As mentioned several times, Doom Stone was my most anticipated Skylander Swapper.  Aesthetically he is awesome, at least in my opinion.  He is quite unique in his upgrade abilities and follows along the Chop Chop route with a sword and shield.

If I just had one Doom Stone I would be heavily inclined to go with Jaded Fighter up top.  Why?  Simple, Column Club is quite impressive with just the base upgrades.  Adding the abilities of Jaded Fighter to the shield (tertiary attack) it makes a for a nice combination.

Column Clubber is what I would suggest for most people...It takes a hard hitting attack and adds even more damage.

I would recommend Jaded Fighter to those who think like myself and view Column Club good enough as is...Jaded Fighter takes the shield and enhances it greatly with Cracking Up, which does 25-38 damage to surrounding enemies in a very nice radius.  It also takes advantage of his unique ability with the shield.

On the bottom end I would have to say Serious Spinner is definitively the better path.  I hate it when something is so clear, but Carved Belt was a severe disappointment.  Part of this might have been from the pictures and descriptions conveying it was going to be a 360 degree projectile emanating from the belt.  I honestly have to say, Spin the Tables (the Soul Gem) would have been better suited here with Carved Belt than Jaded Spin and Belt Pelters.  Honestly, just making Stoney Spin/Revolutionary Belt do even more damage would have been a bigger asset than Carved Belt as a whole.

Serious Spinner upgrades the Spin Right Around attack and takes it up to the 65-98 range.  It is hard to appreciate in the training grounds at Woodburrow, but works quite well against tougher enemies in arenas and story mode.  Similarly, just The Harder They Fall does more damage than the Carved Belt Path...that is ridiculous and should not have been...

If Carved Belt shot off multiple projectiles from your belt, simultaneously, and in all directions, I would have no qualms with it.  As is, one at a time with minimal damage and cast from the same serving point is supremely lackluster.

I had it pegged as the perfect compliment to Jaded Fighter as I had anticipated it to have good range and be multidirectional.  It was neither.  Up top you can honestly pick between Sword and Shield...On the bottom there is really no contest.  Carved Belt offers little benefit in any phase of the game.

That said, Doom Stone is a great Swapper and can be a charged, heavy hitter with Column Clubber and Serious Spinner, or a defensive whiz with Jaded Fighter and Serious Spinner.  My main advice is simply to avoid the Carved Belt Upgrade Path.