Which is better: multi sig vs single sig but with extra precautions e.g. passphrase/xor?

I'm trying to figure out which is better:

1. Multi sig wallet
2. Single sig wallet, but with extra precautions such as passphrases, dummy accounts, seed xor etc

On the one hand it seems like multi sig would be the most secure, but with multi sig you still have to backup your seed phrases somewhere, and there are 3 to backup. But then if you do back up all 3, it doesn't necessarily give you any greater level of security, or any extra features vs single sig with the extra bells and whistles that can provide such as dummy wallets. So now I'm just more confused than ever!