Returning player, wondering about team comp, single/multi class

[Zares]

So I played when the game was released, had short breakes, last time I played when they released Turn Based mode. For some reason I liked multiclasses and also hated them. That was meh especially on my Barbarian, upgrades were so spread out, I had to lvl up a lot, and some of them were unreachable for MC. I liked MC on Wizard (I like an idea of Battlemage) and on Druid, but was always curious if they'd be good SC too, as there are more powerful spells, and my favorite spells would be reachable sooner.

I came back because I saw a lot of interesting mods showed up when I was away. Mostly Vetern PotD Enemies, Community Patch and Deadfire Balance Polishing Mod with nerfs. Back then I didn't like broken stuff, cheesing, and super high difficulty with Deadly Deadfire. These three mods made me want to play again, the polishing mod says they made SC more interesting. So with that in mind, what classes could be still interesting to play as a single class? And what classes should still be recommended to be multiclassed?

I want to have at least 2 companions in my party and maybe 1 side kick, as I didn't check them out yet. I always liked Eder, already got him, and he's Rogue. I'm thinking Aloth/Fassina and Konstanten/Serafen. Was also going to take Maia, but I don't like her subclass, I mean I want my ranged character to use Bow/Crossbow, not a fan of firearms in this game to be honest, maybe in another run.

I'd really like to try SC Barbarian, so that's a must. What about the rest? What's still not recommended to go SC? Asking in general, not current run.

Back to my current run:

• MC: Templar ([off?]Tank/Support hybrid) M15, C15, D15, P14, I16, R15 - I picked +2 to attributes from Berath's Blessings to have more flexibility in building MC and more space for companions. Going Tank (+1 Engagement with Shield from Shieldbearers) with abilities to heal (Lay of Hand/Eothas Priest spells from Priest Subclasses Rebalanced mod). Picked Fire Godlike (I know, no helmets) for RP reasons, and because it was buffed in the Polishing mod.
• Eder: Rogue - I usually played Eder as a tank, want to try something different and go DPS.
• Konstanten/Serafen: Barbarian - I really want to try it.
• Aloth/Fassina: Wizard or Loremaster. Or just create a custom character, not sure.
• Another ranged DPS as the frontline would be already crowded a little? I like Ranger but not sure if I want to take care of their pet in this run. I always avoided Cipher, as I played it too much in PoE1, but maybe it's time to try it out in Deadfire. I like the idea of melee Cipher (Soul Blade I think?) but... I think I need a ranged dps.

Suggestions are welcomed! Can skip Barb for another run if I could get another interesting melee for this run instead. I have never played Monk, melee Cipher, SC Fighter, DPS Chanter. Can also suggest some compositions and/or character ideas for another run. I'd like to maybe RP some Aggressive or Cruel in the next run. Maybe Bleakwalker Paladin and/or corpseating Barb. I also haven't played Rational/Stoic, that's an option too.

There's no much flexibility when I'd like to try some companions... I know there is Unity Console, but I remember I had troubles to make it working, even with that updated script file. I remember I had to manually edit something and remove things, and I can't find it now. It'd be nice if you could provide instructions. I'm using Subjectively Better Companion Starting Stats mod instead for now. I can edit attributes in Notepad (do I need to start a new game after changes?), but it'd be hard to change classes as they're not named easily, and by looking into for example Eder Paladin file from PoE2 Deadfire Tweaks mod there's a lot more to add in order to make it work.

Modlist I'm using now (you can recommend more):

Binary Opposed Dispositions
Clever vs. Rational
Binary Opposed Dispositions - Stoic vs. Clever
Binary Opposed Dispositions - Classic Values
Companion Aloth Tactician(Deadfire Tweaks)
POE2 Deadfire Tweaks - Companion Eder Templar
POE2 Deadfire Tweaks - Companion Maia Gunhawk
POE2 Deadfire Tweaks - Companion Rekke Fighter
POE2 Deadfire Tweaks - Companion Serafen Mindstalker
Xoti Devoted - Gaun Priest
Trinkets
Loading Screen Restoration
Paper Trinkets 
Spoils of Caed Nua
FG Soulbound Upgrade
FG Party Item Upgrades
Better Crew
DeadlyDeadfire4
TT1 Unique Items (is actually TT2 Unique Items but the metadata wasn't updated)
More Soulbond Items
The Funnening - Skill Items
The Funnening - Afflictions & Inspirations
More AI Conditions
manystrings (Deck of Many Strings)
Out With the Modals
Deadfire Penetration Mod
Per Encounter Abilities
Per Encounter Items
Veteran PotD Enemies
Rymrgand's Complete Food Challenge
More Interesting Consumables
UWTDYR - Unique Weapon Type Diversity Rebalance
Dramatic Burned Book of Law
Aloth Romance Extension
Slaying with Aloth
Winter with Aloth
Wizarding with Aloth
agreeablealoth
Port Maje Ending Fix
Everyone's Two Cents
Community Patch - Basic
Community Patch - Extra
Community Patch - Icons
Community Patch - Keywords
Community Patch - Typos
Balance Polishing Mod - Buffs
Balance Polishing Mod - Nerfs
Balance Polishing Mod - SummonRebalance
Wizard Changes
Enhanced User Interface
Priest of Rymrgand and Hidden Classes
Priest Subclasses Rebalanced
Background Unlocked
Background Tweaks
CC More Colors

 

[Not So Clever Hound]

Assuming you're looking for party based, all SC classes are viable as Main Character. Furyshaper, Fury, Bloodmage, any Monk, all rise to the top IMO. Maybe Shifter but I don't know enough about it and it depends much on your mods loadout.