Nerd Culture Podcast

Episode #46 features:

Dust Jacket: The Liberation of Sundrian City by (Australia’s own!) Ander Louis

Channel Zero: The IT Crowd

Interview: Aaron Ashmore

And we also reveal the winners of our Marvel Motion Blu-rays Competition, thanks to All Star Comics Melbourne – Dillon Braithwaite & John Hamilton!

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Be sure to check out Ander’s Facebook page for a chance to win a copy of The Liberation of Sundrian City! – www.facebook.com/AnderLouis

The Oz Comic-Con festivities continue this weekend in the city if churches. After their triumphant event in Perth last weekend, the stars have brought joy to the nerds & geeks of Adelaide.

With stars like Aaron Asmore, Richard Dean Anderson, Patricia Quinn, Eddie McClintock, Jason Momoa & the one and only William Shatner (and lots more!), as well as a plethora of stalls and special events, Oz Comic-Con Adelaide has something for everyone!

It’s on right now at the Adelaide Showgrounds so stop reading this and get down there! 🙂

This week I am reviewing the new Dark Horse Star Wars series by Brian Wood.

I have been a Star Wars fan for quite a few years. I have watched the six films many times and although Episodes I to III did not live up to the hype, the two trilogies rank very high on my movie lists.

When I started my journey into comics, Star Wars was a familiar franchise so Star Wars comics were always going tickle my fancy. From some research there have been many different series ranging from many different timeframes in the Star Wars universe. I have read 2 or 3 different Star Wars series and so far I have not been disappointed. If you would like to know which other series I have read let me know and I’ll reveal all.

So far in this series written by Brian Wood and art by Carlos D’Anda there have been two issues released and I have read them both.

This series is set shortly after the ending of Star Wars Episode IV and is split into three storylines:

1. Luke and Leia’s search for a new base for the rebellion;
2. Han and Chewie’s quest for Mon Mothma; and
3. The consequences for Darth Vader after the Death Star was destroyed.

Of the three storylines so far I am enjoying Darth Vader’s the most. After the destruction of the Death Star, he is out of favour with the Emperor and I cannot wait to find out what he does to get back in the Emperor’s good books. That being said the other two storylines are well written and are quite intriguing. It is fun doing the voice of Chewbacca in my head.

The artwork by Carlos D’Anda is really good throughout the first two issues. I was really impressed with how both Leia and Darth Vader were drawn.

I give these two comics 4.5/5 Lukes.

This series will have a permanent spot on my pull list for quite some time.  It has been quite a popular series so far so it might be tricky to find the first two issues but never fear as you can always wait for trade.

I would love to hear your feedback.  Please comment below or you can contact me via Twitter @bennykane1983.  If you have suggestions on other titles that I should read would love to hear from you.

Look out for my next review soon.

Benny

As promised, here is another patch 5.2 revised spec, this time it’s the new version of my Assassination Rogue spec Face Ripper!

This spec was created to kill Horde foes left and right, and a special thanks to a post by Zendfrim, which suggested this spec.

Click here to see the Talent Spec on WoWHead

For this specialization, I recommend a high amount of Haste and Mastery, to allow dots to trigger and poisons to deal more damage. However, to make it viable for PvP, there needs to be more forms of utility and survivability.   Combat Readiness, Leeching Poison and Dirty Tricks will help you to keep onto your life as long as possible, while your utility comes from Nightstalker, Cloak and Dagger and Marked for Death.

The main thing to keep in mind for this spec, is to keep all of the DoTs you can on your opponent(s) at a time. This is also the reason for Dirty Tricks. Keeping your DoTs up will allow Venomous Wounds to constantly keep  more damage on your enemy and a decent flow of energy returning to you.  Also, Slice and Dice should be kept up for yourself, and if the enemy is highly armored, Glyph of Expose Armor is very handy.  Also, Marked for Death can give you an instant 5 combo points to be able to rake your foe over the coals.

As for enemy casters, Cloak and Dagger as well as Glyph of Garrote will be invaluable tools. This way, you can close in the space to get to them, and silence them as soon as possible, then lay into them with Mutilate.

As for the case of all enemies, Glyph of Debilitation will allow you to prevent an enemies escape, allowing you to continue stabbing them with your daggers to your heart’s content!

Hi WoW Yoda fans!

I apologize for not having any more specs since December 1st, but I was waiting for the new 5.2 patch to come out in order to fully revise all previous specs and begin creating more. To that end, I start anew with the Paladin spec – Holy Slam; for the casting class lovers that want a Pally that isn’t Ret or Prot spec.

Click here to see the talent spec on WoWHead

Surprisingly, not too much has changed on how this spec works, and in fact, its damage output is highly increased due to this patch. Sadly, Inquisition is no longer available to Holy spec, which does make sense since it isn’t supposed to be doing damage anyway, however Glyph of Harsh Words makes up for this in allowing a nice damage ability. This time, the main offensive spells will be Denounce, Holy Shock, Judgement, and Word of Glory. I recommend Seal of Truth still, due to Judgement causing the Censure effect. As for rotation, Denounce will be your baseline spell, casting whenever your others aren’t available, Holy Shock will give you the holy power necessary to cast your Word of Glory, then the talent Divine Purpose will give you a 25% chance to cast another time, and can actually proc on itself constantly. Glyph of Holy Shock will also allow you to deal more damage with your Holy Shock, while Glyph of Denounce gives the Holy Shock a chance to make your next Denounce to cast more quickly.

As for protecting yourself, Selfless Healer allows your Judgements to allow your Flash of Light to cost less, take less time to cast and heal for  damage time. However, if you can wait for your third Judgement, then your Flash of Light will be free, instant, and empowered. Also, Unbreakable Spirit will allow a more frequent use of your bubbles and Lay on Hands.  Then for the necessary movement for PvE or PvP, Pursuit of Justice will have you covered, especially if you have 3 holy power to move 30% faster.  Also, you can easily build up long lasting holy power by casting Holy Shock while not in combat.

One thing to be sure of, when starting combat with a single melee opponent, be sure to cast your Denounce first, followed by Judgement (to allow Burden of Guilt to slow them down) and then Holy Shock. For ranged opponents, it can be the other way around so you will build your holy power faster.  Sadly, this spec doesn’t have much in the way of AoE, so Holy Prism will cover for you. The one main thing to remember, is that you will need to target yourself first, so that your enemies will be burned. Also, your heals will give you a protective shield due to Mastery, so whenever you self heal, you will be protected, especially whenever Lay on Hands is cast.

I hope you enjoy the newly revised Holy Slam. Check back tomorrow for another revised WoW Yoda spec!