Button Bloat: Data for discussion

[Renathras]

The conversation recently came up about WHM being the Job with the fewest buttons in the game. I didn't think this was true, and it wasn't when I did a count in ShB, so I decided to have a look through Jobs again and make a list.

Note that, in general, you will always have Job actions + Role actions +3 (Sprint, Limit Break, Potion [free slot for Mount when not in raid fights]) to get the Adjusted Total figure, which is why the AT is always 3 more than the Total.

Methodology is to take all Job actions, remove abilities that directly upgrade into other abilities (e.g. Stone -> Stone 2, Rage of Halone -> Royal Authority), and also not count any "This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar", since those don't actually take up a separate slot. While one can argue they are separate abilities and have separate use cases, for the purpose of this discussion, I'm limiting it to hotbar slots for the moment. Most context abilities are not generally complicated to use (e.g. Jolt II turning into Scorch then Resolution) or one version isn't used in typical gameplay (e.g. RDM's unenchanted weaponskills)

Note also, for whom it matters: A single crossbar set (controller) is 16 buttons. Two sets is 32 (can rapidly swap by tapping the right bumper). Conversely, for keyboard and mouse, grids are in sets of 10s (10/20/30/40)

It is possible I missed an ability or missed a button that has a context case where it isn't a separate button (or is), especially on the Jobs I play less of, but I went over each a couple of times and cross-referenced both the Traits (Upgrades X into Y) and noted the things tagged as actions that cannot be set to hotbars. If you see any in error, let me know.

This also doesn’t talk about the USE of such buttons (e.g. Scorch counts as a hotbar for the purpose of this argument, as does Repose), even if the use cases for them are low. Again, further discussion can occur related to such abilities, if desired. This is also not a discussion of difficulty to use or play, merely of number of actions that one has to slot and attempt to track and/or use.

One's individual definition of "bloat" will differ from person to person. This is merely an ability list as a starting point for discussion.

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Each role header lists a TL;DR of Jobs within the role from most to least abilities.

TANKS: PLD (37), DRK (36), GNB (35), WAR (32)

PLD
Job: 27
Role: 7
Total: 34
Adjusted Total: 37

WAR:
Job: 22
Role: 7
Total: 29
Adjusted Total: 32

DRK:
Job: 26
Role: 7
Total: 33
Adjusted Total: 36

GNB:
Job: 25
Role: 7
Total: 32
Adjusted Total: 35

HEALERS: SCH (36), AST (35), WHM = SGE (33)

WHM
Job: 24
Role: 6
Total: 30
Adjusted Total: 33

SCH
Job: 27
Role: 6
Total: 33
Adjusted Total: 36

AST
Job: 26
Role: 6
Total: 32
Adjusted Total: 35

SGE
Job: 24
Role: 6
Total: 30
Adjusted Total: 33

DPS:

MELEE: NIN (35), SAM (34), RPR (33), DRG (32), MNK (31)

MNK
Job: 22
Role: 6
Total: 28
Adjusted Total: 31

DRG
Job: 23
Role: 6
Total: 29
Adjusted Total: 32

NIN
Job: 26
Role: 6
Total: 32
Adjusted Total: 35

SAM
Job: 25
Role: 6
Total: 31
Adjusted Total: 34

RPR
Job: 24
Role: 6
Total: 30
Adjusted Total: 33

RANGED: BRD = DNC (32), MCH (30)

BRD
Job: 23
Role: 6
Total: 29
Adjusted Total: 32

MCH
Job: 21
Role: 6
Total: 27
Adjusted Total: 30

DNC
Job: 23
Role: 6
Total: 29
Adjusted Total: 32

CASTER: BLM (34), RDM (32), SMN (27)

BLM
Job: 26
Role: 5
Total: 31
Adjusted Total: 34

SMN
Job: 19
Role: 5
Total: 24
Adjusted Total: 27

RDM
Job: 24
Role: 5
Total: 29
Adjusted Total: 32

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Summary/TL;DR:

Least actions by role:
Tank: WAR (32)
Healer: WHM = SGE (33)
Melee: MNK (31)
Ranged: MCH (30)
Caster: SMN (27)

Most actions by role:
Tank: PLD (37)
Healer: SCH (36)
Melee: NIN (35)
Ranged: BRD = DNC (32)
Caster: BLM (34)

Jobs which fall at or under 32:
SMN (27), MCH (30), MNK (31), WAR = DRG = BRD = DNC = RDM (32)

Jobs which are at or above 33:
PLD (37), DRK = SCH (36), GNB = AST = NIN (35), SAM = BLM (34), WHM = SGE = RPR (33)

Average: 33.105
Mode: 32 (5 cases)

NOTE: The Healer role has no members at 32 or below. All other roles have at least one member that is 32 or less. The Ranged (physical) role has no Jobs above 32, and is the only role that does not. There are a total of 8 Jobs with fewer actions and abilities than WHM, and two tied with it, SGE and RPR. There are only 8 Jobs with more actions than it, SAM and BLM with only 1 more, GNB/AST/NIN with only 2 more, DRK/SCH with only 3 more, and PLD with 4 more. SCH is both the most actions healer and tied with DRK for second most actions in the game, with only 1 Job, PLD, having more, meaning 16 Jobs have fewer. AST is second, in a three way tie for most buttons, and has 13 Jobs with fewer and 3 with more.