well i still think that hammer dins or bone necros with their high damage magic damage would still be pretty good. because items on classic would not have much physical damage so i think that casters are the way to go.
Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.
As far as I can remember, my zon lost to like maybe 1 or 2 barbs a day if that. In 05 we had a Belt called Storm Clash which was a 63 life belt with 16 str and 12 dex. Later on in 06 Doom Harness came out which was 59 life/4xmana Fire Res 34 Cold Res 2x 19 Str 17 Dex. Giving belts like those up was a huge sacrifice.