I'm sure that this has been asked before, but i often choose + healing items over +Int, what is the comparison?

+1 Healing = + x Int?

thanks

Int is crit % for spells and healing adds on to your heal so if we had to have a look

+healX = spell heal + X = Total heal
+intx = spell heal where spell heal might be double because of crit

Therefore ... even if you can get a high crit ratio with int, healing is the better option cause you get a garuanteed extra heal and it doesn't over aggro like a crit heal.

Ive got bad english so forgive my explanations.
Hope this helps.

Some people choose to focus on 1 more than the other. Some like HUGE +int for a huge mana pool, some like huge +int to down rank spells more.

I go for a balanced approach, where I will no sacrifice too much +int for a minimal +heal gain.

+heal X does not give you a straight +X to your spell as it is based on (non-reduced)cast time:
3.5+ sec = 100%
3.0 sec = 85.71%
2.5 sec = 71.43%
2.0 sec = 57.14%
1.5 sec = 42.86%
Instant = 42.86%


And HoTs
1 tick = 20%
2 ticks = 40%
3 ticks = 60%
4 ticks = 80%
5+ ticks = 100% (divided equally between the number of ticks.)

One thing to keep in mind when you're making your decision between +healing and int is that the Cenarion armorset is almost completely int with a little +healing and mp5.

I'm a huge +healing junky (I have ~515), but I also don't want to be running out of mana. You generally have to make a choice: High int or high +healing on the same piece of equip. So I don't maximize my +healing at the cost of int... I do try and keep a decent manapool.

In any case, the table big9erfan posted is great. It shows you how much of your +healing is used at any one time. The two things which I'd like to add is that spells which you get before level 20 get a penilty to the +healing benefit. The other thing is that regrowth is a 2 second spell so it gets 57.14% benefit and you get half up front and half in the HoT.

Focus on +healing which allows you to downgrade (until expansion of course). Most +healing gear as enough int on it.

Keep in mind the new healing coefficients go into effect when the patch hits, probably in the next couple of weeks, when that happens downranking will be much more viable, and we still won't have the higher ranks yet.

However, depending on your spec, that int may become +dmg/heal with lunar guidance or mp5 with dreamstate. There is probably even an argument to be made that spirit will start to play a larger role with the top resto talents.

To answer your original question, I would look at the mana cost of the heal you cast the most, and the amount it heals for (for sake of easy math lets say a 150 mana heals for 1000 hp), then look at how many points of int you would need to cast it (10 in this example). That means 10 int will get you one extra heal for 1000 health. Next figure out if you didn't get the int how many times you could cast that heal per mana pool (lets say 30 times with a pool of 4500). Over the course of 30 casts you would need on average 33 extra points of healing on each to give you 1000 extra healing from your mana pool (the benefit the int gave you). Therefore, in this example, 10 int is about equal to 33 +heal (assumes full benefit of +heal to the spell you are analyzing), or reduced 1 int = about 3 +heal. You will have to substitute real numbers and go through this again.

I priority +heal more than +int when I'm healing. But I'm feral so I already have a huge manapool. XD

+Int simply increases your Mana Pool - or your total Mana available (blue bar)

+Healing adds the amount of "heal" onto your total healing with the following considerations.

+Healing is mitigated by a spell level coefficient as defined by:

+Healing * ((Spell Level + 6) / (Player's Level))

(Note: The spell level coefficient is capped at 100%. If the actual value is more than 100%, then only 100% is used. e.g., A Lvl 60 player using a Lvl 60 spell will not get 110% of +Heal, only 100%)

This was implemented during Patch-2. What this does is nerf somewhat any downgraded spells past 6 levels of your current level. So, if you are a 60 and you try using any healing spell of 54 or higher, there will be no penalty. If you try using a downgraded spell of lower than 54, then the coefficient above factors and slightly reduces your +Healing. The lower the spell, the larger the reduction.

There is also a time coefficient, which has been around for a long time, defined as:

+Heal * (cast time) / 3.5

So, the total impact to +Heal comes into effect with the formula:

+Heal * ((Spell Level)+6)/(Player's Level) * (Cast Time / 3.5)

What this means is that HoT spells within 6 levels of your own will get the full benefit of +Heal. Short cast time heals and / or spells lower than 6 levels will only get a portion of the +Heal add.

Heals like Regrowth have both factors. The cast portion will get nefed by the 2.0/3.5 factor, but the HoT portion will get the full benefit of the +Heal. Both Healing Touch and Rejuv will get the full +Heal, assuming the spell level is less than 6 difference.

Note that these rules above impact not only Druids, but the other healers - Priests and Pally's as well. And actually, these same rules apply to +Damage items as well. In the +Damage case, only the cast time coefficient really comes into play because no one that I'm aware of ever downgrades a damage spell ;-)

-Ellwyn