Quote Originally Posted by FinagleABagel View Post
Speed runs have zero to do about mana efficiency so long as you have enough to continuously DPS and keep the tank alive. My point is that Benediction is one shot and then you are basically out of it for awhile.

You shouldn't need to chain cast SS. Given a 6k HP Tank - stoneskin is 1080 mitigation. That's a good "heal".
If you dont have a Bard, efficiency can impact speed, but generally I agree with you there. The OP's question is about dealing with unexpected spikes and surprises - Benediction is one tool in our kit for offsetting that exact problem.

I agree with you that relying on it for every pull is poor play, but that wasnt what I advocated. I do a few speedruns every day on my WHM and rarely need Benediction - I usually use it so I can Holy a few more times to further speed up a run since I know the pulls like clockwork and don't need it.