Basically I just want to be able to install the bare minimum essentials that’d allow me to run this OS without any extra applications, DE-specific applications tacked on it. I prefer to install those on my own. However, I’m kinda too worried to do it myself because I’m worried I’d unintentionally not install some important dependency or something like that. Any help guys?
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use the iso and install a community edition WM like Openbox or a Tiling window Manager. Non of the DE-specific apps to worry about
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These don’t work well with my Nvidia hardware, unfortunately. I tried Sway and it froze on the login screen and crashed my OS. i3 worked, but AFAIK it’s only X11 (I prefer Wayland).
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Do a minimal installation and then use an install script for sway or hyprland. I recently used this to install hyprland on a nvidia system and it works pretty good.
edit: You should take a look at the script before running it that should speak for itself.
What Nvidia do you have I use openbox and I have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 and it works fine
Nvidia RTX 3050 on a laptop. Like I said in the OP, I tried Sway with it and it would not work past the login screen, it’d just freeze then crash the whole system.
You don’t need to switch to a Window Manager.
You can just uncheck the things you don’t want installed during installation.
You really can’t uncheck a required dependency. Required dependencies will always get installed.
When I do test installs, I often literally uncheck everything. You still get a working install. Although, in that case, without a graphical desktop.
Which DE is your preferred choice?
Gnome is usually my go-to choice. I tried KDE and loved it but for some reason it’ll randomly hang my PC. Gnome is fast and it looks how I want it to look out the box. I wanted to try window managers before but most of them were super buggy on my card for some reason. No I didn’t install any exotic configurations or scripts, the vanilla installs would work weirdly. So, I think I’m mostly stuck to a DE.
Use what you like, it is your machine. If you like gnome, use it. 
Here is a breakdown to help you choose what to de-select.
Graphical applications that you use(Keep whichever you prefer or remove them all):
- eog
- evince
- file-roller
- gnome-calculator
- gnome-console
- gnome-disk-utility
- gnome-nettool
- gnome-screenshot
- gnome-text-editor
- gnome-tweaks
- gnome-usage
- nautilus(This is your file manager, you probably want to keep this)
- nautilus-sendto
- sushi
- totem
Related to theming:
- adwaita-icon-theme
- gnome-themes-extra
- qgnomeplatform-qt5
- qgnomeplatform-qt6
- arc-gtk-theme-eos
- eos-settings-gnome
- eos-qogir-icons
The core of the DE(You probably want to keep these):
- gdm
- gnome-control-center
- gnome-keyring
- gnome-power-manager
- gnome-shell
- gvfs
- xdg-user-dirs-gtk
These make it easier to connect to certain devices:
- gvfs-afc
- gvfs-gphoto2
- gvfs-mtp
- gvfs-nfs
- gvfs-smb
There are some other sections to look at if you want to slim down:
- EndeavourOS applications selection - This section is entirely optional. These are applications we recommend.
- EndeavourOS Apps - These are all the tools that EndeavourOS creates. They are optional but the generally make the system easier to manage.
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Thank you so much for the super detailed answer, this really came in handy. I’m giving the installation another go now and will see if everything works fine. Again, appreciate this so much thank you.
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Hey sorry, after the install done I had a lot of apps installed. I noticed they fall under the Desktop+Common packages checklist, which ones should I keep? I’ll reinstall with those options. Also is CUPS mandatory for printing. I’m kinda obsessive about being as minimal as possible cause this laptop has a 500 GB SSD only 
Yes, more or less.
I would keep “X-System”, “GPU drivers”(If you have AMD GPU/APU), “Audio” and “Power”. I would strongly recommend “Firewall”. Everything else is optional and up to you.
Keep in mind that many of those applications are less than 50k in size. Outside of the fonts, even all of them together probably doesn’t add up to much.