Ale

Drinking one marks you as Tipsy, and because that sits in the debuff list rather than the buff list, it never competes with your potions for space. A melee character can keep it running permanently on top of a full buff bar. What you get is quicker swings, a little more damage and a slightly better crit rate, paid for out of your defense.

Early on that trade is close to free, since you have almost no defense to give up. Deeper into a run, and especially in Expert or Master, handing back defense while a boss chips at you is a real cost. It suits farming, mining and mob clearing far better than a fight you keep losing by a sliver of health.

• It raises fishing power, and nothing is attacking you while you fish, so the defense loss costs nothing at all.
• The Ale Tosser fires it, which turns a keg from decoration into an ammo factory. Stack it in an ammo slot and forget about it.
• The Nurse wipes debuffs when she heals you, so she cancels Tipsy instantly. Drinking and healing on repeat is also the fastest way to hit the achievement for spending gold on her.