Swiftmend is an oft-overlooked spell in many a druid’s arsenal. Exactly why I’m not certain, as it is one of the best direct heals in the game. Combined with the Glyph of Swiftmend this spell becomes even more heavenly.

On average my Swiftmend will heal for about 8k (we’ll be conservative with 8k, but its crit heals have been up to 12k, and it actually crits fairly often. The lowest I’ve seen has been just shy of 7.5k). With a mere fifteen second cooldown, this definitely places Swiftmend in the realm of mostly being available whenever it is needed.

With a full compliment of HoTs on a target, more often than not, Regrowth will be more than strong enough of a direct heal to offset the excessive damage being taken. There are some fights, however, where constant direct heals are the only way to keep a tank alive. In these instances it is very easy to work Swiftmend into your workflow.

Let’s look at a breakdown of my healing in one night (click for full size):

It is obvious from the chart that my preferences lie in using HoTs in the most efficient way possible. Healing Touch doesn’t even make an appearance in this particular evening’s use, although I do make use of it when necessary.

What I really want to point out, though, is Swiftmend’s numbers (click for full size):

Although I did not have a need to use it often, the effective healing done was substantially more than my average Healing Touch hits for, even when it does crit. At a lower mana cost, it is easy to see why Swiftmend, unless one takes the Healing Touch talents, is a superior choice under most circumstances. Playstyle differences aside, the only time I strongly advocate the use of Healing Touch is when the damage a tank is receiving is so great that the only way to keep them alive is to use back-to-back-to-back-to-back direct heals.

I had planned to actually attempt some mathematical analysis and comparison of Swiftmend to Healing Touch, but not only is that not really an area I even truly know where to begin, it is also not something I could really do much justice. Of course, my general approach has always been by “feel” and not mathematical efficiency or effectiveness. If someone would like to help me out in this area I’d love to have that knowledge to add to my repertoire, and I’ll update this article (or post a new one most likely) with those details.