I do have couple of questions about the shaman vocation. something that is not quite clear to me.
How do totems work?
does it have a range? can it be targeted by aoe-spells? do you have to re-cast totems everytime you go out of range? how much hp do they have? or is it simply a buff on your character?
As ferrados pointed out, totems are rather used to buff your character/your party members than to fight on their own. There are some special items/potions ingame that transform your totems into fighters of their own, but those are special cases. In the general scenario, they will be simply providing a buff and perhaps tanking some weaker creature (although they do not last very long when targeted directly by creatures)
Totems are immobile, which means that yes, they need to be re-cast every time you move out of range. However, they have pretty low mana-costs which means that you can use them even while hunting and moving around.
Their hp depends on the type of totem and the level/magic level of your character. They can be targeted by AoE spells, even though they take reduced damage from them.