Summoner Synthesist Vs Barbarian

[Chickaree]

Hello,
First of all, sorry but english is the language in which i play this game so i tried to translate all the terms the best i could but some are hard to find.
So i am a DM and in my group there is an Half-elf Summoner (Archetype synthesist) and an half-orc Barbarian both level 5.
And for sometimes now my Barbarian has been complaining because the summoner's eidolon was doing most of the close combat damage even when the barbarian is in rage mode.
Let me give you some stats:

So first of all The summoner has an evolution pool of 11:
8 (base)
+1 (1/4 every level since he is an half elf)
+2 ( he took the feat "extra evolution" twice)
Which means he took a biped eidolon with:
-Ability increase (strength):2
-Energy Attacks (acid):2
-Limbs (arms):2
-Improved Natural Armor twice : 2X1 = 2
-Claws :1
-Improved Damage (claws):1
-Bleed:1
Total : 11 everything seems legit
Which means that his eidolon has a
Str: 16 (base) +2 (strength bonus lvl5) +2 (evolution) +1 (Ability score increase lvl5) = 21
AC : 10(base) +2 (natural armor) +4 (armor bonus lvl5) +4 (evolutions) +2 (dex=14) +1 (feat "dodge") = 23
ATT: 4 claws attacks with the bonus = 4 (base) +5 (strength) = +9
Damage : 4X(1D6 +5 (strength) +1D6(energy attacks))+ 1D6 (bleed)
= 29 (min) -74 (max) (if all attach touch of course)

And now the Barbarian during rage:
Str: 18 (base) +4 (rage)= 22
CA: 10 (base) +7 (breastplate+1) +3 (dex=15) +1 (amulet of Natural Armor) +1 (Bracers of armor) +1 (feat "dodge") -2 (rage) = 21
ATT: 1 "Great Axe +1" attack with bonus = 5(base) +6 (strength) +1 (weapon+1) +1 (feat "weapon focus") = +13
Damage : 1X(1D12 +6 (strength) +1(weapon) + 1(feat "martial focus")
= 9 (min) -20 (max)

As you can see the two have equal AC but even if the barbarian as a +4 chance of touching the enemy the damage from the eidolon is just massively greater (3 to 4 time greater) which infuriate my barbarian

So i m asking this question, Am i missing something here ? or is the eidolon just super overpowered ? or is the Barbarian not build well enought ?
Thanks for your advice

[Matthew Downie]

First thing I notice is that two-handed weapons get one-and-a-half times the damage bonus, so the barbarian should be getting +9 strength to damage, not +6. Power Attack would help too. (Another +6 damage.) At level 6 he gets an iterative attack, which increases his potential damage output by 100%. A Haste spell would give him another attack on top of that...

[The Sideromancer]

I notice a few errors on the barbarian. Firstly, the bracers of armour don't stack with the breastplate, so their AC should be one lower. Secondly, since the axe is a 2-handed weapon, it does 1.5* strength to damage. In this case, this increases barbarian damage by 3.

[Diachronos]

First, the barbarian should be getting +9 damage from his strength since he's using a 2-handed weapon, so that's one issue. Power Attack is probably a better feat for him than Martial Focus since it gives a bigger return on damage, and he can take Furious Focus to eliminate the penalty on his first attack each round.

Aside from that bit of advice, though, you're not missing anything. Eidolons are extremely powerful early on, especially the eidolon of a regular (as in, not Unchained) summoner because of how big their evolution pool is and how many natural attacks they're allowed to have. They do peter out eventually, though, and once the barbarian starts getting additional attacks from his BAB he'll be able to catch up more easily.

[Volkard Abendroth]

Barbarian is missing

1. x1.5 str bonus for using two-handed weapon
2. an iterative attack
3. power attack / furious focus

The barbarian should gain no bonus from the bracers due to stacking: AC = 20

Eidolon claws(x4) +9 (1d6+5/20/x2)+1d6

.6(12)+.6(.05)(8.5) = 7.56

7.56 * 4 = 30.24

Barbarian +1 greataxe +13/+8 (1d12+9/20/x3)

.8(15.5)+.8(.05)(2)(15.5) = 13.64
.55(15.5)+.55(.05)(2)(15.5) = 9.3755

13.64+9.3755 = 23.0175

That being said, the barbarian is going to come out ahead anytime you have to move before attacking, there is DR of any type, or the opponent has acid resistance.

At 6h level, the barbarian should be taking Beast Totem for +2 AC. At 10th level the barbarian should be taking Greater Beast Totem for Pounce. A biped eidolon will not qualify for pounce.

The barbarian has access to gore and bite as secondary attacks. Not much additional DPR, but enough to close the gap.

The real irony: the barbarian should already have lesser beast totem, granting two claw attacks. With a bite and gore the barbarian, at this level, can have just as many primary natural attacks as the eidolon with higher strength, higher BAB, and more HP.

[Slim Jim]

If you're a "beginning" GM attempting to keep your campaign on an even keel, especially a lower-level one where nobody is dreaming of casting 9th spells anytime soon, borrowing the character-creation and legality system from PFS will help out a lot to rein in some of the way-out-there material. Players with system-mastery will still have stronger characters than those who don't, but it won't be quite so dramatic.

(Note that some of the early, pre-errata/pre-reprint summoners were grotesquely powerful. Even neutered, they still have the same problem as druids and other summoning classes: propensity to hog the spotlight.)

But let's get to the barbarian:

Volkard Abendroth wrote:

Barbarian is missing

1. x1.5 str bonus for using two-handed weapon
2. an iterative attack
3. power attack / furious focus

Where barbarians get really strong is in multi-attack builds (which the others have noted) that will end up pouncing, Combat Reflex polearm AoO-hunters, and Ferocious Beast mount builds with teamwork feats. (The latter two are flat-out monsters when combined in one package).

It's also a general rule that casters are weaker if they multiclass, but martials tend to be better. So don't be shy about suggesting a level or two of fighter or some one class to the barbarian player. If he's only played straight-class before, it'll be a whole new world.

Quick fix to existing build: swap out feats as follows (imagine you're playing the character from 1st-level with a starting dex of 15):

1 Combat Reflexes
3 Raging Vitality (a barbarian requirement)
5 Power Attack (a two-handed weapon requirement)

Trade the greataxe for a polearm, and cultivate an addiction to Enlarge Person potions.

-- That's really all he needs to throw out tons of damage.

[Perfect Tommy]

To add to the general comments.

The synthesist summoner is so strong its banned in pathfinder. Your issues with it will continue into your mid teens, even if you try to fix the damage output.

Specifically, mid to high level summoners can put out ridiculous numbers of summon spawn.

And the availability of summoner crafted items (wands of haste) etc will become problems too.