Thought it would be fun to hear some opinions
What is your favorite and least favorite class and build so far ?
What would you say is the best chaining class and best none-chain ?

I have a bit of a problem settling on a class atm. So far I think I like the ranger and wizard the most.
Bard was a train wreck, but I heard its getting better lol.

Oh also, is classes with pets that focus their talent points on a pet build variable ?

I played the majority of the classes into the 90s in local..

Best Solo (easiest hell clear): Shaman
Easiest to lvl: Druid
Best Hell Chainer: Bard
Best Nightmare Chainer: SK.. Edit: MOST classes can chain nightmare, but only sk can do it using two buttons.
Best Hardcore: Shaman
Most fun: Ranger / Monk
Least fun: Bard

Enchanter might fall in one of those as I keep hearing how good they are but never level'd one beyond the 20s.

That's my thoughts but then again I'm basing these pre-skill cap changes which I'm sure made a huge difference.

In most cases, the bonuses for the pet skills are useful and mostly effect you whether it be the talent bonus of the lvl20 perk. Pet's in general aren't much more than ~25% damage mitigation with the exception of charmed pets for bard / enchanter.

I haven't played Bard and Monk yet, and have only levelled Wizard and magician up to Hell.
That said, my preferred class so far is Wizard - I really like how all the different spells he has are useful and most synergize very well (ice and lighting mainly). Least fun so far was Ranger, but I have to give it a second try, that was my very first char I made...

I'm no minmaxer, I'm pretty vague about talents and I don't have awesome equipment, so take the following as you wish

The chars I've played up past normal have been wiz (awesome) ranger (fun so far, high end of nightmare), SK (variable!!), mage (fun times), rogue (STAB) and currently working on shaman, who's proving pretty cool.

They all play differently and scratch a different sort of itch depending on what you feel like for a session of play.

I agree the wizard feels like it has the best range of abilities and would be really OP if it didn't get laminated to the pavement by multiples.
Ranger is hilarious for speed and number fountain but I've found it a bit fragile.
SK I'm struggling a bit to do significant damage, but reasonably tanky with a few interesting quirks.
Rogue can suffer with awkward pulls and unlucky status hits but on the whole seems to be pretty robust and fun/fast to play.
Mage is a bit of a different puzzle, feels a bit fragile to me with limited healing but you need to think about types of pet and elemental switcheroo, which makes a change.
Liking the shaman and again it's a different style leaning heavily on dots and pet and not so much on direct damage (so far anyway - L40+) - bit more strategic.

Can't cope with monk or bard Perhaps they're awesome at higher levels but you have to want to play them enough to get them up there, and that ain't happening for me.... Also bard/chanter apparently rely on charm pets, and I'm scarred enough by years of playing a chanter in EQ that I'm reluctant to go there

I've got a cleric and druid in mid twenties who I've got my eye on next.

Altaholic? Moi?

Loving my cleric! She's rapidly overtaken my SK and is better at surviving at the moment - although that can be down to not going crazy on chain pulling which tends to happen on the SK =p

Z

Cleric is very similar to shaman, only difference is they get stuns and guardian angel instead of slow, regen, and a pet for mitigation. Cleric is still a decent class but Shaman comes way out on top against bosses with the way bleed currently works.

Awesome to get some great replies
I have avoided shaman er bit, but after hearing you guys talking about it I think I will give it a try (Hmm time to buy some crystals lol)

Necromancer also seems very usefull, or atleast in the lower levels. Could chain easy and do decent dmg.
SK was very tanky, but got a bit old to spam that multiply hitting skill.

My ranger is my highest char (but still in act 2 normal), can chain all day and is fun but the speed is slower compared to the wizard which ST wrecks everything and seems to get destroyed by adds.

Not sure how everything holds up later in the game.