Some of my opnion:
Enchanter C2
At first Link1/2/3-Thaum2/3-x-Enchanter2 looks great, but when you hit Nazarene Tower/Boss/Challenge Mode Stage 4-5, they really fall off a lot even with T5 +11 weapon, mainly due to lag spike/Animation/Enchant Lightning no damage % attribute. This build is not that good in long run especially if you want to swell and try to kill them, the 509% per hit consider low and the link break faster than you think, especially with more lines of attack.
//
Investment Cost - Low; Damage Return - Low
//
A DG300 Solo - 3/5
(Waiting JP CD is slow)
B Normal Maps Farming - 5/5
(Easily JP+HK+Swell+Lightning Hand = x2 drops)
C Challenge Mode - 2/5
(Good for shrink mobs and damage support)
D Nazarene Tower HG340 - 2/5
(JP+HK+Srink+Lightning can kill, but have to keep waiting JP to cd)
//Possible Builds
xx-Link2/Cryo3-Thaum3/Chrono3-yy-Enchanter2
*yy can be RC/Sorc1/Warlock1
Shadowmancer C2
As many discussed and developer highlighted, this class is excel in PvP on those with low CON. It able to deal quick burst of damage, but once the threshold (Monster HP) is far higher then this class very soon meet its bottleneck with SP insufficient and CD, and need expensive attributes and high Matk to make them works. Even with very high end weapon I doubt they can 1 hit kill monster in Nazarene Tower / Challenge Mode Stage 4-5. Potentially the best farmer with high looting chance and high end weapon.
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Investment Cost - High; Damage Return - High
//
A DG300 Solo - 5/5
(Shadow Conjuration / Shadow Condensation / JP + Thorn rotation ensure fast speed)
B Normal Maps Farming - 5/5
(Easily JP+HK+Swell+Thornx2/Conjuration)
C Challenge Mode - 4/5
(Shadow Conjuration / Shadow Condensation / JP + Thorn rotation rocks / Shrink Mobs, but might lack SP and high downtime)
D Nazarene Tower HG340 - 4/5
(JP+HK+Thornx2, eventually can kill swelled mobs with high matk & attribute)
//Possible Builds
1 Link2/Cryo3-Thaum3/Chrono3-aa-SM2
*aa can be RC/Sorc1/Warlock1
2 Wiz3-Elem3-bb-SM2
*bb can be Warlock1/Sorc1
Thaumaturge C2-C3
This class is really good for beginner or alts, not only they reduce investment cost, but they also made random party Dungeon Rush easily, when you have no good weapons they act as 50%-100% of damage boost, but eventually the % fall off when you are getting higher Matk from other source until 10%-15% doesn’t that matter anymore, which also compensated easily by investing other 3 circles.
Swell Monsters, I think at the moment we don’t have content that really need to swell for x2 drops, waiting for Joint Penalty + Hangmans Knot + Swell is actually very slow compare to some classes who can kill >2 times faster and move on. Perhaps when you have 500-600 of looting chance it is more worth to use this tactic.
As support class, i don’t rate its DPS.
Link C1-C3
Good support filler for class lack off AoE, Link2-Thaum3 is universe foundation for most wizard builds, especially for beginner.
Now, without rely on Linker or Thaumaturge, there are few classes doing good AoE.
But these classes mainly require a minimum T5 +11 Weapon.
Sorcerer C1-C3
Sorcerer shine with full SPR and >T5 Weapon at early stage, but beyond that point the more you invest it just a flat return, with at least Necro1 can boost Templeshooter damage by very high and good support for Archer class. Sorc also best filler class if you willing to sacrifice for full INT = 1000 Matk, which is around 10-20% of damage depend on your Matk for an extra 60-90k AoE damage per second (Netherbovine). Still good, they can clear bunch at HG340 mobs under 10s with highly geared, but as said you need something burst and fast to balance it.
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Investment Cost Medium; Damage Return - Medium on average
//
A DG300 Solo - 6/5
(I believe they are the best DG runner in game, lure whole room of mobs and kill them off in no time, i usually cleared 3 rooms at the same time others cleared the first 2 rooms with that Boss Orbs, basically walk 1 round in the room then boom everything dies, 6min per run and 20min = 660k)
B Normal Maps Farming - 3-5/5 (If Marnox is 5, if others is 3/4)
C Challenge Mode - 3/5
(The AoE damage consistency and damage mitigation are great, but it doesn’t kill fast enough in Stage 4-5, you should have another main AoE dpser in the party)
D Nazarene Tower HG340 - 4/5
(Same as challenge mode, it is good as secondary damage and holding point when you have skills on CD, it still can kill bunch of mobs but slowly, riding is bad because you will die fast)
//Possible Builds
1 xx-Sorc1/2/3-cc
*xx & cc almost can be everything, Necro/Featherfoot/Warlock/Enchanter/Sage/Shadowmancer, but condition is full SPR.
Warlock C2-C3
This class is probably discussed the least, but I think Invocation lv10-15 is extremely good in farming. If you aren’t fan of x2 drop Swell-Kill, probably Warlock C3 is the best choice for x2 fast kill. Kill them off with Mastema and lure others to demon spirits area they will die in no time.
//
Investment Cost High; Damage Return - High
//
A DG300 Solo - 3/5
(High CD, but you if pair with Sorc1 to Lure or Cryo3 to Pull it can be 6/5)
B Normal Maps Farming - 5/5
(The CD might High, but once you lure and mastema once, the leftover Spirits (lv20-30 demon spirit attributed) will enough to kill all remains.
C Challenge Mode - 4/5
(Demon Scratch stunning and AoE ability is great, can be 6/5 with Cryo, Invocation+FrostPillar+Mastema is best AoE combo in game *I believe)
D Nazarene Tower HG340 - 4/5
(Can be 5/5 if you paired with Cryo/Link/Sorcerer)
*The tricky part of this build is casting Demon Scratch without Surespell, and Demon Scratch need positioning/timing to maximize its damage, but the cast time is not that bad. Surely Cryo3/Sorc1/Pyro2/Link also will help.
//Possible Builds
1 Wiz3-Elem3-Warlock3
2 Wiz3-Thaum3-Warlock3
3 Wiz1-Cryo3-dd-Warlock3
*dd can be Sorc1/Necro1, Wiz3, Wiz2/Psycho1, Psycho1/RC, Elem2, Pyro2 to hold monsters for demon scratch.
4 Wiz1-Cryo3-Chrono3-Warlock2 (eventually this build R10 Warlock3 can be very godly in Challenge Mode, but now consider very strong you can keep invocation>frostpillar>mastema>PoA Pass and repeat)
Elementalist C3
Overall the damage is falling off without super good weapon, so not gonna to discuss.
Necromancer C3
Might be good when skellies AoE is improved, but they die very fast too in Nazarene/High Density Map, and you need keep monitoring them. But being occupy the last few class slots, they are lackluster and worse than Sorcerer C2.
Tips:
Investment Cost Estimate:
Low = less than 20m (Beginner/Alternate Character)
Medium = 20m-80m (Casual)
High = 80m to Infinity (Hardcore/Main Character)