II, Dr. William T. Maleson, Forewarned, A Test of Will