Full-Round Melee Touch Attacks

[Kevingway]

Using the Lightning Gauntlets from Magic of Incarnum, you're able to deal 1d6 Lightning Damage with a melee touch attack on a standard action. This isn't a spell, so I'm assuming that you should be able to make a full attack with this soulmeld if you don't bind it to any chakras. Am I wrong to assume so?

It counts as an "armed" unarmed strike, so I see no reason why you can't add your BAB to it and attack multiple times in the same round, but I'd like to make sure before I build around it.

I'm also assuming you'd add your strength bonus to damage somehow?

[Greenish]

Using unbound Lightning Gauntlets is a standard action. Full attack is a full-round action. You can't combine the two.

[Extra Anchovies]

Strength isn't added to damage from touch attacks. I think there might be a feat or something that lets you combine touch spells with unarmed strikes, but I forget where (I know it's a class feature of Enlightened Fist, though); as silly as it might seem, you can't do that normally.

Also, Lightning Gauntlets don't make your touch attacks deal electricity damage. They give you the ability to use a standard action to make a touch attack that deals electricity damage. Full attack isn't "one standard action + (BAB-1)/5 standard actions". Unless it lets you make multiple touch attacks with one use of the ability (e.g. Chill Touch), it can't normally be put into a full attack.

[Kevingway]

Hm. Yeah, guess I overlooked that.

Back to the drawing board!

[Troacctid]

Strength isn't added to damage from touch attacks. I think there might be a feat or something that lets you combine touch spells with unarmed strikes, but I forget where (I know it's a class feature of Enlightened Fist, though); as silly as it might seem, you can't do that normally.

Improved Unarmed Strike allows you to do this, per the Rules Compendium.

Improved Unarmed Strike:
You can add the damage of your unarmed strike to the damage of a touch spell by delivering the spell as a regular melee attack instead of a melee touch
attack. The defender gets the full benefit of armor and shield, but if the attack hits, the unarmed strike deals normal damage over and above any damage the spell deals as it’s discharged. If the unarmed strike misses, then the spell isn’t discharged. If the unarmed strike scores a critical hit, damage from the spell isn’t multiplied.

[Curmudgeon]

Improved Unarmed Strike allows you to do this, per the Rules Compendium.

... except that's a regular unarmed attack against the opponent's full AC, not a touch attack.

[Troacctid]

... except that's a regular unarmed attack against the opponent's full AC, not a touch attack.

Well no. It's a feat that lets you combine touch spells with unarmed strikes. You don't need a feat to combine touch spells with touch attacks; you make a touch attack as part of casting the spell by default.

[Kevingway]

The point is to be able to do touch attacks. Not so much interested in the electricity as I am the ability to Touch. This is a strand with the last few threads I've started. Still searching for that perfect weapon, haha.

[Curmudgeon]

Well no. It's a feat that lets you combine touch spells with unarmed strikes. You don't need a feat to combine touch spells with touch attacks; you make a touch attack as part of casting the spell by default.

There's nothing in that feat which lets you make touch attacks to deliver unarmed damage. It works exactly as stated: you make a regular (not touch) attack, and the spell charge is also delivered. You don't even need the feat for any of that. All the feat does is (1) let you avoid AoOs for the unarmed attack; and (2) make the unarmed attack damage lethal. The combination of a touch spell and the feat is that you're delivering both with a single attack while not letting your guard down.

[Xerlith]

Oh for Pete's sake, just persist Wraithstrike and be done with it. It's a second level arcane spell that makes all your melee attacks touch attacks.