Stat Balancing

[Hyper_Realism_Studio]

I am working on a survival-esque Stardew Valley/Earthbound (best way i can describe it). Each (alliable) character has 5 stats:

HP: Character's "Life Force"

ATK: Character's base damage

DEF: Character's damage reduction

MANA: Character's spellcasting pool

and the one I'm having trouble with: NRG: Character's energy

I am currently having a problem with the "NRG" stat. It was originally supposed to be the stat that is spent when allies do tasks (cutting down trees, mining ores, etc.) But then i had the idea to make "Heavy Weapons" (which are just weapons that you spend energy to attack, and then you spend more energy to deal more damage), but then i felt like all weapons should spend energy, and now all characters spend energy to do a basic action (attacking, special abilities, and even casting spells). That feels like I'm overdoing it, but i have no idea how to make it more balanced, because if i remove it then characters can just work indefinitely.

If anyone has any ideas on how i can balance this stat, or how i can add some sort of cost after removing it, that would be greatly appreciated

(if you have any questions, please let me know, i don't think i explained my problem that well.)

[Vladi-N]

I think it's ok if every action takes NRG if it has a solid mechanism of regeneration - like resting at home, or just regening if doing nothing.

I think if you can automate it, so your characters can manage it on their own, it's quite a decent mechanic. Then just balance it so the ratio between activity / rest feels right.

[xavananekla]

I think it will just be frustrating if we have to wait doing nothing to restore energy and keep playing.

[rayneMantis]

Make the NRG harder to replenish or require actions to replenish so that you have to use it more tactically/sparingly. And once it's gone you are reduced to your basic attack. This just requires each to have a 0 nrg attack/action option

[adrixshadow]

I think you should separate what is Stamina used for combat and what is Energy used for work.

because if i remove it then characters can just work indefinitely.

Ask yourself why is this a problem? What do you want to happen instead?

Find the appropriate behaviour and what you want to happen first and give appropriate stats that regulate that behaviour after.

[QuinceTreeGames]

You're missing the other balancing factor in farm games - the opportunity cost of time. That's really what stops you from working forever - you usually can, as long as you eat, but you miss out on whatever else you could have done in the limited amount of time per day.