tbh i dont really feel like the energy managment aspect is even a thing really. it feels like more of an annoyance in its current state. which, that is probably because it doesnt feel aggressive enough to me.
like ok... here is my example of what i see in game.
main character: 115 energy (i have elven armor with +15 energy equipped)
there are 5 steps to a zone.
proceed (leave encounter): -1
proceed (attack): -1
so given this attacking and leaving how many zones can i go through to find what i want? 23 if everyone is at 115. they arent though so i have to watch them. they are at 100 so its more like 20.
actually the only things that make any differences here are
-supplies (energy refill)
-lock picks (less of a hit for chest open)
-torches (access the secret area in the forest so its not just a wasted 1 energy)
my opinion is energy consumption should be more like:
leave encounter: -1 (you just did some traveling)
attacking: -5 (you did some work)
..and what they changes is you can still walk around looking for whatever you want. however, attacking will cost you. it probably isnt the case that you would attack every encounter in a zone even though ive done close to it when gathering essences. think about what that costed me in the current energy setup.
if i was fighting many packs of wolves say in every encounter for essence. the cost is a measely 5 energy out of my total 100+. big deal. if it was increased to 5 though and i did that it would have costed me 1/5th my energy.
this is why i say it feels more like an annoyance than anything else. it doesnt really feel like the energy system has a real point. it needs to either be completely removed in favor of doing something else, or it needs to be more aggressive to go along with the idea of 'managing time and cost'.