database connection pooling, overkill or essential? dont you think?

hey everyne im curious bout ur experiences w database connection pooling were seeing sum latency spikes under load and while connection pooling is often mentioned as a solution im wondering if its always the rite move r there scenerios where setting up and managing connection pools is more trouble than its worth or is it prety much a must have for any application that hits a database regularly whats ur go to libraries or patterns for this