I imagined potions of strength as particularly useful for construction workers, while all the desperate wizzards and clerics in training would have a flourishing black market of potions of intelligence/wisdom to help them a little bit while studying to learn their trade. It's also the only way potion shops can be explained, they need customers and since high level magic is rare, there should be a lot of ordinary customers too. To bad they took this out to streamline mechanics.
We had essentially that in 3 / 3.5e. There were 6 spells, each buffing a separate primary stat:
- Bull's Strength
- Cat's Grace
- Bear's Endurance
- Fox's Cunning
- Owl's Wisdom
- Eagle's Splendour
The problem (at least in CRPGs, such as NWN 2 and IWD 2) was that these games were balanced in such a way that you wanted to keep your party perma-buffed, otherwise any encounter, however simple, could end up in a disaster. Around mid- to late game, buffing the party was becoming such a chore (I had to do it after every long rest) that I found myself rushing towards the end, just to cut down on this tedious stuff. Not fun at all.
So yeah, after playing countless hours of 3.5e, my personal opinion is that the game should be balanced around an un-buffed party, and if you find an encounter difficult, you can sacrifice a spell slot or two (or a couple of potions) to tip the scales in your favour. From what I see, 5e has (mostly) fulfilled that.
