Shamans are great at everything. Soloing, Grouping, Raiding, you name it.
A lot of people use a browser based program called "Discord". You need to sign up on it with an e-mail account.
I don't think there is a necessity to min/max a shaman, but from what I know it's generally considered an Ogre for the Front Stun Immunity (FSI).
If your not min/max'ing you should just play as what you want. In the end, no one is going to exclude a shaman in a raid because of their race.
The wiki here on P99 is really great and I just have a few links you might want to check out.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Loraen%...election_Guide
https://wiki.project1999.com/Shaman
That's just my two cents, I'm sure there are many others who could give great advice. Good luck!