This post is specifically meant to address the changes in healing for the mistweaver after the 5.1 nerf and the subsequent 5.1 hotfix that so drastically affected this spec.
I will start with the new stat priorities:
Spirit -> Int -> Haste to 3148 -> Crit -> Mastery -> Haste above 3148
Mastery may look like a nice stat for output, and it is, but with the mana increases from the hotfix, crit is needed as much as possible, along with as much spirit as possible to not run out of mana mid fight. If you are early in gearing, and mana is an issue, you might even want to consider pushing crit before haste to 3148, but if you choose this route, switch back to haste to 3148 as quickly as possible.
Tank Healing
Tank healing will be your strongest role post 5.1. Mistweavers can aoe heal, and can do it quite well, but our aoe is so expensive, and as such it is better to let the classes that have less mana constraints on their aoe focus on the aoe healing. The one notable exception to this is garalon and elegon, as these fights are built with monk aoe healing in mind.
If you are tanking, always start by placing your statue within 20 yards of either the other tank, your melee group, of if the range is grouped up, the ranged. I personally like to put it near the other tank so it can best benefit the other tank.
One tank healing
If your assignment is to keep one tank alive, and not worry about the other, then this is what you should do. Cast renewing mist on the tank. Then cast Zen sphere on the tank. Then cast soothing mist until you have 3 chi, at which point you will cast enveloping mists on the tank. (Soothing Mist is used instead of jab, because during soothing mist channeling, both enveloping mists and surging mists are instant cast heals) Cast this even if the tank doesn't need it, because you need the chi spent to create mana tea stacks for mana. If the tank drops below 50% and you don't have an enveloping mist available, cast surging mists. Surging mist will give you a chi for each cast, and thus will let you cast enveloping mists sooner. Refresh renewing mists and zen sphere whenver they fall off. (Cast your mana tea stacks whenever damage is low, or if you have it glyphed, on cd) Use Life Cocoon when there will be a predictable damage spike on your tank, or if he is below 20%.
NEVER HARD CAST ENVELOPING MIST OR SURGING MIST!
Dual tank healing
Sometimes you may be asked to try to keep two tank up at the same time. This is very doable with a Mistweaver. The only difference is that you don't cast zen sphere, and instead use the chi you would have used for that to roll a second enveloping mist on the second tank. Dual tank healing requires a lot more switching of soothing mists target between tanks.
Aoe Spread Healing
There are two options for aoe spread healing, but for both, it is best if you are in melee range. Both options start with you rolling renewing mists on the raid on cooldown and then jabbing for chi. Whenever there will be a big aoe damage spike coming in the next 10-15 seconds, cast thunder focus tea, and then uplift in order to reset the 6 stacks of renewing mist to their original duration. Then, you can either use uplift or chi burst to spend the chi you gain with renewing mists. If melee is stacked, and their is a path of ranged leading to the melee, then stand at the back of the ranged, and then cast chi burst on the boss, it will run through the ranged, healing them, and then through the melee as it hits the boss. This results in extremely high healing output. If the melee are not stacked, or there is no clear path of ranged to shoot it through, use uplift instead. If your renewing mists targets are close to full health, then chi burst is the better option, even if there is not a good group to shoot it through (melee will almost always be in a stacked group around boss, giving you a group to shoot it through). Regardless of which you use, during any mechanic where the bulk of the raid goes below 70%, you should use revival as an instant cast health pick up. (below 50% is even better, but if you wait for the raid to get this low, you run the risk of a raid member dying before you cast it, and the benefit is only slightly greater)
Aoe Stacked Healing
Your best option here is spinning crane kick, but unfortunately, since the hotfix, this is now too expensive to do more then 2 or 3 times in a row. so inbetween, use chi burst on yourself (if stacked away from the boss) or on the boss (if group is stacked on the boss). It is helpful to roll renewing mist as well, but it is now always easy to squeeze this in, if the damage is high. If the bulk of the group goes under 70%, use revival to pop people back up. You can also cast renewing mist 10-15 seconds before stacking and use uplift in between spinning crane kicks, but if you choose this approach, you need to set it up 10-20 seconds in advance. You can also cast Zen sphere on a target in the stack, and then cast it to burst the hot for an aoe heal, but the 4 chi cost to use it seems too high for me when so many other options are available.
Level 30 Talent
If one tank healing, take Zen sphere and cast it on the tank. If aoe healing, take chi burst. If you want something easy to use that will not require much thought, use chi wave, but be aware that this is only a hps gain if you are using the other two abilities the wrong way. Proper use of chi burst and zen sphere accomplish more then chi wave.
Level 90 Talent
People like to debate this one, but there is really no debate, especially after the hotfix change that made spinning crane kick to expensive to use a lot. Pick Xuen. He does a lot of damage, and does incredible amounts of eminence healing. In virtually all cases (there are some wierd situations that are otherwise) you will get more raw healing output from Xuen. If you are doing heroic raiding, there may be times to use the others, but otherwise Xuen is best. Some argue chi torpedo is good because it is free and can be cast often, but using chi torpedo will prevent you from having roll available for movement, which is not a good thing, so I still choose Xuen.
Jab vs. Soothing Mist
Jab is now more expensive then it used to be, but still produces more chi then soothing mist will. So, if your gear is good enough, jab for chi, if not, then soothing mist may be your better option. If you choose to jab for chi, it is critical you have good jade statue placement.
Eminence Healing
Eminence healing will never produce the same output as outright healing, but can be beneficial at certain times. Fights like elegon, where dps gets a buff, are great for eminence healing. It is also great in low damage phases. The most traditional way is to be in melee range, jab for chi, cast tiger palm once every 20 seconds to keep the buff up, and then use blackout kick as your chi spender that will also create a buff that can stack twice. By keeping both buffs up, you can push around 25-30k heals in decent gear. Also, you should be using Xuen on cd while eminence healing. Make sure you spend your mana tea on cooldown as eminence healing is very mana intensive.
There is also another way to eminence heal that requires little effort and can produce higher healing numbers, but it is very inefficient on mana, and will cause you to go oom before the fight is over. (I use this in lfr when I am too lazy to actually heal...and I still often get 40-50k heals) You start by placing your statue near the melee group, and then from ranged cast crackling jade lightening. When you get 4 chi, cut off your lightening cast and cast two chi bursts. Make sure you are behind all the range when you cast chi burst and that the melee group is between you and the boss. Once chi is spent, go back to crackling jad lightening. Use Xuen on cd, and make sure to spend your mana tea stacks on cd, because this will drain your mana fast. If chi burst placement is optimal, you can put up some very good healing numbers using this style. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS STYLE IN REGULAR RAIDS, your raid leader might take your spot away if you do.
Gems, Enchants, and Buffs
Previous to 5.1 we had some wiggle room with these, but post 5.1, spirit is king. If you can'get spirit, get crit, and if you can't get that, get int. Mastery and haste should only be taken if there are not other options. I am not going to go into a big list on these as there are plenty of sites you can go to to get optimal gems, buffs, and enchants.
If money is not an issue, or time to farm the mats is not an issue, steamed crab is the food of choice, not feasts...even if your raid does drop feasts before each boss.
In a later post, I will give some tips on specific bosses to maximize output, but that is a post for another day.
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