I think the manhattan modular MVP has a lot of utilities built into one.

Also a Matrix Mixer would be a great addition, and give you a lot of feedback patching opportunities, something like the 4ms vca matrix, which will also take care of a lot of VCAs

I would also highly recommend the Joranalogue Morph 4. It just seems like a keyframer/crossfader but when you get in deep it becomes way more than the sum of it's parts.

Look into logic gates as well.

If you're new this all may seem boring but I assure you, utilities are actually the stars of the show.