[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
So what do YOU use him for? (Especially tips on early- mid game appreciated here)?

Researchers - assuming a magic scale

Site searchers - Arcane probing, Haruspex with a Mace

Curse - the bane of most SCs

Behemoth enhancers - etherealize them first, can also cast Luck on them, and keep them healthy with Healing Light

Communion - using shamen as both slaves and masters, gives access to many useful level 3+ astral and nature spells (see LIZARDS GONE WILD in Alex's thread)

Protection vs hostile rituals like Mind Hunt or scrying spells

Forging - many useful items available at astral-1 & nature 1-2 (again, the Mace)

Cheap enough to be worth risking even if the opposition can field better (but more expensive) mind duellists - eg, vs Mystics, out of 36 tries you win 10, draw 5 , and lose 21. Weighted results: (15 * 180 - 26 * 110) / 36 = 4.44 gold - that's your expected relative loss to Arco in mage value, so it's insignificant enough to take the risk. Don't forget to use Light of the Northern Stars in these situations though.

That's all I can think of just now, but I'm sure I'm missing lots of other things shamen are good for.