Marandahir
Crown-Forester (he/him)
Why go to that trouble when subclasses are the meat and potatoes of 5e?Just make new classes. Subclasses are really just a big pile of nothing.
Classes are notoriously hard to balance, and need to not step on each others' toes. If it steps on the toes of another class, it belongs as a subclass doing so (essentially, multiclassing through subclasses).
Class needs a clearly defined concept that can handle a dozen of subclasses that are each their own archetype.
Shaman doesn't meet this criteria. So it should be a subclass.
Heck we already have an "Animal Spirits" Patron from the D&D Adventurer's League (Icewind Dale season). I don't know if we need anything else for a Shaman!
Narrative has to come first. Mechanics for mechanics sake is how you get 3.5e splat cruft.