I have used two purple tonics for the shadestalker helmet specifically, and while I dropped a few shadestalkers pieces of armor, I have not gotten a single helmet (shadestalker or otherwise). This seems like it should work different. I dunno if it's a question of luck or anything, but figured I'd give the info in case i'm not alone.
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Tonics for drops seem to be bugged. The ones for specific drops don't seem to buff (and in many cases seem to hurt) the drop rate for that specific item.