What combat skills/spells shaman lack that paladins have:

• Dodge - Very defensive and useful
• Third attack - Any attack is always good
• Counter - Not as useful is it may seem since most attacks leads with a skill or a spell. Prevents the flee murder tactic, only to be replaced with flee, trip/bash or flee, spell.
• Dual wield - In most cases, a tanking paladin will need their shield. With skills that advocate battling alone, (i.e. heroism), a paladin will be tanking most of the time. Thus making this skill next to useless in a pk situation. In a leveling situation, unless there is a sanced warrior or another paladin, you'll be tanking.
• Heroism - That's frenzy without the luck bonus and the no-follow disadvantage.
• Wrath - An align dependant hellstream. Does less damage though even with heroism unless against undead. Curses not too often.
• Create food and word - Immense time saver. Allows paladins to practice skills and spells easier. Needed for long winter runs.
• Virtuous light - Luck plays a large part in everything a paladin does. Especially in a fight or rolling against a successful assassination attempt.
• Disarm - the skill a paladin uses when they want to save mana in a fight. Shamans are easier to disarm than paladins because they lack this skill though others have as easy a time disarming a paladin's weapon as a shaman's. Since they can't blind, disarm isn't as effective.

What shamans get in return?

• Hex - Knocks out virtuous light with over 100+ more hours of lasting effect. If the fights going to be long, throw this in.
• Trance - One big thing about paladins not present in shamans is the slow mana recharge. Shamans recharge faster overall than paladins. Needed for all the mana maledictions need.
• Scrolls/Protective shield - untrip/bash/grapple/bodyslamable = unlaggable.
• Word of recall - Live to fight another day.
• Identify/locate object - Lets shaman dress better than paladins.
• Faerie fire/faerie fog - 1st spell to commune upon rangers/thieves/ninjas
• Earthquake - Area attack
• Dispel magic - Another favorite 1st attack spell.
• Loads of maledictions - Despite having high spells maledictions work too well. One blind will mess your entire fight up.
• Demonic visage - like disarm without the save_vs_spell check but shamans can blind…
• Blanket of darkness - Live to fight another day. Evil spell altogether. Have a possibilty for a lot of abuse. Abue which I won't point out.
• Harm - shaman direct damage
• Ethereal passage - Don't need to summon swirling mist
• Blasphemy - This spell need no introduction to paladins, healers and fellow shamans.

Common skills comparison
Shamans are most versatile than paladins in their ability to fight any race with greater efficiency. Shamans' parry is less effective than paladins' parry mainly because of the weapon types. Sanctuary costs twice as much for shamans to practice but 2 extra practices for the vast advantage offsets it.

Race comparison
A fire giant shaman is more akin to storm paladins of the 1st age than human paladins of this age. Fire shamans take minimal damage from any weapon not ice. It is noted there are a greater number of ice attack weapons than wood attack weapons in the realms.

A paladin can't have a dwarven paladin yet there are duergar shamans.

Ending notes
The shaman loses one defensive skill but gains a few defensive spells. Dodge for word, blanket, protective shield and fly? I would trade it.

Wrath and heroism is cancelled out by a combination of curse, frenzy, harm, hex, demonfire. What's left is third attack versus all the maledictions a shaman gets. The important ones being blind, faerie fire, and deteriorate. Let's not forget dispel magic.

Neither class can lag another but blindness, plague, dysentery and curse does prevent a victim from running too far.

It is more difficult for a shaman to practice her skills and spells over a paladin but that is only a time advantage over anything else. Still it can be a pain in the butt to word buy more ducks and go back to your secret hiding spot.

Let's not forget a shaman has no experience penalty and the paladin has the highest.

Shamans have strong advantages when compared to their counterpart. It may be that paladins are underpowered or shamans are overpowered. I tend to think paladins need a bit more offensive while shamans need to be toned down a lot. Shamans right now remind me of paladins of 1st age which, as many know, are ridiculous.