World-of-warcraft – How does mana regen work in Cataclysm

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I'm an 85 Discipline Priest with mana troubles healing heroics. I was wondering how mana regen works exactly.

It used to be like this

  • You regenerated mana at certain a rate (based on Spirit and MP5).
  • If you cast a spell, the rate would drop significantly and stay that way until you had not cast a spell for 5 seconds.
  • The rate drop would be significant but could be made less awful by Talents, for example the Priest had a "Meditation" talent.

Here's what I think I know about mana regen now

  • MP5 is gone.
  • Mana regen is only based on Spirit.
  • You can mouse over Spirit on the character sheet to see pretty numbers.
  • Most (all?) healing specs have a "Meditation" benefit to up mana regen in some ways.

So how does it work?

Does mana regen have anything to do with casting a spell anymore? When will I be regenerating mana at a lower rate? Do I need to stop casting for 5 seconds and then stay that way to regen? Are there any other variables I'm missing?

Best Answer

The "five second rule" no longer exists in Cataclysm. You have a fixed rate of mana regeneration while in combat, and another fixed rate of mana regeneration while out of combat.

Out of combat

Your out-of-combat mana regeneration rate is based on your spirit. "Mana per 5 seconds" (MP5) no longer exists on items, and has been replaced by spirit. (You'll still see it on mana oil, though.) Every class that has a mana bar will regenerate mana this way while out of combat.

In combat

All classes start with a baseline regen rate of 5% of your base mana per second. (Base mana is the amount of mana you would have with 0 intellect.) Classes using healing talent specs gain a passive ability called Meditation, which lets half of your out-of-combat regeneration continue while in combat.

For non-healing specs such as mages, warlocks, and shadow priests, spirit does absolutely nothing for your combat regen. Many talents and abilities exist that give you bonus mana in combat, however: Replenishment, Archangel, Hymn of Hope, Shadowfiend, etc. Mages can passively regenerate mana using Mage Armor.

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