With new class rebalancing, there's little point in playing Fighter

Let's summarise:

• Fighter's strong early-game is no longer his best trait, given Cleric's parry and Mage's range can be as good or better.
• Timon's Axe is weaker than Frost Shards and Serpent Staff.
  • Frost Shards were a bit overbuffed - penetration through ice sculptures makes you a lot safer and increased damage overshadows Axe's 2-3 shot capabalities.
  • Serpent Staff has always been a solid choice when it comes to range, damage and mana management. Self-heal is another useful gimmick.
• Hammer of Retribution is weaker than Arc of Death and Firestorm.
  • Arc of Death can be mana hungry, but comes with a stun-lock, penetrates Centaur's defense and deals more damage.
  • Firestorm uses more mana, but its projectile travels faster and fires with smaller delay. The rate of fire is also significantly better.
• Quietus is arguably better than Bloodscourge, but still weaker than Wraithverge.
  • It still uses too much mana - for pretty much the only viable ranged weapon in the late game.
• Fighter's armour is significantly more efficient than Cleric's and Mage's - compensates his lack of range.
• Fighter is the fastest class in the game - compensates his lack of range.

Even then, you are going to have a really bad time playing DotDC or Vestiges of Grandeur as Fighter exclusively, as there are way too many enemies for him too handle at once. I'd say only the main game is where you won't struggle with him. Fighter has always been known as "best early, worst late" class in the game, but recent changes have significantly overshadowed his early presence to the point, it feels like you'd pick Fighter only if you wished to impose a challenge on yourself.

This is especially noticeable in custom-made campaigns, which focus less on class balance and more on overwhelming enemy placement (similar to Doom WADs).