Modular abilities and skill shuffle (in any form, from beastform to true shapeshift) are the most powerful non-spellcasting abilities in the game.
Just as a very simple example, 3 points in modular shapeshift lets your character fly, swim underwater, become tiny or gain a wide variety of enhanced senses limited only by your aspects/fluff on your shapeshift. If you can't figure out how to use that, you're not trying hard enough
Likewise, even beastform alone lets you have a "physically awesome" form and one of the following (socially awesome, nerdy-awesome, jack of all trades) with a side of vast resources or contacts if you like that in your human form. Give it true shapeshift and you've got more ways of being physically awesome (stealth form, dodgy-form, tough-form, max-damage-form). Combine modular with beastform or true shapeshift and it really gets ugly.
Now for similar refresh you can be a full wizard, and at the levels you can start pulling SU or Mythic stuff + shift quickly the wizard has a stack of refresh. But if you're looking at bang-for-refresh, fill-any-role types of characters full spellcasters or shapeshifters are pretty much where it's at in DFRPG. It's possible to shine better in a single role than either with a pure mortal or something like a focused super-speedster build (where mythic speed is just a starting point for stunts/powers that build on the theme) but the generalist using magic or shapeshifting will be in shouting range, plus able to do other things (subject to aspect compels of course).