Whips

Whips are close-range summoning weapons that swing in an arcing motion and produce a unique sound. Whips cannot deal critical hits.

When an enemy has been hit with a whip, any minions the player has summoned will target that enemy, much like when right-clicking an enemy with a summoning weapon.

Whips can have the same modifiers as swords, meaning the best modifier for all whips (in terms of item value) is Legendary.

Most whips have damage bonuses that apply to the attacking minion, in addition to their regular damage statistic. These last 4 seconds after striking the enemy.

Speed bonus gained from modifiers shortens the range of whips. Therefore, a slower speed increases the range.

Tips

 * Because the primary hit of a whip operates similarly to a piercing melee weapon, they are effective against enemies that pass through blocks, such as worms, cursed skulls, and casters with destructible projectiles.
 * Whips are affected by melee attack speed bonuses. This means that melee-oriented armor sets, such as Shadow armor, can greatly increase their effectiveness.
 * The summon tag damage gives significant bonuses to minions. For instance, the pre-Hardmode whips can more than triple the DPS of the Slime Staff vs the Eye of Cthulhu, and Kaleidoscope increases the damage of the Xeno Staff, an already-powerful summon, by more than 50%.

Trivia

 * Added as an homage to summoners with whips from the Final Fantasy series, notably Rydia from Final Fantasy 4.
 * In real life, are generally used on animals, for training and performance purposes. This is why the Zoologist sells the Leather Whip
 * Despite the similarities with Melee weapons, it is still considered as a part of Summon weapons.