Define "equally" geared? There's nothing EQUAL about this game what so ever :P And on that note, there's nothing "equal" between a Shaman and a Rogue in PVP. Hell you can have a NAKED rogue facing off against a Shaman, and the odds still favor the rogue!
Fact of the matter of what the previous posters are saying, is that "typically" speaking...as a shaman your going to have to "survive" their initial attack, and the uncontested onslaught that WILL follow. Rogues have the tools to get the first shot, and we unfortunetly don't have reliable tools to prevent that. Sure you can argue that "well if I have this that and the other totem" down, that will "help". And situationally...it might. Course thats based all on the assumption that you "KNEW" a rogue was going to attack at a specific moment, NOT a luxury a rogue gives typically. That type of situation is something more akin to "dueling" a rogue...but dueling is NOT pvp!
Fact is that PvP gear excels in STAM, Armor and Res, which sad to say is our "defense" against rogues (notice I didn't say full proof defense). Goal is to outlast their stunlock, and run their energy gauge into the ground, at which point we finally a very small window of time to counter attack...assuming you lived!
Now, what do you do once your out of the lock? Well you can waste about 6 seconds trying to get a full spread of totems down to "start" fighting them (not something I recommend since 6 seconds is enough time for them to get energy back for their skills). Perhaps you can get maybe ONE heal off, and start a counter attack, or you can role the dice and hope you can get one attack off and 1-2 shot them. Either way, you only got a second or 2 to make your choices, because a "good" rogue is gonna hit you with SOMETHING, which typically means your about to get locked up again..and your not going to live thru a second onslaught.
Quote:
Their tools > our tools
That pretty much sums it up. Rogues are better at PvP than we are. Course arguably we're better at PvE than they are...but thats a different topic.