Yeah I intend to update the first post for 2.4 probably over the weekend, I don't have time right now. However, I did already write down many of the changes: look at the list of "2.4 PTR Information" at the top of the first post, which should link to four other posts elsewhere in the thread. This includes two updated lootranks (one purple and one red) that take the new spirit/intellect formula into account. Another one of the linked posts discusses the effect of the new spirit/intellect formula on consumable, enchant, and gem choice, and these recommendations should find their way into the real post shortly. The haste/GCD post I'm not really 100% sure on and I actually think is probably wrong based on information posted later in the thread. The lifebloom nerf post appears no longer relevant since it seems that did not occur, although I didn't personally test it on live yet.

By the way, haste is still rated as zero in those new lootranks I just mentioned, because at the time I made them I was still of the mindset that its only purpose would be to try for 5 GCDs. My attitude at the time was that if you wanted 5 GCDs you should just pick items lower down in the list that had haste until you had enough, and if you didn't you should forget about haste. Since then I've started to think that haste is a good general stat, for exactly the reasons you've mentioned (being able to get healing out more quickly) and the only time it is really worth nothing is when you only want 4 GCDs and you are using a 4 GCD cycle. The final lootrank that makes it into the real post will probably put haste rating at some non zero amount, but you can look at the ones I just mentioned for the updated spirit/intellect numbers.

Hello all, long time reader, first time poster. I'm now at a point in my druid's career when I've finished earning most of the gear I planned for myself (In addition to being able to RP a Tauren Priest in raid gear), and I'm now trying to plan a new set of gear to work towards; my main questions to you all are similar to that of previous posters, regarding haste - the effectiveness of large amounts of spell haste, and its effect on multiple lifebloom stacks.

First, a little bit about my druid so you have context for my questions. My guild is finishing up BT currently, and we usually either have 1 or 2 druids in our raids (about 50/50). The druids are usually assigned to standard resto druid roles, i.e. normalizing damage through hot stacking.

Here's the gear I'm usually wearing in raids:Moonmaster <Sublime> Lightninghoof (probably going to be regemming/reenchanting this a little, putting in spirit enchants and some more Crimson Spinels)
and heres a sample WWS log, to give you an impression of my heal style: Wow Web Stats

A note on the WWS, the other druid has about 100 more healing than myself, which I believe accounts for most of his higher healing statistics.

Now, the first thing I wanted to bring up is a trinket I've had lying in my bank for a few months now: [Scarab of the Infinite Cycle]. Originally, I had thought it was pretty nifty when BC first came out, but when spell haste was nerfed, I banked it eternally in favor of other options. Currently, my trinkets are [Essence of the Martyr] and [Tome of Diabolic Remedy], although I will be swapping out the tome for a [Redeemer's Alchemist Stone], once I have the reputation/mats. Other notable trinkets I have on hand are [Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon] and [Bangle of Endless Blessings].

Spell haste seems like it could make a big difference for us now that it affects GCD, and this trinket puts a lot of spell haste on its proc. So my first question is, how useful might scarab prove in fights with large amounts of HoTs (bloodboil, RoS come to mind) - enough to give it a place for certain fights, to speed up HoT casting past my base haste (see more on haste below)? Im leaning towards other trinkets with higher heal values, but I wanted to hear others opinions on it as well, since it hasn't been mentioned much in this thread.

The second question is the same as other people's: how much haste is needed/effective, (for druids, the definition of "effective" seems to be the ability to keep 5 HoTs rolling, although I'm surprised with the regrowth changes people arent really discussing the reduction in regrowth cast time) to make a difference in raids? In addition to my question, however, I plan on being the actual guinea pig here and trying to get some numbers together to see how connection, and haste numbers, really affect druid healing.

Here's the set I have planned, gemmed and enchanted: 70 Tauren Druid
A few corrections to note: there's a +12 hit gem in the gloves, this will become a +10 spell haste, but that gem is not in Warcrafter as of yet, so I'm just using the yellow gem as filler. Similarly, [Memento of Tyrande] is equipped in a trinket slot, that will actually end up being [Redeemer's Alchemist Stone], which also is not in Warcrafter yet. EDIT: I also forgot to replace the neck; the correct neck will be the Vindicator's Pendant of Reprieve.

This set is all based off gear which I can get relatively quickly - barely any of it comes from SP (none from the later bosses), and some of the pieces I already have. The main thing I see is a decent drop in Spirit, and a huge drop in MP5 - something that I'm hoping will be made up by the new changes to Spirit, Innervate, and druid regen in general this patch. Im a potion chugger, and I usually come out of fights with a decent amount of mana, so I have a little regen room to work with.

This post is basically looking for hypotheses and opinions on the set, or ways to improve/change it - I'm aiming for 240 haste, as that's been a number mentioned more than once in druid haste threads around the internet. Once I get some more of the pieces, I'll start putting some data up, so we can figure out the right numbers for druid haste - I'm really betting on haste being the underdog stat, because otherwise I'm going to have lost a lot of DKP and money for some sub-par healing gear :P

Oh, and I almost forgot - my connection is very stable, it usually sits between 50 and 90ms latency; however, once I get this set I will be testing different latency caps, so that I can give some answers on spell haste and latency's affect on it. Personally, I think its ludicrous that Blizzard would be pushing a stat so hard, which relies on an out-of-game factor (connection speed/distance) for its effectiveness; I hope that as much effort as possible has been put into making latency a negligible factor in this equation.

Looking forward to seeing more opinions on spell haste; based on the route Blizzard is taking, it seems like spell haste could be The Next Big Thing for healers, and I'd love to get some more data on it put forth, so we can have an idea of what stats we're going to be dealing with for LK!

I'm getting 1.75 regrow casts (according to my spellbook) with my current haste set. I'm not sure where the 340 number he has is from. Lifebloom is good if you think they have 7 seconds. The low cost for the high healing done is still an "idealized" heal, from my perspective. Trash it doesn't matter as much, and fights where you're expecting more then what LB will heal through in 7 seconds, it's not a good option. I still wouldn't want to cast regrow out of tree, for whatever that's worth.

For trash, it's absolutely a great spell to use now, though. The new regen changes and the fact it gives you more swiftmend fodder makes it my new favorite trash heal spell.

Honestly there's not much reason to use flasks from what I've seen of 2.4 so far. Draenic Wisdom is very close to a flask just by itself, and you get to use Healing Power too. If you are really concerned about gold, I would recommend just using a mana oil and Healing Power elixir, and skip the guardian elixir. Those two consumables are both very cheap and very effective, especially mana oils, which persist through death and can get you through one or two nights for each set of 5 charges. When the "full consumables" call is made (if your raid has something like that) add a Draenic Wisdom elixir and Fish Sticks, which are both somewhat more expensive but are part of the overall best setup.