I can't give you any hard numbers but on the rare occasion that happens to me, I always go with an extra shred unless, due to some imperfect cycle, mangle is going to run out before rip finishes - then I'll re-apply mangle. Anything would be better than sitting at full energy for 2-3 seconds...even using Tiger's Fury.

Optimally aim for 295 resistance from your gear, as you'll get 70 from the hunter/paladin aura.

Yes, it is easy to stay crit immune.

I usually OT but had to MT last week and just used:

Earthwarden
Timelapse Shard
Adamantite Figurine
Shoulder defense enchant
Ironskin Potion

Just those alone get you to crit immunity against a lvl 73 mob.

Fill in the rest with greens to 295 resist and you are good to go. Optimally get the epic ring, JC neck, and the resist head enchant. Just use greens of >lvl 65 in other slots, can add those resist armor patches also.

Once you hit 295 resist, you should have room for 2-3 pieces of your normal tanking gear to help out your threat.

It's actually fairly easy and cheap to be both uncrittable and resist capped.

Aye, the Elixir of Ironskin is pretty nice -- it basically lets you wear any neck/trinket/ring combination (tanking oriented) without worrying about being crit.

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That being said, it reminds me of the real problem I have with the end-game Feral druid experience: a clear lack of focus.

Ferals are the ultimate roll-switcher amungst the Druid specs, yet even in our most flexible configuration, we still cannot, even in the best gear, play like a "real" Feral Druid (ie. fill multiple rolls effectively without exiting combat and changing gear).

While some of this distaste may be due to the existance and overall worship of the conventional raid healing/dps meter, I feel the problem goes much deeper than being "80% of a rogue and 80% of a warrior."

Overall, I think Blizzard has done a really poor (and almost ignorant) job of providing us with a spec that scales and performs well in high-stamina/end-game envirnoments. Even after countless hours of play, I still don't exactly understand what Blizzard had planned for the Feral spec. Since hitting 70 in the Burning Crusade, we have been plagued with itemization problems -- serious itemization problems. No other class has suffered so greatly purely from developer ignorance.

However, without blabbing on about furthur Feral pitfalls, I'd like to express my concern about the lack of focus given to the Feral class and I worry the next expansion might bring more of the same. I think the Feral community should urge Blizzard to better define our class as the next expansion approaches.

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Here are a few ideas I had about improving our spec and refining our focus:

Edgy's Wish List

I personally feel our spec should be far more damage (Cat) oriented: with the ability to offtank (Bear) or emergency heal (Cast) in the same set of gear.
-- by offtank, I mean similar to the role we play but less of an ability to main tank.
-- by heal, I mean have the freedom and sustainability to occasionally heal nearby players without serious mana concenrs (see below).

** We shouldn't require two (or more) distinct sets of gear: a true tank/dps hybrid should be able to do both effectively in the same set of gear. Instead, our itemization should encourage hybridization and well-rounded, roll-switching playstyles.

** Armor-laden weapons, trinkets, and rings are a pathetic fix for our class. It's like FAP, but worse because it consumes the item budget. All of our armor should come from traditional armor. Instead, Feral talents should provide an Improved Bear form which provides and improved armor modifier to compensate for the loss of armor.

** While in a Feral form, the damage done by physical DoTs (bleeds) should be mitigated by armor. (like Defensive Stance, Improved Defensive Stance, and Improved Righteous Fury)

** We should be crit immune (-5.6%) purely through Feral talents. We should never need to wear +defense/resilience to tank.

** Feral talents should make Agility provide additional effects in Feral and Caster forms:
-- Feral benefit: increase the chance of getting partial hits (ie. "almost dodged").
-- Caster benefit: increase mana regen (like Aspect of the Viper).

** Feral talents should make Strength provide additional effects in Feral and Caster forms:
-- Feral: reduce incoming damage by converting a percentage of the attack into a short-duration DoT effect (similar to a Block, but without any damage reduction; similar to Deep Wounds, except it reduces the initial damage by the total bleed damage).
-- Caster: increase +healing (like Nurturing Instincts)

You mention wasted energy with reference to haste. Does haste increase energy regeneration rates? I wasn't aware that haste would increase energy regen, but I could be misinterpreting your statement.