Haplok

I second the suggestion for a vanilla wizard. Not on your list, but a class that would add A LOT of survivability AND potential for resource regeneration would be the Tactician Fighter. At higher levels with Unbending and Wall of Draining he's virtually indestructible.

IMO frequently relying on BDD (and extending it via SoT) would be a bit tedious and gamey. YMMV. Its maybe a bit more reliable with a wizard multiclass and Wall of Draining - easier to keep up at least.

Transcendant has insane synergies with monk +10 Int boost, bonus Might, Dex, Pen. Also attack chains from Swift Flurry & Heartbeat Drumming are insane. Eventually can stay at midrange using Instruments of Pain to use melee attacks at range. I also prefer the Ascendant, some aoe attacks/weapon abilities will rack enough Focus to cause instant Ascension. Such as Kitchen Stove blunderbuss Thunderous Report... or Seeker's Fang rapier Spider's Flurry - the latter with enough targets in cone. Or maybe dual aoe hand mortar blasts... and various other aoe weapon attacks. Forbidden Fist monk is great, particularly if you use the Community Patch. Otherwise his Forbidden Fist special is not considered a weapon attack and doesn't generate Focus. Still denying the enemies the ability to heal/regenerate AND greatly extending negative effects you inflict on them is awesome. Plus they tend to be more durable then the average monk. Otherwise Helwalker monk is great, but quite squishy.

Personally I'm fond of Ciphers. Definitely multiclass (and subclass) in PoE2, though. YMMV.

Go with caster, like that Fury Druid IMO. Simple melee (attacking once or twice - if dual wielding) is very underwhelming in Turn Based IMO. Casting a spell in that same time frame typically has far more impact. Exceptions: Multi-attacks like monk Swift Flurry / Heartbeat Drumming procs. Or Riposte/Retaliation builds (attack passively when missed or hit by enemy - the latter comes online super late, though).

Well, I rather like the Spine of Thicket Green staff for most of Pierce immune enemies. Most of them are elite skellies and that lag gives +5 Accuracy (partially countering the -10 Devoted penalty) and +20% damage vs vessels. Plus its early and "free".

Neat. Although I do like my head slot. So would consider a Godlike only on a dedicated pugilist.

Eh, I find the issue of Pierce immunity overblown. It is certainly not common. High resist to a damage type is a bigger issue IMO. But a pierce-only estoc with some Pen boosts was a fantastic main weapon for me.

In fact Evoker is a rather inferior subclass to pair with an Assassin. Sacrifices too many great spells, his special proc can be suicidal if you're using Deltro's Cage Helmet (and you should, IMO!). Blood Mage is so much better IMO.

That's... a bit of an exaggeration. Unless you work really hard on exploiting this mechanic maybe? But anyway, I have another question. If you want to focus on melee and won't exploit WoD/BDD, why a combo of 2 classes that aren't very good at melee?

Maybe AR changes?

Yeah, well, Aloth's or Tekehu's Chillfogs hardly aoe 1HKO early enemies. An assassin Spellblade's can (high Accuracy, high Penetration, +50% Crit damage(x2, normally you'd crit far less), +30% Overpenetration damage on the alpha strike. The meaner early enemies will be left with 1/2 health after the alpha strike. Slightly later stuff like Corrosive Siphon is also way more effective when you can vanish. As for DoT attack classification as Graze/Hit/Crit it happens on the initial strike.

I second the recommendation of Chillfog and Dazzling Lights as starting spell (and other Assassin spell choices also - although they may not lead to the playstyle you had in mind - Shadowflame opener to paralyze enemies would fit a sneaky bastard, though, I think). Dazzling Lights are great to cast from stealth out of combat near the enemies (careful not to hit them!) to get their attention and gather them in one spot without starting combat. Chillfog is useful throughout the game due to the pulsing Blind and ticking damage, but early on on a Spellblade Assassin the alpha strike can demolish entire mobs when you get Stealth Assassinate crits (which happens often with Assassinate).

Evoker looses access to Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar, which is one of the best damage spells (even if not very compatible with Assassinate). As well as many other usefull spells (Chillfog!). Also the biggest force multiplier for nukers is the Deltro's Cage helmet. And when you wear that and hit yourself with Chain Lightning, you do NOT want the effect to duplicate (and Evoker special could cause that sometimes). In general damage-wise Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst rules for spellblade assassins. Delayed Blast Fireball might be good also, but the timing is tricky to use (its outright impossible to use it effectively with Assassinate in Turn Based mode)

Yeah, I do use CP. I guess it would quite a bit worse without it. But FF is a full fledged monk regardless. I don't spam FF. Its maybe my every 3rd -5th attack. So I could still benefit from other attacks (like Stunning Surge).

Well, granted this was in Turn Based, real time would be different. But 5 most used damage spells on my spellblade were: 1. MPPB (duh) 2. Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar (despite no Assassinate - its just that good!) 3. Ninagauth's Death Ray (it'd work far worse in real time I guess... and couldn't benefit much from Assassinate) 4. Chain Lightning (for Deltro's Cage lash) 5. Ninagauth's Shadowflame (mainly as an opener) Lots of Ninagauth's Teachings there. And... no Fire. In real time I guess I'd try to use Delayed Fireball a lot more. Still, 1 of 5 - not enough for me to focus on.

Forbidden Fist pairs beautifully with ciphers...

I general I agree with most. Except the focus on Fire spells. My experience has been that Fire spells are not that good. Well, maybe Delayed Fireball, but I think its tricky to use. Was next to impossible to use effectively with Assassinate in Turn Based mode. Otherwise Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst does A LOT more damage then any Fire spells for multiclass characters.

Yet somehow you never fail to mention Strand of Favor exploit in any conversation you take part in...

I do admire your persistence and consequence in suggesting various players exploiting game bugs as means to win the game.

If you have fun, more power to you. Personally I'd hardly find enjoyment in playing with the full awareness that I'm blatantly cheating the system. And doing so repeatedly, throughout dozens of encounters and areas.

Yep, Transcendant is great, I agree. One of my favorite multiclasses in Deadfire.

Pistols can be nice, but don't ignore blunderbusses either! Particularly the two aoe mortar blunderbusses from Serafen (that target Reflex instead of Deflection and are dual-type damage!) Kitchen Stove is very noteworthy as well.

By default it has 30% chance to proc on Miss. Community Patch changes that to 25% on Miss and 25% on Graze.

Whispers' Offensive Parry is not an aoe effect AFAIR. Riposte should work, but it's not 100% chance to proc.