I'm sure there are plenty of threads asking this same thing, but how is the attack bonus calculated for the full attack action?
Say a summoner has an eidolon with 2 claw attacks, a tail slap, and a bite attack. His BAB is +1 and his Str. is +3. His full attack action wouldn't be: 2 claws; +4, Tail slap; +4, and bite; +4? or would it?
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Tail Slap's are Secondary Attacks made at a -5, so it'd be 2 claws at +4, Bite +4, and Tail Slap -1.
You'd add full strength to damage for the claws and bite, 1/2 STR for the Tail Slap since it's a secondary attack.
Some natural attacks are denoted as secondary natural attacks, such as tails and wings. Attacks with secondary natural attacks are made using your base attack bonus minus 5. These attacks deal an amount of damage depending on their type, but you only add half your Strength modifier on damage rolls.
You can make attacks with natural weapons in combination with attacks made with a melee weapon and unarmed strikes, so long as a different limb is used for each attack. For example, you cannot make a claw attack and also use that hand to make attacks with a longsword. When you make additional attacks in this way, all of your natural attacks are treated as secondary natural attacks, using your base attack bonus minus 5 and adding only 1/2 of your Strength modifier on damage rolls. Feats such as Two-Weapon Fighting and Multiattack can reduce these penalties.
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If they are all primary attacks, yes they would. That's the beauty of natural attacks!
If, in contrast, you had an eidolon holding a longsword, it would go like this: longsword +4, claw -1, tail slap -1, bite -1. All natural attacks take a -5 penalty if you're using any manufactured weapons.
So there is no "off hand" for a 2 claw attack? Natural weapons are pretty good then!
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So there is no "off hand" for a 2 claw attack? Natural weapons are pretty good then!
Yeah, natural weapons are pretty solid, especially at lower levels. You don't gain extra attacks with Natural Weapons for having a high BAB or Two-Weapon Fighting, but generally you can swing with every natural weapon you have during a full attack, and all of your primary attacks will be at full BAB to hit, and your secondary attacks will only have a -5 to-hit, even if you have 4 primaries and 4 secondaries.
If you only have 1 natural attack, it is instantly treated as primary attack and get x1.5 STR damage, regardless of type (not sure what would happen if you have 2 of the same secondary attack though). All natural attacks are treated as secondary attacks if you use a manufactured weapon.
You can reduce the penalty for secondary attacks from -5 to -2 with the multiattack feat, which only has a prerequisite of having 3+ natural attacks. Although, since you are playing with eidolons, they get that anyway at level 10, so it might not be worth spending a feat on unless you do not think you'll ever get to that level.
Other than these penalties, natural attacks always hit at full BAB. They never get iteratives, so your weapon will always only do one attack per round (excluding circumstances like haste and such). But you can have as many as you want. Some summoners like to spend their left over Evolution points on the tentacle evolution since it can be taken repeatedly, and it always adds 1 more attack.
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***Other than these penalties, natural attacks always hit at full BAB. They never get iteratives, so your weapon will always only do one attack per round (excluding circumstances like haste and such). But you can have as many as you want. Some summoners like to spend their left over Evolution points on the tentacle evolution since it can be taken repeatedly, and it always adds 1 more attack.
That's not strictly true for Eidolons. The Summoner's Eidolon has a limit on the maximum number of natural attacks it can possess, as disclosed in the Eidolon Base Statistics table. For example, the Eidolon discussed above with 2 claws, a bite and a tail slap would need to be at least level 4, the earliest level an Eidolon can have 4 natural attacks.