AST: Nocturnal vs Diurnal

[Sidra]

If you use HoTs properly than Diurnal is actually more healing for less mana.

Yes - but the fact its slow healing over time also makes it less effective in very high damage situations where you'd rather have stronger healing this second than extended duration mana efficiency.

[Leiloni]

Yes - but the fact its slow healing over time also makes it less effective in very high damage situations where you'd rather have stronger healing this second than extended duration mana efficiency.

Not really. HoTs offer a buffer of constant healing - far more than you'd get with the shields - acting as a supplement to Benefic I/II/ED spam. They aid in keeping your target's HP up and allow you to spend less mana because you don't have to spam Benefic II as much, especially if you have both HoTs up on your tank (two HoTs is an extra 150 potency every 3 seconds which makes up for that tiny loss in potency on Benefic I/II). Plus casting them with Lightspeed, they're much cheaper as well, and getting them up instantly gets the tank the buffer they need quickly. Then you should be able to get a few cheap Lightspeed Benefic II's up before it wears off and you can go back to Benefic I with II/ED as needed. It's really a much better way to keep someone healed up. It's more healing, less mana, and less spammy. Besides, your 5% extra healing is cancelled out by the fact that I can cast 5% faster (along with having a shorter GCD) in Diurnal stance, so I'm putting out the same amount of potency/GCD with my Benefic I/II as you are with the added benefit of free HoTs rolling, and all you have is a shield that will break instantly and waste your mana.