Came back after a long break and tried it. Keep in mind that I only play on Hard and up! However, here are my impressions:
Demoman:
-Pipes price increase cripples their usefulness. On harder difficulties, you'll be spending so much on Nades and Body armor that there's just no way you can afford a pipebomb that's likely to be tripped by a rushing pair of Gorefasts or Crawlers instead of that Fleshpound you just laid it for (Usually killing you). If you're not a demoman, they're so ridiculously expensive that you can just forget 'em. ADDING MANUAL DETONATION FOR PIPES WOULD BE GREAT AND WOULD JUSTIFY THE PRICE HIKE, IMO. Alt-fire could be for the usual proximity detonation. Just a suggestion...
-Nade launcher ammo price increase makes the pipe price hike worse. Like I said, most, if not all money goes to nades now. Can hardly ever afford pipes. Hand Grenade buff was nice, though.
Sharpshooter:
-Married to the Crossbow/Handcannon combo now. The M14 isn't even an option on higher difficulties anymore. The M-14 needs a better scope or bigger headshot damage (Preferably both), because right now, it's just a trash-cleaner and the Handcannon can easily do it's job for cheaper and with less weight.
-Crossbow price increase was needed, but now that the class is pretty much stuck with it and it has less ammo, the Sharpshooter struggles to be useful until Scrake/FP waves.
Support:
-Still plagued with ammo issues. You'll be lucky if your shotgun rounds last an entire wave once Scrakes/FPs start appearing, even with generous use of the 9mm on Trash. Shotgun still can't down a Gorefast in 1 shot without a solid Headshot, meaning that you'll often burn 2 shells on 1 enemy. Shotgun damage might need to be upped a bit or ammo capacity upped.
-Spawning with 25% Hunting Shotgun Ammo (And no backup shotgun!) makes it a TERRIBLE starting choice for Suicidal/HoE.
Firebug:
-Still joined at the hip with the Flamethrower. Makes the class relatively boring to play. And still 110% useless against anything bigger than a Gorefast. Flamethrower's damage becomes bad in Suicidal and almost insignificant in HoE. You'll run out of ammo halfway through a wave almost constantly, even firing in short bursts and using melee/9mm. All-in-all, NOT a viable class for harder difficulties at all!
-Mac10 is great. Could use a bit more ammo, as it eats it insanely quick, but it's a good "Husk-slayer" (1 Clip to the face up until HoE) and picks off enemies that your Flamethrower doesn't quite kill. The Fire effect on it, however, is almost useless because the damage is so low. Not feasable to be used as a main weapon at all, thus the Firebug is still stuck with the clunky, low-damage Flamethrower.
Commando:
-Almost perfect, really. Bullpup/AK good for trash cleaning, SCAR good for sniping and can be switched to Full Auto to rock 'n roll on bigger stuff easily. Outlasts Supports and Firebugs ammo-wise and is far better at sweeping than the Firebug. A solid, well-balanced class and probably my current favorite now.
-Only real complaint is that, to me, the AK-47 is too weak to be considered a true "Upgrade" to the bullpup when you factor in it's extra recoil, lack of reflex sights, and inaccuracy after the first shot. It needs something. Dunno what, but something. Honestly, at Level 6, I'd rather spawn with a Bullpup and Body Armor than an AK.
-Suggestion: Like I keep saying, increase the range of the health-viewing/Stalker seeing. This would help TONS in outdoorsy maps.
Berserker:
-Ah, my former favorite class... It's not unplayable anymore. It's just...a bad class. Chainsaw is a viable option and the Katana's auto-fire really helps stop click-spam finger fatigue. Damage reduction was ABSOLUTELY needed and allows you to last more than a few seconds on Suicidal/HoE.
-Still near useless on harder difficulties. Melee weapons are still largely single-target and don't do enough damage to drop things before you take at least a few hits. And on HoE, a few hits can be it for you, even as a Berserker. There's little the Berserker can do at close range that a Support can't do better with the addition of Shotgun AoE. The Katana having a slower rate of fire helps the enemies sneak hits in on you easier.
-Machete/Axe are still useless so it's still about Chainsaw and Katana. Katana is for mobility/hit and run, while the Chainsaw is about holding ground and taking down hordes, but honestly, neither one does spectacular damage for the risk you take at close range.
-Both Chainsaw and Katana alt-fires need their attack speed reduced but a BIG damage boost. They should be attacks you need to aim but when they hit, they HURT. As it is, you're almost better off spamming normal swings instead of alt-firing. Alt-fire should be what you use to take on bigger targets. As it is, Berserker is good vs Scrakes, but useless vs FPs.
-Suffers from the medic's problem of "No boosted ranged weapons", making it VERY hard to deal reliable damage on harder levels without taking a beating or dying, especially against Sirens/Husks, but also against Crawlers. All-in-all, an extremely challenging class to play, but not hugely rewarding anymore. Not really a class I like to use these days.
Field Medic:
-Plays largely the same, but makes a bit more money from heals.
-The Mac-10 adds another nice Point Defense weapon for the medic. A combo of the Bullpup, Mac-10, and MP7 make you an up close bullet-spraying machine. Or a Crossbow adds some sniping capability.
-Still tanks like a beast, giving the Zerker a run for his money...until the armor runs out.
-HUGE damage problems on higher levels. Your guns might as well be BB guns against HoE enemies. Pretty much limits you to just healing and defending yourself occasionally. Still a pretty solid class.
TL;DR summary:
Lots of stuff fixed, but Berserker still sucks and isn't fun to play, Firebug is still stuck with the boring and ineffective (On harder levels) Flamethrower, and Support still doesn't have enough ammo. Much more fun but still has quite a few flaws.
