Moonkin Healing for Valithria

EDIT: I originally thought this was a great idea for a post. Now I am not so sure. Hamlet made some good points in the comments that make me think this might be pointless. Healing while on the move could be helpful, but the shifting in and out of Moonkin form could kill your mana. I'm leaving the guide up, but realize it is speculative and may not be helpful in the encounter.

With the new wing of ICC opening today, we have a couple new fights to try out, and one of them is completely different then anything we've ever seen before. On the surface the Valithria Dreamwalker fight seems like a typical add rush fight, but instead of DPSing the "boss", you have to heal her to full. As a result, moonkin may be asked to fill a role that they are not familure with: healer. In this post I would like to take a look at the healing spells we have available and where moonkin can get the most bang for their buck.

Disclaimer: Apparently my first disclaimer was not clear enough. THIS IS NOT A RESTO GUIDE. This is a guide for Moonkin Healing Valithria. Not the raid. Valithria. I am writing this guide from the perspective of a moonkin who is unfamiliar with his healing spells and wants to maximize his HpS on the Valithria encounter. As such, I focus on through put instead of utility or mana efficiency. I am also assuming that the player is using their normal Moonkin gear. If you have a healing set that will probably change the math a little bit, but you shouldn't need this guide if you're familiar with druid healing. That said, if any of you do see big holes in my analysis please post them in the comments. Since I do not play resto, I may have missed something.

Moonkin Healing as Moonkin:

This is the role I think most of us will be playing. The primary role is to DPS the adds down, but if we have down time we should heal the boss as much as possible. It is probably also a good idea to HoT up the boss while we are on the move. With that in mind I am using my normal Moonkin spec for this section of the analysis. I am also assuming I have 4000 spell power, 47% Crit chance, and 19.5% Haste from gear.

Healing Touch: This is the big healing spell available to druids. It is generally not used by Restos because the cast is to long, but it has a ton of through put in the right situation.

Avg HT Cast Time = (3/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.7191)+(3/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.7191)
Avg HT Cast Time = (2.2537)*(0.2809)+(1.8781)*(0.7191) = 1.9836 seconds

Avg HT HpS: ((4089+(4000*1.6114))*(1+(0.5*0.51)))/1.9836 = 6665 HpS

Nourish: This is the second direct heal available to druids. It has a shorter cast time and synergies well with HoTs. It will generally be Haste Capped.

Avg Nourish Cast Time = (1.5/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.8511)+(1.5/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.8511)
Avg Nourish Cast Time = (1.1268)*(0.1489)+(1)*(0.8511) = 1.0189 seconds

Avg Nourish HpS: ((2035+(4000*0.671))*(1+(0.5*0.51)))/1.0189 = 5812 HpS
Avg Nourish HpS w/ HoT: ((2035+(4000*0.671))*1.2*(1+(0.5*0.51)))/1.0189 = 6975 HpS

Regrowth: This is a hybrid spell, part nuke and part HoT.

Avg RG Cast Time = (2/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.8511)+(2/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.8511)
Avg RG Cast Time = (1.5024)*(0.1489)+(1.2520)*(0.8511) = 1.2893 seconds

Avg DH RG Healing: (2364+(4000*.539))*(1+(0.5*0.47)) = 5582 Health
Avg HoT RG Healing: (2345+(4000*1.316))*(9/7) = 9783 Health

Avg RG HpET (5582 + 9783)/1.2893 = 11917 HpET

Lifebloom: Another hybrid spell, but starts with the HoT and ends with the Nuke. The execution time for LB will be the same as that of Nourish, so I will just pull that value in my calcs.

Avg DH LB Healing: (776+(4000*.516))*(1+(0.5*0.47)) = 3507 Health
Avg HoT LB Healing: (371+(4000*0.666))*(9/7) = 3902 Health

Avg RG HpET: (3507 + 3902)/1.0189 = 7272 HpET

Rejuvenation: This is a basic HoT. Very efficient and has a lot of through put if allowed to tick all the way through. Again the execution time is the same as Nourish.

Avg Rejuv HpET: (1690+(4000*1.88))*(9/7)/1.0189 = 11622 HpET

Conclusion: It is not surprising that HoTs win the day. The basic strategy I would use is to HoT up the boss as much as possible while moving. I think having some targeting macros would be helpful here. If you do have a few seconds to heal the boss, cast Regrowth, maintain the other HoTs, and use Nourish as filler if you have time.

Moonkin Healing as Tree:

I don't know if this will be necessary or not, but I also looked at this question from the perspective of a moonkin picking up a healing spec specifically to heal Valithria. Here is the spec I used. I skipped a lot of the talents that are generally considered standard resto talents. This spec is built purely for through put, and again I skipped a lot of the utility. Specifically I skipped Wild Growth because accounts from the PTR indicate it won't hit Valithria.

The math will use the same stats I used above, but I did modify the crit chance base upon talents I picked up.

Healing Touch: There are a lot of talents that improve Healing Touch, Most of which are not typical of a resto build. If you are using a standard resto build expect your values to be less.

Avg HT Cast Time = (2.5/(1.195*1.1*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.75)+(3/(1.195*1.1*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.75)
Avg HT Cast Time = (1.7073)*(0.25)+(1.4228)*(0.75) = 1.4939 seconds

Avg HT HpS: ((4089+(4000*2.011))*(1.1*1.04)*(1+(0.5*0.54)))/1.4939 = 11800 HpS

Nourish: Does not improve as much as Healing Touch but the addition of the Glyph does help.

Avg Nourish Cast Time = (1.5/(1.195*1.1*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.875)+(1.5/(1.195*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.875)
Avg Nourish Cast Time = (1.0244)*(0.125)+(1)*(0.875) = 1.0031 seconds

Avg Nourish HpS: ((2035+(4000*0.871))*(1.1*1.04)*(1+(0.5*0.79)))/1.0031 = 8780 HpS
Avg Nourish HpS w/ HoT: ((2035+(4000*0.871))*(1.32*1.1*1.04)*(1+(0.5*0.79)))/1.0031 = 12155 HpS

Regrowth: Regrowth gets a lot of help from a Resto spec and a Glyph of Regrowth. The strange thing here is that you will want clip the HoT in the end to get 20% buff.

Avg RG Cast Time = (2/(1.195*1.1*1.03*1.03*1.05))*(1-0.875)+(2/(1.195*1.1*1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2))*(0.875)
Avg RG Cast Time = (1.3659)*(0.125)+(1.1382)*(0.875) = 1.1666 seconds

Avg DH RG Healing: (2364+(4000*.647))*(1.2*1.1*1.04)*(1+(0.5*0.75)) = 9347 Health
Avg HoT RG Healing: (2345+(4000*1.579))*(1.25*1.1*1.04)*(9/7) = 15923 Health

Avg RG HpET (9347 + 15923)/1.1666 = 21661 HpET

Lifebloom: Like Nourish doesn't get a lot of help from a resto spec. EDIT: Hamlet and Andreas brought up a good Lifebloom strat in the comments. If you stack LB to three by refressing LB at the end of the HoT you get 3 free HoTs.

Avg DH LB Healing: (776+(4000*0.619))*(1.1*1.04)*(1+(0.5*0.5)) = 4650 Health
Avg HoT LB 8 tick Healing: (371+(4000*0.799))*(1.05*1.1*1.04)*(8/7) = 4897 Health
Avg HoT LB Healing: (371+(4000*0.799))*(1.05*1.1*1.04)*(9/7) = 5509 Health

Avg RG HpET: ((3*4650)+(3*4897)+(3*5509))/(3*1.0031) = 15009 HpET

Rejuvenation: It gets a lot of help from a resto spec, and the Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation. Again the execution time is the same as Nourish.

Avg Rejuv HpET: (1690+(4000*2.257))*(1.2*1.1*1.04)*(6/5)/1.0031 = 17602 HpET

Swiftmend: A nice instant heal with a higher HpET then Nourish.

Avg SM HpET: (1690+(4000*2.257))*(1.2*1.1*1.04)*(4/5)/1.0031 = 11735 HpET

Conclusions: If you are a focused healer on Valithria is very similar to what is normal for a DPSer. Keep the HoTs up and nuke when you have the chance. Make sure you slow roll Lifebloom and clip the end of Regrowth. Other then that keep Rejuv up and use Nourish as filler. On the move Swiftmend can give you a quick burst of healing.

TL-DR:

If you are a moonkin looking to put some heals on Valithria while you DPS down the adds, it is best to put up Rejuv and Lifebloom as you move. If you have a few moments in between add waves, then you want to add Regrowth and Nourish to your rotation. If you pick up a healing spec to heal the boss, then your rotation is Regrowth, Rejuv, Slow Rolling Lifebloom and Nourish, but you want to make sure to clip Regrowth slightly to take advantage of the Glyph of Regrowth.