Eidolon attacks per round

Question

I'm a new Pathfinder player and I have some problems in understanding the rules.

I have a 1st level summoner with a biped eidolon. I understand that its claw attack is not an "iterative attack" (like other classes), but I cannot understand how many attacks he can do in a round.

The eidolon table says that at 1st level the eidolon has a maximum of three attacks. If it has two claws, does that mean it can attack two times at its full attack bonus? Or does it mean it can have up to three natural attacks (say, claws, bite and tail)?

UPDATE

Option A: two claws = two attacks. My eidolon can hit two times with a +4 (BAB+Str) bonus for each attack. Every attack can do id4+3 damage. If then it has bite or something else, it can use (it has at least another attack after the two claws attacks).

Obtion B: two claws and a bite = two different attacks. My eidolon can hit one time with the claws (1d4+3) with an attack of +4 and one time with his bite (1d3+1) with an attack of +2 (BAB+Str/2) (in this case "two claws" count as only one attack).

Which option is correct?

Answer 1

The base form for the Biped Eidolon is:

Size Medium; Speed 30 ft.; AC +2 natural armor; Saves Fort (good), Ref (bad), Will (good); Attack 2 claws (1d4); Ability Scores Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11

So a base Eidolon will get two claw attacks with a FULL ROUND attack and one claw attack with a normal attack.

The "maximum of three attacks" is for when you start adding things like Bite and Sting. The Eidolon can only have a maximum of 3 attacks (at level 1) no matter how you augment it.

E.g. Tail, Bite and Sting are all 1 point evolutions; so if you took all those as your Eidolons evolutions at level one then it would have 4 attacks (Full round action) Claw, Claw, Bite, Sting. However the maximum number of attacks it is allowed is 3, so one of those attacks would be forfeit.

From your example

Each "attack" counts as an attack; so claw x2 and bite. Each one of those is an "attack", so that's three.

So for a FULL ATTACK the Eidolon would get three attacks (claw, claw, bite) For a standard action attack the Eidolon would get one attack, this would be either ONE claw or ONE bite as the Bite is listed as a PRIMARY attack - if you only have one attack then you select one of your primary attacks to use.

Answer 2

It indicates the maximum number of natural attacks available to it

From the Eidolon entry in the PFSRD, under 'max attacks':

This indicates the maximum number of natural attacks that the eidolon is allowed to possess at the given level. If the eidolon is at its maximum, it cannot take evolutions that grant additional natural attacks. This does not include attacks made with weapons.

These natural attacks behave like all natural attacks, which you can find here. Of particular note:

Most creatures possess one or more natural attacks (attacks made without a weapon). These attacks fall into one of two categories, primary and secondary attacks. Primary attacks are made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and add the creature’s full Strength bonus on damage rolls. Secondary attacks are made using the creature’s base attack bonus –5 and add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls. If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 times the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls. This increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks but only takes one. If a creature has only one type of attack, but has multiple attacks per round, that attack is treated as a primary attack, regardless of its type.

If your Eidolon makes a full attack, he can attack once with all of his natural weapons, as described above. Otherwise he attacks with one natural attack.