The advantage of a Shaman is their versatility. Unfortunately in Classic they're not really able to capitalize on that very much and they're kind of a weak class. You'll be expected to keep buffs up at the least, and back up heal. Depending on the group you may even be able to main heal, and unfortunately in classic healing is usually a Shaman's main job. Their dots, while powerful, are very costly. You really need to mitigate the high mana costs with Canni, regen spells, and a rubi bp to be on top of your game. Enchanters can slow pretty much just as well as you can.
In Kunark things change a bit with the very efficient Canni 3 and Torpor. Turgur's is also (obviously) very powerful and although most raid targets are slow/MR immune, it becomes a necessary spell when soloing. The main thing you want to get your hands on is a copy of Torpor as this completely changes the gameplay of a Shaman. This spell allows you to regain mana at a sickenly efficient rate, and allows the Shaman to take all roles in a group instead of just 1-2. You'll be able to heal, dps, buff, and debuff without a problem as long as you follow the golden Shaman rule: a second without casting a spell is wasted time.
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