I'd be afraid of the new classes without AA (as is the case in vanilla) because I assume they were designed with them in mind. When I tried a Channeler on the Fallen Gate beta server, it was painfully slow killing solo mobs, though in a static group it might be okay.
Beastlords will be fine, although i'm not sure how the non exotic warder's do.
Furies are pretty OK in this game, but they don't really shine until later in the game unfortunately. They don't get better than inq's until like CoE tbh.
Troubador would be super useful or a necro/conj.
Alchemist for poisons is super good, and they make spells all the way up. Woodworker is good for arrows as well. Provisioner makes food, Carpenter makes repair kits. The rest of them are just kinda, there? I mean it's cool to be able to make spells but it's really easy to get master abilites. At 50 I think I had like full masters sans like two spells within the first like three weeks. And the armor/weapon makers don't make gear that's better than most legendary/fabled gear, so it's good for the start of xpac but the market has more supply than demand quickly.
Not anymore, here is like a raid chest
I would argue the opposite, the games mechanics are more complex than they originally were in some ways. Sure you don't have things like 4 main stats to worry about but that never really mattered because it was all itemized anyway. On live its ridiculously complex because you need to reforge stats and what not and know which stats you want and how much of each you need. The current engine is basically Live lite. You run on the same spell mechanics, focuses, etc. The mobs recieve damage differently but that doesn't really matter you're still smashing your head on the keyboard.
Lol it's literally impossible to rejoin the current expansion. You need like to do over a solid month of 8 hour game plays to even get your epic 2.0, and they introduced this shit called tithe. Basically you grind it like xp and it gives you insane stats. Like 1% more potency recieved from all gear. Some people have like legit almost 8 months of solid 8 hour gameplay of grinding it, it's impossible to catch up and get even close to their damage.
So it helps me google and remember.