Apparently auto-attack is being refered to as a sole means to an end rather than as a mechanical component of a system.



(taken from Oxford Dictionaries Online)
system(sys·tem)

noun
1 a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, in particular. a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network
2 a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done ; an organized scheme or method