From what ive read on the forum i think most of us are in agreement that the current magic system is broken as far as essence is concerned. So I've given it some thought and here a few ideas i came up with.

As it is now essence is the most valuable resource in the game. I think it should stay that way, as it is what makes your sovereign unique. Others have said that we should be able to regenerate it in some way and i agree. One idea that ive had is to tie essence regeneration to how many shards you control. I would say that you should regenerate essence slowly by default, maybe  one every 50 turns or so. Then have a small recharge bonus for every shard you control, say 10% or so. Also maybe you could get a recharge bonus for staying in a town that controls a shard.

That being said, while essence is odviously important for magic characters, I think it should give added benefits to all types of characters. I think each character having a primary attribute would be kinda cool, and then having the percentage of your current essence compared to your maximum amount determine how much of a bonus you get. That way if you forgoe using your essence on powerful summons or high level spells, your other, regular combat spells would be more powerful. The same would go for combat or diplomatic characters. This would create more choices as to what you should use your essence on: should I cast an uber spell, or save my essence and have my lesser spells be more powerful. Should I spend essence to strengthen other heroes and be weaker for a while, or keep my essence to myself and be more of a sinlge man army. Should focus on spending my essence on building cities, or keep my sovereign at maximum for running quests. You get the picture.  This would also cause shards to be more important to mainly non magical characters as well, creating more stategic options.

I would also like to see some more techs that deal with essence, say, "essence regeneration" to increase regeneration rate. Or another that reduces essence cost for summons or city founding. Also, a damage or drain essence spell would be awesome, tho it would need to be balanced somehow.

I havnt been on the forums very long, so i hope i didnt steal anyone elses ideas. Sorry if i did, or if these ideas have been posted elsewhere. Feel free to post feedback whether god or bad, I'd like to hear what you think.

PS: Don't bother with correcting my spelling or grammer, unless i said something that makes no sense at all. I already know its terrible.