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.

Short and sweet:

• Practice. Run regular instances, run heroics, run raids if you can get in. The more situations you are exposed to the more likely you are to find your comfort zone.
• Swiftmend is invaluable. Not only can it be used as an emergency heal when sudden spike damage occurs, but when combined with the Glyph of Swiftmend there is no need to even reapply a Rejuvenation.
• Lifebloom saw quite a nerf, but it is still a solid spell, especially for absorbing spike damage. Although some may choose to ignore it completely, for those Druids who still prefer HoTs over direct heals you definitely should not forget about it.
• Nourish should not be forgotten. When all of your other HoTs are up on a target and they are still taking consistent damage, depending on which glyphs you’ve chosen to go with, this spell could very well prove the best option. Play with it, see if it fits in with your preference or style of healing. It may not be, mathematically, a great heal, but it is still a tool that could prove useful.
• Never rely on one source for information. Read a couple of sources and see what both have to say. In a game with this many subscribers, and especially playing a class this diverse, there are plenty of variations when achieving the same goal.
• Shaman are evil.

These may as well have been included with the last post to be honest. I had more planned, but am having to change up a couple of things unexpectedly. Regardless, this concludes this series of posts.

I haven’t run any official numbers, and we all know everything feels nerfed to hell and back with regards to the fights, but I wanted to muse on some of my thoughts and see what others may be seeing.

 

Zul’Aman. We had been successfully downing the bear, eagle, and lynx bosses pre 3.0 anyway, and never tried to go further due to time constraints. Last night we went through the dragonhawk practically like cake, and a SSC pug practically had the same results earlier this week, Through it all I’ve noticed I don’t really use Lifebloom nearly as much as I used to, but I’m also still healing fine.

So, what am I doing you ask? Let’s explore what seems to be used the most:

(Links are Max Rank at 80.)

Regrowth. It has always been a good heal, and I’m casting it more and more now than ever before. Combining it with Living Seed (provided it is actually working… I kind of question the use since my target is generally staying around full health anyway, but at low health I would think it would be excellent) means a good spell grows that much better, especially with how often I crit.

Rejuvenation. This spell has always been a staple of any Druid’s healing, and will continue to do so. I like having it glyphed so that I have an increase in healing when the target is low health, which could easily make the difference in being able to get that extra portion of a second cast time for a HT or Regrowth to land, or for the GCD to finish so I can Swiftmend. Obviously I’m not comfortable with the target being that low in the first place, but any additional buffer is always a good thing in my book.

Swiftmend. Probably one of the most underused spells in the game, I use it regularly. There isn’t any change to this one so far, but I really look forward to playing with the glyphed version in Wrath.

Lifebloom. Oh how I miss you… I find myself not really concerning my time with LIfebloom much anymore. Yes, I’ll keep a stack on the MT, but in all honesty I could probably go without ever touching the spell again. It is still a good heal, and definitely helps control spike damage still, but it just feels like it is a waste more often than not. I actually let it bloom most of the time anymore instead of rolling a triple stack…

Tranquility. I still pretty much never use this, and I think a lot of the reason is simply because it is extremely situational. I did respec for the lowered CD, and so I’m going to try to use it more when I need to throw out a strong AoE heal, but that doesn’t happen often. Wild Growth seems to fit the bill for the limited AoE healing I’ve had to do.

Healing Touch. I hate this spell. The only time I ever use it is with Nature’s Swiftness for an emergency heal, and I just don’t see that changing. I suppose I need to read up more on the numbers regarding the glyphed version to see if I might ever use it otherwise, but I just don’t see needing it anytime soon.

Wild Growth. I’ll admit, I was very skeptical of this spell. I still think its mana cost is a little high as it currently stands, but I’ve been having a lot of fun with it anyway. Where this really shines is in our guild’s 10-mans, where we only run with two healers anyway. I find that it helps a lot in 5-mans too, allowing me to toss one more HoT on the tank with the byproduct of healing those around who need it.

 

Surprisingly enough, most of my healing seems to now come from casting Rejuvenation, queuing a Regrowth, and having Wild Growth ready. From our last raid I was using Regrowth and Rejuvenation about half of the time, with Wild Growth being a close third. Lifebloom was only at about ten percent…

 

I’d love to hear about other’s experiences. Currently it is extremely tough to get a feel for what I can and can’t heal, given how horrendously overpowered everyone is at the moment. Of course, I also have no idea whether I’m being efficient yet, since nothing really feels right to me since the patch. I just sort of toss out heals and see what happens lately, which I don’t like.