At some point I may write a bash script to automate dependencies (like python3), but it's not a big deal to set them up as it is.
My favorite plugins right now are -ALE, to check for C++ compile errors as I write -Deoplete for code completion -ctags for exuberent ctags support -ctrlP for easy file locating
I use the i3 window manager as well whenever I develop on a linux box. I've been at it for about 6 months or so and I'm starting to get pretty quick moving around using only the keyboard.