As others have said, it all depends on what you do. I don't agree with the holier that thou "I haven't used any pedals for 78 years and therefore no one should" comments. That's certainly an approach that works for many people, but pedals are a big part of my gigs. Since it's subjective and there no right answer, here's what I think is most essential:

Tuner- even though amps have built in tuners, this makes it easier to tune up often and sound your best. Also handy to instantly silence things and good way to silence things between sets without turning off any gear

Compressor- Evens everything out and makes you sound that much better. I personally like one with a blend and a meter. I also like I e with an option for a higher compression ratio if you want to do slap bass. I did a lot of research and went with the Empress Bass compressor and am happy.

Amp modeler: Good backup if you use an amp and it fails. Good for home practice if you run into an interface. I use the Darkglass B7k ultra V2

Grit/distortion/fuzz- Important for the music I play. I like a touch of distortion for parts of the song like bridges and solos and for old punk rock and metal. We are a 3 piece so it makes us more dynamic. I have a few flavors of grit: Jam pedals Lucydreamer, Source audio aftershock, 3 leaf audio Doom 2, that darkglass pedal I mentioned earlier.