Swiftmend

Swiftmend is the ability granted by specializing as a restoration druid, and is an instant emergency heal that requires either Regrowth or Rejuvenation to be active on the target. The spell consumes one heal over time (HoT) effect to instantly heal. With the appropriate glyph, Swiftmend can be made to no longer consume any HoT, though it will still require one to be active on the target to be healed. As of 4.0 the healing done by Swiftmend is no longer dependent on the HoT consumed.

Talents

 * Any talents that improve healing generally, such as Gift of Nature
 * Improved Rejuvenation improves Swiftmend healing by 15%.
 * Living Seed causes critical heals from Swiftmend to place a buff on the target, healing for 30% of the critical heal the next time the target takes damage.
 * Efflorescence causes the ground around anyone you use Swiftmend on to become a healing area.

Tips and tactics

 * With Glyph of Swiftmend, the spell is no longer only an emergency heal, but can be used at any time for quick instant healing. As the mana cost of the spell is rather low, it actually becomes a fairly mana efficient heal. For this reason, Glyph of Swiftmend is extremely popular among Restoration druids.
 * Swiftmend is one of only two abilities (the other being Nature's Swiftness (druid ability)) available to a druid before level 80 to deliver a quick heal on an ally, which makes it very useful. It can be used either to maintain a tank's hp when he is taking damage faster than your HoT can sustain him, or as last minute save when an ally takes sudden or unexpected damage.
 * Without the glyph, it is preferable to wait until the HoT-to-be-consumed has nearly run out prior to using Swiftmend, so as not to waste potential healing from the HoT's remaining time.
 * In PvP (particularly battlegrounds) this is a great way to save someone when Nature's Swiftness is not ready or you don't wish to expend it. Casting rejuvenate immediately followed by swiftmend will often heal enough to buy time to stack HoTs on the target.
 * As it is instant, Swiftmend can be cast while moving. As Rejuvenation is also instant, that means you can deliver significant amounts of healing without having to stop. This is great for both escaping from monsters and in PvP, such as for flag running in Warsong Gulch.
 * During fights that tend towards spike damage it may be worthwhile to keep a HoT on individuals who do not need the healing, so that Swiftmend can be cast instantly if they suddenly sustain substantial damage.