I don't think they are all done. I think abusing them may be done or creating a ton of properties just for the backlink. I personally believe as long as you're doing this stuff manually, you will probably be ok using them. But this is just my opinion and nobody really knows other than Google.

If your llinks are from trusted sources then they will be fine - even stronger perhaps.

If they come from pap i.e. bulk backlink sources like forum profiles only then very much weaker and possibly even dangerous.

Velocity and quality (contextual linking is best imho) always wins out.

2.o links and blog commenting work just fine

article directory links have never really been that effective to begin with.

They're not exactly "done." They've just shifted towards quality vs quantity. Blasting thousands of sites, blogs, article directories, etc, with your link is pretty much a recipe for failure.

Tiered linking still seems to work, IMO. So automated tools still have their place. (For now.) Just don't point them directly @ your main site.

I don't think any of that's done. I just think using the same anchor text on all of them is what will harm you. I usually use 4-5 different anchor texts when backlinking. One thing that's always helped me rank pretty well are pligg sites. They always give me a pretty solid boost.