Druid Spell Rotations
Due to the time sensitive nature of squeezing out as much as possible on a seven second timetable, effective use of spell rotations must be made. A spell rotation is a series of spells cast in a specific order over and over. The reason this is done is to set a casting schedule that allows Lifebloom stacks to always be maintained, while giving the player the most flexibility with the time left over.
In a typical two tank situation the first two spells in a rotation will be Lifebloom Tank 1 and Lifebloom Tank 2. These actions leave the Druid with three seconds of time spent with the Global Cooldown on, and four seconds remaining until the first Lifebloom expires. Due to latency it is important to allow for about a half second of leeway during the rotation, so realistically this leaves three and a half seconds of casting time. More often than not the third spell in a rotation will be a Rejuvenation on one of the tanks. Since Rejuvenation lasts for twelve seconds (and should be allowed to expire before refreshed so the last tick heals) a Druid can Rejuv Tank 1 on the first rotation, and then Tank 2 on the second rotation, and keep switching back and forth.
The final two seconds then of a rotation are usually saved for burst healing in the form of Swiftmend or Regrowth. If one of the targets receives spike damage they can be Swiftmended for a large amount, or if a raid member takes some unexpected damage that a raid healer cannot handle they can be Regrowthed. Also if one of the tanks receives more damage during the encounter a Regrowth can occasionally be placed on them for the additional HOT. Generally speaking, Regrowth should be used sparingly due to its heavy mana requirement.
When using Swiftmend it is important to note that if one of the tanks is spiked while the Druid is reapplying Lifeblooms, the Druid should then Swiftmend as the third spell, and reapply Rejuvenation with the fourth spell. Likewise if a raid member falls near death during Lifebloom reapplication, the third and fourth spell can be used to place a Rejuvenation on them followed immediately by a Swiftmend. This use of Swiftmend will deliver a burst heal to the target in 1.5 seconds, the same speed as the fastest heal of any other class while healing for a larger amount than not only their heals would, but a critical Regrowth would as well, and for less mana combined than one Regrowth.
Another important note is that it is fine to not use the fourth or sometimes even third spell in the rotation. The only completely critical aspect of each cycle is maintaining the three stacks of Lifebloom on all the targets it is required on. When the healing requirements are light, keeping up only the Lifeblooms still provides significant healing while not straining mana much at all. In the event that the Druid will likely be unable to refresh Tank 1’s Lifebloom in time (they had to move a bit to Rebirth, for example) they should not attempt to race the clock and cast Lifebloom on Tank 1 again, and instead should refresh Tank 2’s Lifebloom and spend the next spell rotation stacking Tank 1’s back to three stacks. The reason for this is that since the Lifeblooms are cast in immediate succession, if the first one is cast late, the second will also not make it in time due to the Global Cooldown.
Any time a target loses its Lifebloom stacks (including the beginning of the fight before they have any) the first priority is getting up to three stacks on all necessary targets. This takes precedence over almost any other casting except in the case of emergencies. Generally the only times a Lifebloom should be intentionally let to bloom are when the target will not be taking damage for more than ten or so seconds, or if the current stacks were applied midfight without trinkets activated. In this case once the trinkets become available again the Lifeblooms should be left to explode and then reapplied at their full capacity.
