Seems somewhat off balance now.
Barbarian - just pwn, you don't need anything but the 14 INT and you will pwn, it's incredibly fun, yet I cant help but feel its also cheating.
Old Knight - Another pure win, the fact you get decent armour, blade and a horse isn't really what makes them pwn. In fact its the speed the cavalry go that allow you to be pwn.
The rest I never use, because they suck in comparison, the merchant is now meaningless, they can't fight for jack and their income isn't worth anything because as a barbarian or knight you can now start of with lots of cash and you can get 10,000 whenever you want by winning a tournament, which is VERY VERY VERY EASY, like..it's too easy.

its how I fund my characters from the very start, i get to level 2, win 1 tournament, become level 5 or 6 and then i just buy lots of gear, continue until i'm rich/field a massive army.
The hunter I like, although I don't see anything special about him whatsoever so I never use him (unless i wanna join the Vaegirs).