The WhirlWind skill is available to assassins through the Chaos runeword. Chaos can only be made in three socket claws. So, we only need to worry about claw class weapons when looking at attack speeds for assassins when using WhirlWind.
WhirlWind works according to rules all its own. First, it doesn't use the same formula for EIAS that all other attacks do. With WhirlWind, only your WSM and IAS on your weapon matter. If you are dual wielding, only your WSM and the IAS on your primary weapon matters. The weapon IAS doesn't go through the diminishing returns formula that other attacks use. Skill_IAS also will not affect your WhirlWind speed. That leaves us with this equation:
EIAS = Weapon_IAS - WSM
That's it, nothing more to this equation. The next thing that needs to be talked about concerning this skill is how it is different in terms of animation length. Everything else in this document has a set number of drawn frames and plays through them, choosing which frames to show depending on your attack speed. WhirlWind doens't run for a set time so much as it does for a set distance. You click on a point and your character WhirlWinds to that position. Depending on your EIAS as figured above, you will hit at set time intervals while covering that distance. The animation will just keep repeating until you have covered the distance you need to cover. In that way it is similar to Dragon Talon and Zeal, but they both have a known number of hits and length for the animation whereas WhirlWind will keep repeating until it reaches the ending position. In the beta for the 1.10 patch, one of the bugs with this skill was with its pathing. You could get caught behind an object and endlessly whirl, never stopping.
So, for this skill, all we need is an EIAS table. Neither BoS or IAS on equipment other than you weapon will matter, so we don't need a table for them. Here's the EIAS table for WhirlWind:
|
EIAS |
Frames/hit/claw |
|---|---|
|
-33 |
12 |
|
-25 |
10 |
|
-10 |
8 |
|
12 |
6 |
|
13 |
4 |
The way to use this table is very easy. Say you have a scissors suwayyah with Chaos in it. The claw has a WSM of 0. The Chaos runeword has 35 IAS included with it. Using the equation: EIAS = Weapon_IAS - WSM, we have EIAS of 35. That's well above the breakpoint of 13 it takes to have 4 frame hits. Given that the Chaos runeword carries with it 35 IAS, we'd need to put the runeword in a claw with a WSM of 23 or more in order to not hit the fastest breakpoint for WhirlWind. There is no claw that can get 3 sockets which has a WSM higher than 0. That means that with a single claw setup, you will always have the fastest hit speed with WhirlWind.
With a dual claw setup, it is possible to not have the fastest WhirlWind attack speed. Watch your WSM carefully when dual wielding. Pay attention to the order you equip your claws in and don't get caught on the wrong end of the inventory-right equipping bug.