The problem with debuffs is we have the best slows and that is all anymore. We used to be top at the multi-resist debuffing with our mal___ line spells. This is no longer the case. The top debuff we always have shared with mages and still do, however, the usefulness of the unresistable debuff has really been marginalized. I get a resist message on our AA (that we share with mages) almost never. Used to be no big deal to share with mages because our unresistable line was a nice advantage. Not so much anymore. The cripple line has been pretty much abandoned for shaman, and given to druids. While slightly annoying, nothing game breaking and worth making a huge fuss about. Just means we are not the top debuffer, might argue best all around but then bards beat us there. So besides slow that is HIGHLY mitigated to the point of no real difference in shaman vs. chanter, we are not even close to top debuffing.
Another issue is CC. Enchanters are kings of CC, no issue there, give them all the help they can get. But what I have issues with is that druids and rangers both got VP-like spells. That used to be a shaman exclusive. Again, nothing ground breaking or worth crying over but you can note it.
As far as DPS goes, here's my take. Way back when (PoP era, and probably OoW too to a lesser extent) druids were the best DPS of the priest classes. But the gap wasnt very big. The longer the fights went on, the more DoTs the shaman could stack, the closer the parse would be. Shorter fight, druid would pwn with nukes. Just the nature of the beasts when comparing nukes and DoTs. But overall druids were only slightly ahead. These days, druids are far and away the best DPS. This is where I take issue. Our DPS should be better to narrow that gap with druids still being ahead. I dont ever want to overtake them, I just want a smaller gap.
Now moving on to the group enhancement. We are NOT the best overall group enhancers. We are the best group enhancers for a CERTAIN TYPE of group: IE melee heavy. For caster heavy groups, enchanters do much better with their aura that adds a nuke proc, mind buffs and CC ability to keep those pesky mobs away from the casters that tend to die quickly. Think about it, our main buffs (champ, lynx, unity) do pretty much nothing for a caster. Nice for caster pets but do you want to take a shaman for that group to make a pet better or a chanter to make the caster better? Not even close in my book. Gimme the chanter any day of the week. Only advantage would be our back up healing, but with mercs around I rarely find myself having to heal unless its an emergency where a chanter could have CC'd things and solved the issue alot easier. Again, here I have no problem. A caster heavy group SHOULD have a chanter instead of a shaman and a melee heavy group SHOULD have a shaman instead of a chanter. I think this is the way things ought to be.
These are just my thoughts on the topic. Again, I dont think much needs to be changed other than finding some ways (that i've outlined before) to improve out DPS and therefore usefulness in groups. The rest has been some much needed balancing and loving for chanters and druids. But I could be totally mistaken, and that is why people who play more than me post on this
"Sometimes you have to face your demons, sometimes the demon is you." - Yesak Demunstorm