Agreed.

The only viable kind of combo for almost any kind of PK is
offense/air, and even the weaker major offense forms there
get badly crippled after a single boneshatter. Then take foci
like utility and defense, and it gets even worse. And the
strategies for shifters consist exactly of either 1) wearing
more hp, 2) zap self barrier_rod and 3) gang. It gets pretty
boring in the long run, and sometimes even it isn't enough
(dare I say non-offense shifter against a dagger spec warrior?
No amount of hp and dam redux is going to let you win that
fight unless the warrior is a confused newbie.)

Shifters just plain need more options to make them something
besides the newbie/exploring class they're mostly fit to be as
it is.