Read over this page and all the helpfiles it links to (mainly the key concepts): http://www.carrionfields.com/help/class/shapeshifter.php

After reading over that material, you should have a solid understanding of what forms are, when you get them, how to use them, etc.

Until you have a form, you'll have to rely primarily on partial shifts for damage. Like another player said, your best bet is probably horns of the bull, but as a new player, it certainly wouldn't hurt to practice whatever skills and spells you want for learning purposes, even if people (correctly) tell you that you probably won't use them later on.

Since hitroll / damroll, attack type, number of attacks, etc. are all determined by the forms, shapeshifters tend to gear almost exclusively for HP. Until you have a better grasp on a game, that's what I would do. Things like saves (save vs. spell, save vs. mental) are important, but go ahead and punt on that for now.

Learning where to get equipment comes with time. Rely on friends and allies for information. Explore as much as you can. If you're pretty new to CF (and not just this class), my advice would be to simply write off dying and simply explore, learn, and have fun. Every character gets easier and better as your game knowledge grows. If you hemorrhage constitution (by dying) with your first few characters in return for a much better understanding of the game, then that's probably worth it. Feel free to make use of the unofficial resources linked to on the website as well.

The great thing about shapeshifters is that they're hard to do wrong. Make sure you keep your intelligence, wisdom, and constitution maxed out or as high as possible so you get the highest returns out of HP, mana, and training gains. Learn the ins and outs of your forms and what they're good at and not so good at fighting. Keep your controls up at all times to maintain bash / trip protection. Remember too, that when you reach zero mana in-form you are forced to revert. This can have dire consequences as an air form. Be weary of poison / plague or anything else that can drain your mana or prevent it from regenerating.

To summarize: Read the help files and try to make friends IC. You'll learn a lot, including things that aren't always cool to talk about on the forums from people by hanging out with them in-character. Supplement that with a healthy attitude for learning and exploration and you'll be in good shape in no time.

Oh, and stay away from BattleRagers.