You know… I like spirit.  You get mana regen, you get + healing in tree form, and with talents 10 spirit is really 11.5… it’s nice.  I like spirit so much that until recently I’ve greatly favored it over + healing.  

Lately I’ve been having a slight change of heart.  I think perhaps my love of spirit blinded me a little… that and too many past experiences running with bad groups.  If you are running with a group that’s taking forever to kill stuff, has a tank that needs constant spamming, and you seem to be the only healer actually healing… you really do need all that stacked spirit to make it through the fight.  Especially because you just know that the other healer that you *think* is tossing the occasional heal, somehow always manages to run out of mana and call for your innervate.  You get the mental picture right?  We’ve all been in THAT group….

But you know…  In a good group, where everyone is contributing equally, and you have a good makeup with replenishment, I think maybe spell power is better.  I’m not saying ignore spirit, or that it’s not a good stat…. but I found that I was always finishing fights with 3/4ths mana and an unused innervate so I’ve made a few changes… my blue sockets use to be Sparkling Sky Sapphire … now i do a Purified Twilight Opal gem… my bracers use to sport a spirit enchant, and they now sport spell power.  I’m still rocking the spirit trinkets of course.  But I have noticed a change in my output with just a few small changes…

Also I feel I can make this change because I have a couple of other pieces that are really helping with mana conservation.  With lifebloom becoming ever more gimped, I think most of us would agree that Rejuvenation is the new raid heal of choice.  Between Spark of Hope and Idol of Awakening I’m knocking a lot off the cost up front.  Think about how much mana this saves over the course of a boss fight…

I’m not sure this post has a real point other than, pay attention to how you’re doing during and finishing boss fights.  I don’t think there is a set answer about the spirit / spell power choice.  I think you need to always be adjusting and it depends on your healing style and your guild’s group.  What’s right for me, might not be right for you.