Whirlwind Attack Feat Description
"The Whirlwind Attack feat (Core Rulebook, p.136) says:
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: When you use the full-attack action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack at your full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach."
The key phrase here is that you make one melee attack against each opponent within reach.
The feat does not say you are making a series of attacks or a full-attack action with different weapons, but rather that you make “one melee attack” at your full base attack bonus against all targets within reach.
This is typically understood as being with whatever weapon (or unarmed strike) you are currently using to perform your melee attack.General Rules for Full-Attack Actions- In a normal full-attack action, a character can make multiple attacks, and they can switch weapons between attacks (as long as they have the necessary actions to do so).
However, Whirlwind Attack is a specific type of full-attack action, and it only allows one melee attack per target within reach, rather than a normal sequence of iterative attacks.Switching between weapons: Pathfinder rules don’t explicitly prevent switching weapons between attacks during a full-attack action (if you have the actions available to do so, such as a free action to drop a weapon or a swift action to switch grips), but Whirlwind Attack doesn’t follow the same rules as a standard full attack.
Unarmed Strikes and Reach Weapons- If you’re using a reach weapon (like a glaive or long spear), your reach is typically 10 feet or more, and your melee attacks for Whirlwind Attack will use that reach.
If you attempt to switch to Improved Unarmed Strike during the same Whirlwind Attack sequence, the problem arises because unarmed strikes typically have only a 5-foot reach (unless you’re using something like a Monk’s Ki Reach or a similar ability).
This means the two...
I was GMing a campaign right after COVID started and one of the players wanted to play a Monk with WA (Whirlwind Attack) and had many similar questions about it use. So to be fair to the player I deep dived the FEAT at the time 13 years of posts and rules questions on this and other Forums. The Cliff Notes Answer is it turned out about 70% in favor of the Multiple Weapons are allowed in a single round use of the Feat and 30% in contradiction. The argument for this type of use I will summarize for you. Researching this FEAT did more for my understanding of COMBAT rules than any other research I have done.
To start like Most of the rules and Feats came from the original 3.5e of DND. In the 3.5 players handbook the feat was verbatim the same with the exception of the flavor text.
"You can strike nearby opponents in an amazing, spinning attack."
Pathfinder version of the flavor text reads:
"You can strike out at every foe within reach."
Like the arguments in this current post it is believed the Devs changed this just for this reason. 3.5e was being used like the 70% majority even with that verbiage so when it was imported it was changed to add a little clarity. "You can strike out at every foe in reach" supports the multiple attacks rather than a single swing with one weapon. Most feats that want restriction placed on the feat add verbiage to imply this. A great example of this is the Cleave feat:
"You can strike two adjacent foes with a single swing."
This helps to clarify it is with same weapon 1 swing.
The next point has already been mentioned in this thread "make one melee attack....against (each) opponent within reach." Emphasis on each. Which implies multiple strikes not a single swing. Now comes my biggest learning experience as a GM. Do this exercise search "Combat Pathfinder" it pulls up (on Google search) the d20PFSRD on there do your standard Ctrl F and type in "Melee Attack". It pulls up about 48 hits of those words. You can quickly go thru each use of these word in less than 5 minutes but I can almost guarantee you you will gain a new understanding of the rules you may have missed previously. SO this is the restrictive word in the FEAT. After doing this exercise you will understand a Melee can be:
Melee Weapon
Unarmed Strike
Natural Weapons (Claws and bite)
certain Combat Maneuvers can be used in place of a Melee Attack (ie Trip and Sunder)
So in the case of my Player after completing all this research I allowed them to play the FEAT and attack with their Unarmed Strike and Longspear against each opponent in reach. I felt confident in my interpretation of how the FEAT functioned. When he later added the Lunge feat and this allowed him to strike with his Unarmed Strikes 5-10 feet out and/or Strike with his Longspear 10-15 feet out.
My last point is about the FEAT tax for WA is brutal. I tried to talk my Player into using a Brawler or Fighter so it would come on board much faster. But he stuck to his guns. That is about one of the most brutal Feats lines to go down with what all you give up. He wasn't even that strong against a group mobs by the time it came online (compared to casters) and because he gave up so many feats he was weak against bosses compared to other melees in the group.
I think we have a tendency to add to much realism into a Fantasy world campaign. As a GM we must never forget they are the hero's., sometimes villains, of the story. The most popular use of this FEAT is a WHIP build that with a couple additional feats can threaten out 15 feet even before lunge and enlarge are added to the mix. I have seen zero arguments on this feat that this use is not possible. Imagine 20+ opponents being Tripped in one round of combat with a single weapon. Striking out 20 separate times to wrap the ancle of your foes yank them off there feet to fall prone. That is a lot to do in 6 seconds but it is what the FEAT allows.
Hope this was helpful,
SP