I can only speak about minimalist distros, but Debian is my go-to desktop Linux. If you want a minimalist and stable (even on unstable/testing branches) desktop, it's the best option IMHO.

Arch Linux and Gentoo are rolling release distros.

For Arch Linux, if you don't keep up to date with the updates, you could fall behind and cause package problems since they do not store archives of old packages. There are third party sites that do, but installing them correctly on a few packages is a pain in the ass.

Arch Linux is where I have the most experience with rolling release distros, and I have hosed 4 computers entirely by skipping a version of the "filesystem" package, not even at the same time. I have also had endless regressions in the kernel (monitor stopped working on my laptop for ~1 year, had to use the laptop as a desktop during that time (I couldn't format without doing extensive backups)). The touchpad drivers regressed multiple times and would not work, and ACPI also regressed leaving me knowledge-less about battery usage, no brightness controls, and no suspend features. Posts on their forums get ignored for the most part as well, since it's populated by users who have no knowledge of the internals of the OS.

I have little experience with Gentoo, but as a rolling release distro I tend to avoid them all now. Debian provides a large package repository with very little issues in regressions in my experience.

That being said, Arch has it's benefits. AUR is amazing if you use aur-git, which basically turns AUR into FreeBSD ports on crack.

I have heard there are Arch Linux derivatives that create some stability (Antergos, for instance) for releases.

I still choose Debian every day of the week for desktop use, though.