Originally Posted by Drip

During phase two, I make all EGs that I can't oneshot with a single weak attack flee, and search further for an SEG instead.

Personal opinion, that's not the best use. One hit the EG, share it, and assume 4 people poke it before it dies. That means 4 people can now encounter another EG or SEG, no matter if they've already encountered one.
If you encounter an EG, yet don't have enough focus, ignore it, and continue exploring. You can always get the 3 focus roll, thus get a focus back, and the EG will be there for 2 hours. Assuming there are enough people sharing EGs and SEGs, and you are poking everything, it shouldn't be unusual to have 8 EGs waiting to be poked and shared, 5 EGs someone shared with you that you poked and are waiting to die, and 2 SEGs being killed.
Scaring the EGs into fleeing means less encounters in the long run.

But as long as you get the amount of SEGs and EPs that you are aiming for, then it means your strategy is working for you, so all's well