At present, the only class capable of sprinting is the one realistically least likely to be able to do so: Swordsman.
As a result, the Stamina system and all related stamina-based consumables fall short on every class outside the swordsman tree; more so with how common the root crystals are.
With that feedback part done, onto the suggestions to rectify the stamina situation:
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Allow every class the ability to sprint instead of just Swordsman. After all, swordsman classes wear heavy armor and carry heavy swords and shields. The possibility that one could actually sprint with all that stuff on is unlikely at best.
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The ability to sprint should be determined by the player’s armor type: Cloth, Leather or Plate. Where players equipped with 2+ pieces of Plate armor lose the ability to sprint (Meaning you can wear 1 plate armor piece and be fine); Leather being an all-rounder with no loss or gain; and Cloth armor granting an additional +5 stamina per 2 cloth armor worn.
Such a system may end up with hybrid armor combos; sacrificing the Attribute Armor Bonuses in exchange for a balance of pros between the 3 types of armor. -
Aside from dodging boss AoEs and getting from place to place, Sprinting is useless inside combat, where as anyone here who’s played old-school SNES games knows that sprint-hitting an enemy has always been a viable tactic for knocking enemies around.
Sprint-Hit: Hitting an enemy while sprinting (non-skill) should cause knockback on small/medium monsters. Consumes 2 Stamina.
Jump-Hit: Sprinting not involved. Critical Rate +50%. Since you can only attack twice while jumping, and skip a third attack as you hit the ground, the damage bonus works out about even with 3 non-critical attacks. Consumes 1 stamina.
Sprint-Jump-Hit: A combination of the two others; Critical Rate +50% and causing both knockback and knockdown on small/medium monsters and just knockback on large. Consumes 3 stamina.
None of the above attack types even need new animations. They’re simply circumstancial bonuses. Right now, we get very little use in both sprinting and jumping. And yes, Archer and Mage classes would be able to knockback/down enemies at range.