Right, so me and my useless liberal arts college degree are running into issues with understanding how natural attacks work with spell combat and spellstrike. No wonder finding a job is such a drag :))
So here is what I understand:
1) I can spellstrike (cast Frostbite) and use an attack to deliver the spell, doing normal damage. In the case of prehensile hair, I would make the attack at my Bab+ Int, doing 1d3 + (1.5*Int)+ 1d6 + Cl (nonlethal damage).
2) I could replace my attack with a Combat maneuver and still deal the touch attack.
Now this is just interacting with spellstrike. As for spell combat
3) The prehensile hair does not seem to interact well with spell combat. You'd take -2 and you could not use the "off-hand" for anything but casting the spell.
In the case of a Troglodyte alter self (with prehensile hair) this would mean:
I would have a claw, claw, bite and hair (secondary at -5). Using spell combat would net me -2 on all attacks. I would then use spellcombat, casting shocking grasp:
I would then get Claw/Bite/Hair (secondary), and a free attack with my 'main' claw as per spell combat to deliver the touch, albeit at -2/-2/-2/-7. The second claw I could not attack with because I would use it to cast the spell.
Effectively having four attacks, one buffed with spellcombat.
4) If I would bring in manufactured weapons I could do the same. So If I have a troglodyte form and a scimitar, I could use the itteratives, plus the hair and the bite (both at -5 as secondary attacks) at -2 for using spellcombat.
Ie, I would not be able to use any claws do to having a sword in my one hand (itteratives) and using the other one for casting the spell.
What I do not understand is the way in which the Hexcrafter guide seems to imply that you could use spellcombat together with the prehensile hair. Seems that you need a free hand and spellcombat implies a light weapon (as per the FAQ on the topic).
Anyway, massively confused, anybody have any idea how a general combat round might go attacking with hair/natural attacks. And how does this change if you go to a form with 4 claws?
1) That's correct.
2) If you trigger spellstrike as part of casting a spell, you can substitute the melee weapon attack with a combat maneuver. However, it must be a combat maneuver you can do in place of a melee attack -- like sunder or disarm. If the maneuver succeeds, the touch spell gets delivered.
3) RAW, you cannot use prehensile hair's natural attack with spell combat. Spell combat requires you to use a light or one-handed wielded in your hand. Your hair is not a weapon wielded in your hand. You would need the Natural Spell Combat magus arcana. A claw might work though since it's a light weapon wielded with your hand. I suppose it could be argued that since the hair acts as a hand, it would work anyway.
In either case, you must use the same weapon for all attacks during spell combat. In order to add natural attacks to spell combat, you must take the Natural Spell Combat magus arcana.
4) As I said earlier, you must use the same weapon for all attacks in spell combat. If you have the Natural Spell Combat arcana, you can use your scimitar and a natural attack during spell combat. That arcana does a good job explaining how it works.