#1 Keeper
Before the Virtuoso came, the Keeper had access to a secret combo that allowed her to cast Barrier permanently. Mind Blast with the cooldown upgrade for barrier allowed her to always have it ready as long as she didn't barrier herself. Unfortunately mind blast glitched and stopped giving her barrier when she died, and it wasn't patched until this ability was long past irrelevant on her.
Now, she is still a force to be reckoned with, with two unique abilities: Static Cage and Dispel. Combine these with the Yavanalis staff that gives Guard on hit, and Chain Lightning which is her fastest means to generate that guard, and the Keeper in the right party can become an unstoppable force that even Templar Horrors and Knights on Heartbreaker are afraid of.
As a bonus she's even received a buff to Mana Surge, which used to only freeze enemies when the Keeper's own barrier ran out. Now it works on your party members too.
#2 Assassin
Every complaint I've ever heard about the Assassin usually comes from lack of knowledge or skill. I've heard it all: Threat reduction passive doesn't work, she's too squishy, her attacks miss, she doesn't deal enough damage.
All of these things are wrong, just misconceptions. I will admit that she is more difficult to use than the Hunter, but she is much more powerful, especially with the addition of the new dagger that grants 500% flanking damage. I wish I had that dagger so I could tell you more, but when played in the right hands, the Assassin can kill the most dangerous threat in Heartbreaker before it even sees your other party members... the Templar Archer that confuses your party and turns on friendly fire. This alone makes her one of the most underrated characters in the game. No other character can kill a single target quicker than her.
I've found that with practice (and I guess my flawless internet connection =/) and patience, I don't miss with her attacks if I'm careful. I know for a fact that Easy to Miss works because every time I don't have it on her or another rogue, the enemy always turns around after a twin fangs but doesn't with the passive. Her squishyness shouldn't be much of a problem anymore with the buff to Stealth, there are still problems, but again this is where skill and party composition comes into play.
#3 Necromancer
Almost as many times as I've heard complaints about the Assassin, the common opinions on the Necro: She's too strong and steals life drain from her party members, she's squishy, spirit mark is useless. Again all of these are untrue or skewed opinions.
During the days when Perilous was getting easier and easier, the Necro was an invincible monster. If she had any life drain on kill, her Spirit Mark would revive her from death even after she entered the Fade. This is still true but less useful because each time she enters the fade, your enemies get stronger. However this is not even her biggest strength.
Walking Bomb has always been the most powerful magic attack in the game, and now that it's been updated to be able to Critical Hit, its damage potential even rivals that of the highest DPS classes. Not only that, but the recent patch to fix Mind Blast now means that she can generate barrier and even guard with the Yavanalis or Ice Armor with the Heart of Despair. Using this strategy with Fade Step and Cloak allows you to replace Spirit Mark entirely and still have a highly survivable build.
And yes, she steals kills from party members. This only means that you need to balance your party based on this, it doesn't make her unplayable. You should really only have one other DPS class and the rest support or defense regardless if the Necro is there.
#4 Legionnaire
Opinions on this dwarf are mixed, but I'm focusing on the people who say, "I don't use him now that my constituion is higher, got my 250 wins, etc."
There is no defensive character in the game more powerful than the Legionnaire with the one exception of the Saarebas. Even then, when the Saarebas takes a beating she definitely can't handle it as well as him. Play him right and not a single enemy will ever see your party members because they're too busy being Taunted.
Even with the recent nerf of Walking Fortress, the addition of Livid turns him from a tank that can take a beating, into a near-invincible force to be reckoned with. New weapons that have been added give him a lot of versatility, so for those who didn't want to play him because of his lower damage, you no longer have that excuse.
With his Shield of the Emperor that soaks up any damage he takes even when his health is near zero, the Legionnaire almost always balances the party composition. You can almost take any combination of characters in with him and he will support them effectively.
#5 Arcane Warrior
Yes that's right. This is going out to all those people who don't like him because he's so easy to play. I used to be among those people, but now with the introduction of even stronger classes, the original OP class has to find new niches to fill. His strength doesn't just come from Spirit Blade or Fade Cloak anymore.
Pull of the Abyss has always been one of the most powerful moves in the game, providing team support. Now that Spirit Blade has been changed to allow for skillful use rather than spamming, Pull of the Abyss is an even stronger combination than it ever used to be with only Fade Cloak, because now Spirit Blade can do many times greater damage.
Another great build is the pure support with Chain Lightning and Stonefist to put them to sleep, and Dispel to either aid party members or put the sleeping foes into a Nightmare. Combine this with Fade Cloak for survivability and you've got yourself the only hybrid tank/crowd control/support class in the game.
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