Very weird. You’re correct, the whip should count as melee. Only thing that counters it would be fighting a Gawker.
The only scenario I can think of that would cause a warrior with a sword and spellbook prompting “missing butt, wasted boob” would be if she were also wearing black or grey clothing (Thief multiclass) and fighting a Gawker (eyeball monster; cancels boob). But if that was not the case, I’ll have to try and recreate it and figure out why it’s flagging incorrectly.
Mage should only get the Butt potion if wearing black or grey clothing, or if they have a rope item not negated by Animated Armor.
I will try to look into this. Thank you for the info.