If Sir Turin is including the as-written Jade Regent NPCs, there's plenty of "after action" healing available from some Clerics & a Bard. That doesn't really fix the in-combat problem, but hey, if you coordinate your stealth tactics and alpha strike everything, you can pull off some amazing things. (I know, it may be tough for this group to do so...but anything's possible, right? :) )
Summoners can really shine when they focus their offensive stuff through their Eidolon (or summoned critters) and allow their spells to buff them / provide easier battles for the rest of the team. Having haste at spell level 2 is pretty key there, too. Will they have the raw arcane power of a Wizard or Sorcerer? No. But they have other tricks up their sleeves. Besides, a well-prepared summoner with scrolls/wands/potions and a tough eidolon is quite ahead of the game with regards to "action economy". Finally, being able to simply feed disposable troops into the meatgrinder can take the teeth out of a LOT of harder encounters, since you can "soak" the big hits from the baddies with non-PC meatshields. |