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As she was going over material to make her character, she seemed unsure of how to make good use of her time as a PC. She won't have that many spells to cast, and she wants to be useful.
any combat styles I can direct her to?
Human 20 point buy.
I have been having fun with a summoner with a two-level barbarian dip. It's in a game with stupid-high ability scores, but 20 point buy is pretty good. I use the Ferocious Mount rage power to make my eidolon rage as well, and we don't do too bad at all. Two-handed fighting isn't very feat intensive -- Power Attack and Furious Focus are about all you really need -- just pick a weapon to match your eidolon's reach.
My PC's a gnome who started out being able to ride her eidolon, but a human would have to stand beside it for a while. (The rage power works if you're mounted on or adjacent to your mount.)
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Buff the party, or battlefield control. Start a wand collection of useful buffs and control spells to add depth and endurance. UMD is a big help for this. Also, don't neglect the non spell options like tanglefoot bags. I watched a level 7 wizard with a nearly full spell list oneshot a flying demon with a tanglefoot bag once. Plenty of mundane stuff can still be useful.
The big advantage of the summoner is action economy. The summoner should always have SOMETHING to do. Squandering time is squandering power. How about using skills? Intimidate is a nice debuff. The aid another action is a free buff. If all else fails, there's acid orb and ray of frost.
If my summoner has nothing to do for a round, then I have failed to prepare for enough contingencies. The only time he chooses to do nothing is when the value of role playing the inaction outweighs the value of aiding in combat. Then again, Dominus is an arrogant snob who leaves fighting to the servants so he does this semi-regularly. ^^
I always found hiding behind a rock to be quite useful (especially with a wand!), sneaking out only to get in range for buff or other type spells to help out the Eidolon. This was more of a non-optimized character group though, and it fit in well with what people expected of my character.
Seconding all of Mystically Inclined's suggestions regarding mundane alchemical equipment and UMD/wands also.
I didn't have time (or the right computer) to look it up when I made my first post, but here are some helpful reading documents since she's a new player.
Treantmonk's Guide to Pathfinder Wizards: Being a God - I know it's a wizard guide, but Treantmonk has the best breakdown on the types and general uses of magic that I've ever seen. It's a must read for any caster.
The Forge of Combat: Thoughts on victory and how the group achieves it - A good guide to party tactics. While Treantmonk covers the roles that magic can fill, Tark covers the roles that members of a group can fill.
Ashiel's Guide to Adventure: Preparation, Tricks, and Strategies - A great primer on getting cheap disposable items to do useful and powerful things.
Ideally, I'd also list a guide on using cheap wands to deepen a caster's versatility and endurance but nobody has written one yet. I'll just briefly cover a few points.
Have her look for level 1 (and some level 2) spells that get used at least somewhat often and don't depend on DC's. They don't have to be on her spell list - she should be able to hit the DC 20 Use magic Device to cast a wand since Charisma is her primary stat. (This assumes she's maxed UMD out, but hopefully you will let her do a minor rebuild if she hasn't. At worst, she can pour all her skill points into UMD for the next two levels to max it out.) Useful spells include Cure Light Wounds (practically required), Grease (+10 escape artist? Um, yes please), Faerie Fire (anti-invisibility), enlarge person (though this is a full round cast so it might be more efficient for the fighter to drink a potion of it instead), obscuring mist (RUINS enemy rogues), mage armor (for the eidolon and possibly an unarmored teammate), vanish (to give the sneak attacker a round to get into flanking position), expeditious retreat (to get the full armor fighter to the fight), and similar goodies. Basically, search the level 1 spell list and look for anything that would still be useful at level 10 when cast at CL 1. Heck, even summon monster 1 is good to give someone a temporary flanking partner. That's a +2 buff to hit!
Once the party gets some more coin, start looking for level 2 spells that fit the same idea. If you as the GM allow her to buy wands at summoner spell levels instead of wizard/cleric levels, some particularly nice goodies become available. Protection from energy and haste both immediately come to mind. But even the standard level 2 spells have some things that would make great wands. 4500gp for a wand of Mirror Image is a hefty price at lower levels, but it will likely save your life on 35 of those 50 uses. I have a ninja who uses it in place of magic armor, though I wouldn't recommend that tactic for everyone.
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At 4th level, she will know 6-0th, 4-1st and 2-2nd level spells. She will be able to cast infinite-0th, 3-1st and 1-2nd level spells per day (plus bonus spells depending upon Charisma). There are many good spells at these levels:
0: Beside the utility spells, daze is quite often effective at this level (but will start to lose effectiveness in the next couple of levels due to its HD cap).
1: Grease and Snowball are great offensive spells at this level. Buffs like Mage Armor, Shield and Enlarge Person can also help the eidolon or other party members.
2: Many great choices here -- create pit, glitterdust, haste and so on. She will want to conserve this spell slot and use it judiciously since she has so few 2nd level spells per day to cast.
For some reason, if she runs out of spells, and her 0th level spells won't help in the combat, she can always resort to a crossbow or bow.
Aid Other with a reach weapon is a great option. Cantrips can be helpful (Daze at really low levels is great). Administer potions, use wands and scrolls, total defense and act like a road block.
You can also go the debuff route. Throw nets (range touch is easy, even without proficiency)for entangle, or use intimidate for that Shaken condition. Use alchemical items if you don't like nets. Tanglefoot bags are a suitable substitute, and don't require proficiency.
This class really isn't suitable for a newb. You will need to triple check the build, note. It's almost always wrong.
This class also will NOT be fun for a player who is concerned about what her character will be doing. The eidolon is the star, the summoner is the back-up singer.
All really good advice so far! I appreciate everyone's input.
The player in question asked if using a bow was a viable option? She wants to play human so her feat progression looks like
Human: Longbow Proficiency
1: Pointblank
3: Precise Shot
5(eventually): Rapid shot.
Thoughts?
I'm pretty stingy with magic items, but the players usually have full options for mundane and masterwork equipment.
There are all sorts of useful possibilities. Haste is a solid choice, as are all of the specialized spells for buffing and healing the eidolon. A Reach Rod (lesser) relieves you of the need to get next to your eidolon when it is surrounded by enemies. If you need to cast touch spells at a long distance more often than your rod will enable you to, consider actually learning the Reach Spell feat.
Usually high dex allows folks on the side line to hit with ranged attacks while the tanks tear into the ranks. Nothing wrong with a few buffs if possible. Potions, nets (didn't think of that one before), splash weapons and at the very least a good ole crossbow as 'simple weapon' will be a big help. If possible, at least add one level of a martial class into a character build to use all the weapons possible, esp. characters that can't really use armor effectively. That will help get rid of opponents a bit faster. Summoners can shot a crossbow at the very least. Also pay attention to terrain and positions. I've no problem hiding behind tanks and smacking targets with reach weapons. Longspears are simple weapons and a wizard can be behind a fighter and stick folk with a long spear from behind a tank so having a semi-decent strength score isn't too bad of an idea if you chose this route.
Summoners can cast haste as a second level spell. This means her 4th level character can cast haste.
So she can take a longspear, caste haste, and then aid-another the Eidolon/other big fightery types. Believe me, the Eidolon will be engaging enough in combat. It is quite cool.
She can also take augment summons to be able to summon something useful if her Eidolon goes down.
The player in question asked if using a bow was a viable option? She wants to play human so her feat progression looks like...
Yes and no.
For an archer build, I'd recommend Zen Archer, Archer archetype Fighter (these are the two strongest archer classes), Ranger, the archer Paladin archetype, or Bard. The order listed is from easiest build to most complicated build. Most other classes aren't going to provide enough feats or strong buffing options to be effective.
Ideally, a good archer is going to need point blank shot, precise shot, deadly aim, rapid shot and/or many shot. Plus 'concentrated shot' or whatever that DR negating feat is. Plus they're going to want 14 to 16 strength, and 16 to 18 dex. Assuming 20 point buy and a complete disregard for Constitution, she could have Str 14, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14. She'd be mediocre but it would be doable.
And thus we have the problem with the whole idea. With all her feats going into archery, she'd have nothing left to enhance spells or her Eidolon/SLA summons. The eidolon would start off decent but would wither in effectiveness without magical and feat support. The archery would be consistent but without full investment would never do enough damage to make the dedication worth it. Trapped between two different things, the build would be 'meh' at both.
Viable? Well, she'd survive. But it wouldn't be as fullfilling as it could have been had she chosen a direction and gone with it.
TL;DR- If she wants to be an archer with a pet, I'd advise going Ranger. Take the boon companion feat and wait until level 7 for the pet to grow some nasty claws. Summoners work best doing damage through their eidolon or SLA summons while support casting in the background.
+2 pom poms of inspire courage
Lol, I'd prolly just tell him to wand it up. UMD uses his key ability anyway. Isn't there a feat or something called dual wand wielder too?
Archery is a bit too feat intensive for a class that doesn't get bonus feats. If the rest of the party is low-power/non optimized that won't be an issue, but in general, it isn't something I'd recommend. I'd probably do a level dip in Fighter for the feats if I went that route, but I'm prone to that sort of thing.
I prefer Glitterdust to Faerie Fire, even on a wand. It's one level higher, yes, but when you're guessing where to cast it (and Scent is a cheap evolution) a 10' radius is nicer than a 5' radius, plus there's no SR.
Question: What material is allowed? There's a feat called "Butterfly's Sting" from one of the player companions which allows a character to essentially pass on a critical hit to the next character to hit that target, which might be fun with an eidolon who does big one-hit damage. (Especially if the hit's a bite and you use crit cards.)
Probably do something like (she'd get rapiers free if she level dipped barbarian!):
H Weapon Prof Rapier
1 Combat Expertise
3 Butterfly's Sting (req Combat Expertise)
5 Gang Up (or Improved Crit Rapier)
It's too bad eidolons aren't smart enough to take Outflank.