What are a shaman's strengths?

Shamans have the following strengths:

* Versatility. With the amount of spells available, a shaman can adapt to pretty much any situation.

* Melee. With mail armour and shields, shamans have third highest AC in the Horde, behind warriors and druids in bear-form. With weapons buffs and this AC, a shaman can hold his own in most melee situations.

* Healing. While shamans are one of the worst healers in the game (better than paladins, but worse than druids and priests), they *can* heal. WoW does seem to be biased toward healing.

* Shocks. Shamans have three "shocks" -- insta-cast spells on the same timer that have a variety of effects. One shock has a DoT, one has spell interruption, and one has a snare effect.