>>4403233That depends a lot on exactly what you're doing. Landscape? Astro? Large format? Extreme telephoto? Long exposure? Studio portrait?
Your typical modern day digital snapshitter doesn't need a tripod. Modern DILCs have insane built-in image stabilization.
If you shoot film, or a specific type of photography where you need a tripod, it is essential, but what type of tripod and head you need depends on what you're doing. I primarily shoot film, and within that I do a lot of large format landscape and architecture, and long exposure night photography, so I am constantly accumulating tripods. For what I do, the best head is a 3-way, a Manfrotto 3030 or 3047. For some reason people love ball heads these days, but I fucking hate them.
There's no reason to pay $300 for a tripod either, troll Facebook marketplace and you can pick up an old Bogen with a fluid video head for pennies from boomers who don't know what they have all day long, then sell the video head and buy a 3030. The Bogen 3233 in pic rel cost me $50 on marketplace, and came with a fluid video head that I sold for $80 on fleabay, then bought a 3047 for $60 meaning that overall I only spent $30 on the tripod and head. These Bogens were made by Manfrotto for pros back in the '80s and '90s and they're built like fucking tanks, they will outlive you.