Never mind. So in game, the description on the weapon itself doesn't say "area of effect". The desciption on the ZAM website doesn't say "area of effect". But I just checked my character on EQII Players website and I saw "Inflicts 74 - 82 heat damage on targets in Area of Effect". So that should explain everything. If I don't want unwanted aggro just switch out weapons beforehand. So I guess this is intended?
So my next question (probably belongs in the newbie section), as a long time EQ monk/rogue, I could change out weapons in combat. Does EQ2 allow changing weapons while in combat?