diff --git a/ComboPointTracker.lua b/ComboPointTracker.lua
index 23d8e17..11f229d 100644
--- a/ComboPointTracker.lua
+++ b/ComboPointTracker.lua
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ function Extension.OnLoad()
     Extension.RegisterEvent("SPELLCAST_FAILED", "OnSpellcastFailed")
     Extension.RegisterEvent("SPELLCAST_INTERRUPTED", "OnSpellcastInterrupted")
     Extension.RegisterEvent("PLAYER_TARGET_CHANGED", "OnTargetChanged")
-    Extension.RegisterEvent("UNIT_AURA", "OnUnitAura")
+    Extension.RegisterUnitEvent("UNIT_AURA", "OnUnitAura", "target", "player")
     Extension.RegisterEvent("PLAYER_COMBO_POINTS", "OnComboPointsChanged")
 
     -- PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION: Removed OnUpdate polling for combo points
@@ -765,10 +765,10 @@ function Extension.OnTargetChanged()
     CleveRoids.UpdateComboPoints()
 end
 
+-- Registered as a unit event for target and player, so arg1 is always one of
+-- those two -- no token check needed.
 function Extension.OnUnitAura()
-    if arg1 == "target" or arg1 == "player" then
-        CleveRoids.UpdateComboPoints()
-    end
+    CleveRoids.UpdateComboPoints()
 end
 
 function Extension.OnComboPointsChanged()
diff --git a/Core.lua b/Core.lua
index 97eea0a..91de01d 100644
--- a/Core.lua
+++ b/Core.lua
@@ -591,6 +591,10 @@ frame:SetScript("OnEvent", function()
     if type(CleveRoidMacros.macrocheck) ~= "number" then
         CleveRoidMacros.macrocheck = 1  -- enabled by default
     end
+
+    -- The saved realtime setting is only readable now; the unit streams were
+    -- registered at load assuming event-driven mode.
+    CleveRoids.ApplyUnitStreamEvents()
 end)
 
 -- Queues a full update of all action bars.
@@ -4464,18 +4468,36 @@ if type(C_LossOfControl) == "table" then
     CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("LOSS_OF_CONTROL_ADDED")
     CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("LOSS_OF_CONTROL_UPDATE")
 end
--- Use GUID events when available (v2.39+), fall back to standard per-token events
+-- The unit state streams that drive icon refresh: GUID events when Nampower
+-- provides them (v2.39+, one event per unit change rather than one per token),
+-- else the stock per-token events. These cannot become RegisterUnitEvent calls
+-- -- the handlers ignore the unit and refresh every macro, because a conditional
+-- may name any unit ([@party3,hp:<50], @focus, @mouseover), so narrowing the
+-- token set would leave those icons stale.
+local unitStreamEvents
 if CleveRoids.NampowerAPI.features.hasUnitGuidEvents then
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_AURA_GUID")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_HEALTH_GUID")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_MANA_GUID")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_RAGE_GUID")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_ENERGY_GUID")
+    unitStreamEvents = { "UNIT_AURA_GUID", "UNIT_HEALTH_GUID", "UNIT_MANA_GUID", "UNIT_RAGE_GUID", "UNIT_ENERGY_GUID" }
 else
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_AURA")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_HEALTH")
-    CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_POWER")
+    unitStreamEvents = { "UNIT_AURA", "UNIT_HEALTH", "UNIT_POWER" }
 end
+
+-- They do fire continuously for every unit in range, and in realtime mode their
+-- handlers do nothing at all: the OnUpdate refreshes on every throttled tick and
+-- QueueActionUpdate no-ops. Rather than pay a Lua dispatch per event to return
+-- early, drop the registrations entirely while realtime is on. Re-applied at
+-- VARIABLES_LOADED (when the saved value is first known) and whenever
+-- `/cleveroid realtime` flips it.
+function CleveRoids.ApplyUnitStreamEvents()
+    local eventDriven = not CleveRoidMacros or CleveRoidMacros.realtime == 0
+    for i = 1, table.getn(unitStreamEvents) do
+        if eventDriven then
+            CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent(unitStreamEvents[i])
+        else
+            CleveRoids.Frame:UnregisterEvent(unitStreamEvents[i])
+        end
+    end
+end
+CleveRoids.ApplyUnitStreamEvents()
 if CleveRoids.hasSuperwow then
   CleveRoids.Frame:RegisterEvent("UNIT_CASTEVENT")
 end
@@ -5808,6 +5830,8 @@ SlashCmdList["CLEVEROID"] = function(msg)
         local num = tonumber(val)
         if num == 0 or num == 1 then
             CleveRoidMacros.realtime = num
+            -- The unit streams are only worth receiving in event-driven mode.
+            CleveRoids.ApplyUnitStreamEvents()
             CleveRoids.Print("realtime set to " .. num)
         else
             CleveRoids.Print("Usage: /cleveroid realtime 0 or 1 - Force realtime updates rather than event based updates (Default: 0. 1 = on, increases CPU load.)")
diff --git a/ExtensionsManager.lua b/ExtensionsManager.lua
index b0cb84f..ff6a62a 100644
--- a/ExtensionsManager.lua
+++ b/ExtensionsManager.lua
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ function CleveRoids.RegisterExtension(name)
         CleveRoids.RegisterEvent(name, eventName, callbackName)
     end
 
+    extension.RegisterUnitEvent = function(eventName, callbackName, ...)
+        CleveRoids.RegisterUnitEvent(name, eventName, callbackName, unpack(arg))
+    end
+
     extension.Hook = function(functionName, callbackName, dontCallOriginal)
         CleveRoids.RegisterHook(name, functionName, callbackName, dontCallOriginal)
     end
@@ -146,6 +150,20 @@ function CleveRoids.RegisterEvent(extensionName, eventName, callbackName)
     extension.internal.frame:RegisterEvent(eventName)
 end
 
+-- Registers a callback for a UNIT_* event, filtered to the given unit tokens.
+-- The callback then only runs for those units: the client drops every other
+-- unit's copy, instead of all of them reaching Lua to be compared away. Use
+-- this over RegisterEvent whenever the handler starts by testing arg1.
+-- extensionName: The name of the extension trying to register the callback
+-- eventName: The UNIT_* event to register
+-- callbackName: The name of the callback that gets called when the event fires
+-- ...: the unit tokens to accept (e.g. "player", "target")
+function CleveRoids.RegisterUnitEvent(extensionName, eventName, callbackName, ...)
+    local extension = CleveRoids.Extensions[extensionName]
+    extension.internal.eventHandlers[eventName] = callbackName
+    extension.internal.frame:RegisterUnitEvent(eventName, unpack(arg))
+end
+
 -- Hooks the given function by it's name
 -- extensionName: The name of the extension trying to register the callback
 -- functionName: The name of the function that'll be hooked
diff --git a/Utility.lua b/Utility.lua
index 72a4297..419a631 100644
--- a/Utility.lua
+++ b/Utility.lua
@@ -4115,7 +4115,7 @@ end)
 
 local ev = CreateFrame("Frame", "CleveRoidsLibDebuffFrame", UIParent)
 ev:RegisterEvent("PLAYER_TARGET_CHANGED")
-ev:RegisterEvent("UNIT_AURA")
+ev:RegisterUnitEvent("UNIT_AURA", "target")
 ev:RegisterEvent("ADDON_LOADED")  -- For pfUI integration initialization
 ev:RegisterEvent("ZONE_CHANGED_NEW_AREA")  -- Clear known enemy GUIDs on zone change
 
@@ -4214,7 +4214,7 @@ ev:SetScript("OnEvent", function()
     end
     SeedUnit("target")
 
-  elseif event == "UNIT_AURA" and arg1 == "target" then
+  elseif event == "UNIT_AURA" then
     SeedUnit("target")
 
   elseif event == "UNIT_CASTEVENT" then