As far as the potions go, I'd carry the one that fills in the weak part of your food. If you run HHS foods, then keep stam pot, HSS keep heal, balanced could probably skip both unless doing permadeath then ofc take both lol.

The potions in this game are either for elemental resistance which you may need depending on gear and biome or emergencies when you really don't want to visit respawn.

As far as equipment goes, I run mission oriented. My setup for crypts/caves/chambers is very different from what I use for wilderness exploration, which is different from what I use when resourcing.

Another factor for weapons and shields is training - what will you need the most down the road later - might be worth carrying just to skill them up.