"Simpler than I thought"? I am not sure you what you thought was thinking, but I said quite clearly I was interested in band instruments (ie.guitars/bass/keys/drums), some orchestral stuff, and the odd exotic ethnic instrument for spice. I also said what I did NOT like, and I know that VSTs are instruments. I was just asking for opinions on what are the good ones within the parameters I gave.

 

"essentials" is misleading term, as it depends what sounds you need genre/style-wise
my favs are:
Spitfire Albion ONE
various Gothic Instruments Dronar libraries
practically all Output libraries
various Zero-G libraries

 

+ 1 for Projectsam,also have a look here :
https://www.native-instruments.com/...ries/?tx_nisamplelib_nisamplelib[categoryId]=

 

I've always been fond of Spitfire's sound and UI, so I think Albion ONE would be a good starter library, one I wish I had when I first started writing orchestral mockups. If you want to make loud, bombastic stuff, Metropolis Ark I has been good to me.

I'm also a fan of Orchestral Tools' various section libraries, like Berlin Strings, Berlin Brass, etc. Not sure if any libraries do it better, but they were (I think?) the first to have tempo-sensitive scripts.

 

Other than the factory library, I would say anything that fits the genre/types of music you are into.

 

Any library with cowbells.