With just one button, many players in World of Warcraft are stronger than their peers. A full 75% leave them behind without mastering their class.
The introduction of the “1 Button Assistant” was controversial. Thanks to it, players in WoW can play their characters without learning complex rotations. The PvE aspect of the game is reduced to one button, and players only have to select major cooldowns or utility abilities manually.
What is a blessing and a great method of accessibility for some turns out to be a curse for others. Because what happens when you suddenly realize that you perform better with the assistant than without? This is likely to lead to some crises of conscience and frustration, especially knowing that 75% of characters are better when using the assistant.
75% are being taken away by the 1-Button Assistant
What was found out? When the “1 Button Assistant” was introduced, community sites like wowhead calculated how great the DPS loss of individual classes was. After all, there is a penalty on global cooldown, and the feature doesn’t work “perfectly”, making small mistakes that professionals wouldn’t make.
It was found out that you lose between 10% and 25% performance when using this feature.
What was forgotten in this context was that Wowhead based its calculations on theoretical maximum values, i.e., the results of “simulations” where the character plays flawlessly, has to ignore no boss mechanics, and every decision is made perfectly.
This, however, is completely unrealistic for most characters – no one plays as well as the simulation.
The shocking result, measured against real numbers: well over 75% of characters are overtaken by people using the “1 Button Assistant”.
The YouTuber Bellular analyzed the numbers in one of his latest videos:
How do the differences arise? How well the “1 Button Assistant” works depends on several factors. The most important are:
- How well is the rotation programming planned by Blizzard?
- How well does the chosen specialization fit the “1 Button Assistant”?
- How many abilities have long cast times, so the increased cooldown doesn’t matter?
Bellular is sure that this feature will lead to some balance problems and related discussions in the coming months and years. The game will become even more complex, as there will likely not only be a “best talent choice for every class” but also a “best talent choice for every class with 1 Button Assistant”.
Additionally, the social pressure may increase to use the assistant with particularly strong classes – even if one would rather play manually.
It is clear, however, that the “1-Button-Assistant” is a real alternative for many players. A significant portion of the community would likely perform better if they took advantage of this aid – even if one might not want to admit it, as they see themselves as the chosen DPS master of God.
But for that, you can also simply play the most popular class, as it greatly benefits from this feature.
