Combat maneuvers and enhancement

[Axl]

For an unarmed combatant, does an enhancement bonus to unarmed strike (such as Magic Fang, Magic Weapon on a monk, or Amulet of Mighty Fists) affect the CMB/CMD?

The descriptions indicate that attack rolls are affected. Is the CMB roll a type of attack roll for this purpose?

[MurphysParadox]

Unarmed Strike is punching someone as a weapon. Weapon enhancement bonuses are allowed on combat maneuvers that can be done with a weapon; specifically - trip, disarm, and sunder. Bull Rush is not done with a weapon, is not done with unarmed strikes, and thus gets no benefit. Same with grapple. Even if you are grabbing someone with your hands, you are not punching them with your hands.

[Magda Luckbender]

Murphy nailed the answer.

One combination I see sometimes is Truestrike followed by a trip attempt (often as an AoO). Trip spiders and dragons. This is the same principle, and is perfectly OK.

[Axl]

Thank you, MurphysParadox & Magda.

Can you tell me which book & page number this is explained in please?

[DesolateHarmony]

It is explained here in the Paizo Blog pretty thoroughly. Gleaning it from the rules takes pulling in information from inferring how the combat maneuver is being made.

From the weapon qualities tables in the CRB and descriptions of new combat maneuvers in the APG.

As SKR stated above, the Disarm, Sunder, and Trip maneuvers are the ones that use your weapons generally. Those are also the maneuvers that can be used in place of a melee attack. Other maneuvers usually need to have their own type of action to use.

[Axl]

Great!

Thank you, DesolateHarmony.

[TGMaxMaxer]

Note, in the blog SKR also discusses some maneuvers that use weapons situationally.

He specifically mentions using a Sap to give the sickened condition with the Dirty Trick maneuver.

Drag and Reposition can be done with any weapon with the Trip feature, so those weapons would apply.

You can Steal with a whip, taking a -4 to do so, so that would use the weapon.

Shield Slam gives you a Bullrush using the shield, so it would apply.

It's not just "Sunder/Trip/Disarm" and that's it. You just have to take into account whether the weapon mattered for the maneuver.