To be honest, Shaman right now is very hard to play with
I have played Shammy as my first char, it was nice at the beggining, but then at Rank 3 (nearly coming to 4) it was unplayable solo with even best Rank 3 gear.
Right now I have Rouge and Barb so I can compare.
Yeah Barbarian is weak, when it comes to dealing dmg (17-18 with one hit) .... please! But epic health (608 with R3 items at rank 3) make it up defo.
And as for Rouge... It is very entertaining to play with! High dmg, lots of crits, dodge, high speed, nice hp regen and hp itself.
So do not play Shammy as first char :D Or your fun will be ruined
PS. I have farmed shitloads of gold and bought R3 stuff for both Barb and Rouge at theirs rank 0... Its so fun to play :D I hope its fixed, so these items could be used after reaching rank 3.
Waiting for skills, obviously