I noticed that while in dragon form you don't regen health but you regen mana VERY fast. A little extra tip if your so inclined to use it. I have found it useful in lower levels while fighting in Orobas Fjords and even in the floating city's.

As a human I transformed into a dragon a couple times to speed up mana recovery. Most of the time, though, maxing Mana Efficiency and using Increased Mana on armour as a second enchantment (after Life Line) gave me more than enough mana as a ranger (mid to late game). As a dragon I also switched back to human to heal (mostly in a particular location), though the dragon healing spell was usually enough.

It's somewhat useful to quickly regain your mana if you were in human form, although it only works where you have space. Eventually though, with enough points into Intelligence, your mana regenerates faster than you can deplete it even in human form.

The Dragon healing spell is usually enough, but you can supplement it with potions (which do work in Dragon form). The Dragon's primary form of defense is its mobility, and it's only in one or two spots where you can't evade well (Zagan) that are dangerous to the Dragon.

Can someone explain why you would waste points in the dragon healing spell when the best healing potion heals better than it maxed to L5 (386 points over 5 secs vs 370 points)?

Because even level 1 of the dragon healing spell is often good enough and mana regenerates quickly. Also, dragon skill points are not really that scarce; you should be able to max Fire Sphere / Fire Breath relatively easily, and max everything eventually (between skill points and equipment bonuses).

Well I have L1 of the spell, which I use if I need to given the cooldown on potions if one potion isn't enough. But yeah, didn't think it was needed to level up.

Ive actually found the dragon companion spell as useful as any as it takes away just enough attention to destroy nests and things. Really helped in the well cave. As far as defense goes, thats been the best spell.