I haven't read through the whole thread, so if I'm just reiterating something, I apologize.
One of the aspects of D2 that I always enjoyed was the variety of characters that were possible to make, and a large portion of them were quite viable throughout the game.
There is far more variety in median. The fact you can make a melee, ranged, summoner, or caster with each class is amazing. That's something that was NOT viable in classic/lod.
I will say that having reached the mid/end game with a melee necromancer has been a blast, but I am starting to see the charm dependency kick in. After leveling a character to 120, there's naught but finding charms and gear, some very specific, to be able to continue through the rest of the game.