No one did! But people were bringing up high level summoner spells so I figured high level wizard ones were fair game too.
Fair enough then.
IMHO, talking about the last 5 levels is not productive. It is more the arguing about scrhodinger-like things than the actual playing peoples do.
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I have banned it, for the following reasons:
1) Overlong turns
2) Confusing rules (I have seen the eidolon not respecting the rules things frequently. It has caused fights. And honestly, I dont want to bother with auditing such a complicated thing as an eidolon.)
If I ever get a chance to play it, and find ways to reduce those 2 issues, I might allow it. Until then, in the dustbin it goes with the gunslinger (mainly eliminated for fluff reasons).
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Summoners are an Advanced Class, for Advanced Players.
My only issue has been flavour. If I had my druthers, the Eidolon would be built off a menu of various outsiders. In fact I insist on it, using the lists in Ultimate Magic as a guideline. To me an Angel summoner or demon summoner or genie caller is flavourful, an eidolon on the other hand is just. Bleh, it's too open a theme, so people look at them as piles of numbers to break rather than as points to shape to a theme.
I could say the exact opposite, prove to me they are op... to which I'll shoot holes in your individual specifics etc.
Anti-magic field, summoned creature can't enter it... any martial class is now op in comparison.
Opponent has banishment/bite the hand/dominate monster/etc
Opponent just kills the summoner and ignores the eidolon.
Opponent teleports the Eidolon or the summoner away... Eidolon dies due to distance apart.
Paladin has higher dmg and higher resists and higher ac than eidolon.
Gunslinger out performs eidolon.
Fighter out performs eidolon
Wizard out performs summoner at battlefield control.
Well it sounds to me like you're basically just saying that a focused class can outperform either the eidolon or the summoner. You're not wrong at all, it just sounds like you're underestimating the power of having both actions at the same time. The eidolon can usually 1 or 2 shot most CR equivalent monsters, while the summoner keeps it constantly hasted, can offer battlefield control options, and other helpful spells. Even when the eidolon is gone, the summoner can back it up with a huge load of summoned creatures that is summons quicker than any other class with 10 times the duration.
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OP, I think the most important thing to realise about the paizo forums more generally is that this is not a CHAROP community. Asking questions pertaining to relative class strength or class optimisation is never going to give you any clear answer, because this forum runs mainly on opinion and very little on consensus or hard math. There are a few exceptions (andreww makes some good charop threads) but for the most part you should absolutely not trust any opinions on 'overpoweredness' or 'balance' given out by this forum - or any forum, really. The fact that several people have stated with confidence that the summoner is better than the wizard or druid should be enough to tell you you're probably better off going by your own experience.
Just so you know, this isn't a paizo specific issue. Back in 3.5, when the book of nine swords came out, many people were claiming the classes within were broken and stronger than wizards, clerics druids etc ("they can use their powers ALL DAY"). The same sillyness continues to this day with 3.5 psionics (a system deliberately built to be slightly weaker than vancian casting as one of its design goals). The Paizo forums (and even devs!) do seem to have a specifically anti-charop culture though, which I guess doesn't help.
The reason it is very hard to get any decent advice on relative class strengths outside of the bleeding obvious (wiz > rogue, for example) is because of these three main issues:
a) Noone has played or played in a game with every class combination, let alone feat/skill/archetype combinations. It's not feasible given the long time scales involved with tabletop RPGs. I would hazard a bet that less than 1/3 of the people in this thread have direct experience with summoners, and this is a thread about summoners
b) As an extension of the above issue, even amongst players who have direct experience with a class, the sample size of their experience is usually very low (close to 1). Humans are notoriously bad for generalising experiences inappropriately. Thus, even amongst those who DO have direct experience with summoners, you'll find their opinions are usually based on a single summoner who they have played or played with, for good or ill. I would hazard a bet that less than 10% of all posters in this thread have had experience with more than one summoner.
c) The above problems are exacerbated by the radically different playstyles of differing groups. Paizo forums especially suffer from home and PFS game experiences differing even more than usual. It's important to remember that virtually none, if any, play groups exist in a perfectly optimised environment and thus skill floor rather than ceiling often dictates what classes they think are 'broken'.
From this perspective you can see why the summoner breeds so much contention on these forums. a) it isn't a very common class to begin with, b) the multiple, very distinct archetypes and high level of customisation mean everyone has likely encountered a very different summoner and c) summoners have a low skill floor compared to full casters and a high skill ceiling compared to martials, so depending on the level of optimisation in a game their relative power level comes across very differently.
TLDR: make up your own mind. Asking paizo forums for balance advice is a real turkey shoot, as i'm sure you've discovered in this thread. Don't ban or restrict anything until you actually play with it and it ruins your game (or for thematic reasons of course).
As for my own opinion which you should also take with a grain of salt:
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I'll tell you something that has shot down nearly every eidolon I've ever seen...
DR. they can't one to two shot anything CR appopriate either, that's a gross estimation of their abilities.
Level 3, elementals, unicorns, pteradon, wasp swarms etc... most have about 30hp and about 15-16 ac.
your eidolon? BAB +3, STR at most 18 really, and maybe +1 AoMF. 1d6+5 or 6 or even 8 if you're power attacking and have other things going with it. sorry not one shotting that.
lvl 7 Succubus, young dragons, huge elementals, (now we're dealing with DR good/cold iron/etc) higher acs higher hps etc. succubus, 80 hp, charm etc, dragon 21 ac 76 hp, etc...
Eidolon at this point? BAB +6 (not large yet, but let's say they are 8)+11 to base strength, for a +11 or greater to hit, ok great good chance all it's primary attacks will hit (like 70% probably or greater) the dmg?1d8+13 max. most are ignoring 10pts of that dmg... that's piddly.
There are few level appopriate encounters consisting of one bbeg a summoner effectively handles on his own like you claim, anything that they can, someone else can as well they are not unique.
Honestly I really wouldn't mind the summoner if the spell list was shaved hard and it turned into a 9-level casting class with a d6 and 1/2 BAB.
My only issue has been flavour. If I had my druthers, the Eidolon would be built off a menu of various outsiders. In fact I insist on it, using the lists in Ultimate Magic as a guideline. To me an Angel summoner or demon summoner or genie caller is flavourful, an eidolon on the other hand is just. Bleh, it's too open a theme, so people look at them as piles of numbers to break rather than as points to shape to a theme.
You guys pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly.
This is also a complaint I have about the Alchemist, I feel like the class has far too many toys and doesn't have a strong thematic bent. The alchemist is simultaneously a bomber, crafter, Jekyll and Hyde, a spellcaster and a 3/4 BAB poison user. The summoner likewise has too many toys: the eidilon, a hodgepodge of summonable monsters, and a solid spell-list that seems to cherry pick from every list.
Moreover it doesn't fill any thematic holes that weren't already covered by a conjurer. I think that I'd rather see a wizard archetype with a choice of pre-built followers. A bit of a blanket statement here, but I find that most core casters are defined by their spell selection (which can just as often be chosen among thematic lines as whether or not they're effective) and their versatility when it comes to adapting to different. The summoner on the other hand, has a bland but powerful spell list, and the insanely open ended eidilon system. I've seen useless summoners and I've seen overpowered summoners. I've played a synthesist of my own. The only constant between them is how incredibly boring they seem. Give me a cleric any day of the week.
I've seen a lot of marvelously creative and wonderful summoner concepts on the boards, and I know it's a matter of taste on my part, so it shames me to admit that my enthusiasm plummets when I'm playing alongside a summoner. It's ultimately their decision and I don't want to stifle anybodies fun, but I would oftentimes rather find another game than play alongside one. It's a terrible attitude to be bringing to a table, but there it is.
tl;dr I can tell you why I hate summoners, but I can't justify it at all.
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I wasn't the one claiming one could one shot anything at the same CR they are.
The eidolon can usually 1 or 2 shot most CR equivalent monsters, while the summoner keeps it constantly hasted, can offer battlefield control options, and other helpful spells.
Looks like I missed the post you just quoted. It looked like you were saying the Eidolon isn't anything special for not one shotting things, my bad.
They slow the game down to a crawl. They use cheesy abilities like summoning a ton of Lantern Archons to kill high level things due to a unique attack that bypasses all DR. They summon air elementals to constantly move things around the battlefield and throw them in the air to do damage. Their tactics are often cheesy, but highly effective.
Mostly they slow the game down.
Just for future reference, I don't hate any of the Paizo classes. And since I am somebody, that means we don't ever have to have threads with the title "Why Does Everyone Hate _______?"
(Well, I have never been a fan of the general way prestige classes work, but that's not the same as hating them specifically.)
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Well, I rolled up a Master Summoner for my RotRL group where I can be a player, mostly because I wanted to see if the class was really that amazing and broken as I always thought it to be. And, yes, it is. We already nerfed the class once (on mutual consent and requested by me after a few weeks) and it still feels too powerful. I've never seen a class which is this versatile and I probably could solo most stuff the AP throws at me, given enough time and a possibility to rest.
I'd consider changing characters, but I already went through two characters in this campaign (one whom I changed on my own accord, the other because of untimely character death), so it would feel bad to change him out once again. Also, I like the personality of my current character.
You can invest in a feat like Summon Good Monster and now have options like a cloud giant, dragon horse, lammasu, monadic deva and a young gold dragon. While all of those won't be able to hit the dragon reliably, they can tie up its minions. Some of them can heal and buff the party or debuff the main opponent. Meanwhile, the summoner himself can buff or attack via his spells.
And let's just say that you chose an opponent with an abnormally high AC for CR 18 to begin with. A lot of other opponents around that CR seem to settle at AC 33-36.
if you want a summoned creature that can really fight, ya gotta spend gold on things like gate and planar ally.
I disagree. At the moment we are level 11 in RotRL and the Augment Summoning celestial dire tigers are shredding everything without DR. It's pretty sickening. Lillend Azatas are also raising the effectiveness of our real fighters in the party enormously by doing 20 rounds of Inspire Courage +2.
In terms of CR18 enemies in the CRB the ancient blue dragon has a base AC of 37 and Mage Armour. Give it Shield and you are looking at 45. Ancient Bronze is the same. The Kraken has a 32 but is a non threat to any competent party.
Bestiary 2: Ancient Cloud Dragon AC 36; Nightcrawler Nightshade AC 33; Thulgant Qlippoth AC 33; Purrodaemon AC 35
Bestiary 3: Ancient Sky Dragon AC 38; Cairn Linnorm AC 35; Shaggy Demodand AC 32; Norn AC 33; Simurgh AC 34; Thriae Queen AC 33; Thunder Behemoth AC 35; Water Yai AC 32.
So, yeah, you basically took the best AC you could find for CR 18 and put that as the norm you'd have to weigh every summon against. That is stacking the odds in your favor for your argument, big time.
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Three simple reasons:
1) A lot of people don't know how to read. (ie: Eidolons the world over are built wrong.)
2) Lots of people can't micro-manage miniature armies. (ie: Summoning lots of stuff to fight for you sounds cool, but it's a huge headache for the GM if you don't come preprepared for every potential summon you have.)
3) Some people are particularly bitter about early spell access. (ie: Summon Monster V as a 4th level spell, and therefore wand-able. No one cares if the SoS/SoD spells are early access, because save DCs suffer from lower spell levels, but when it's battlefield utility that doesn't care about save DCs, it's really unfair to the Wizard/Sorcerer that someone is casting arcane spells better than they are.)
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if you want a summoned creature that can really fight, ya gotta spend gold on things like gate and planar ally.I disagree. At the moment we are level 11 in RotRL and the Augment Summoning celestial dire tigers are shredding everything without DR. It's pretty sickening. Lillend Azatas are also raising the effectiveness of our real fighters in the party enormously by doing 20 rounds of Inspire Courage +2.
In terms of CR18 enemies in the CRB the ancient blue dragon has a base AC of 37 and Mage Armour. Give it Shield and you are looking at 45. Ancient Bronze is the same. The Kraken has a 32 but is a non threat to any competent party.Bestiary 2: Ancient Cloud Dragon AC 36; Nightcrawler Nightshade AC 33; Thulgant Qlippoth AC 33; Purrodaemon AC 35
Bestiary 3: Ancient Sky Dragon AC 38; Cairn Linnorm AC 35; Shaggy Demodand AC 32; Norn AC 33; Simurgh AC 34; Thriae Queen AC 33; Thunder Behemoth AC 35; Water Yai AC 32.
So, yeah, you basically took the best AC you could find for CR 18 and put that as the norm you'd have to weigh every summon against. That is stacking the odds in your favor for your argument, big time.
There is part of the problem. dire tigers are under CRed and so should be on a higher list. I only pull them out when we are running low on time and need to Finnish soon. If you are spamming them at 11th level than yes IT IS BORING. I would only allow someone to play a M.S. if they summoned only one thing at a time. It is still a very powerful class.
Everyone keeps mentioning how the Edielons are built wrong, and the rules are difficult - I never found to bet that hard, and now I question myself that I am doing it right.
What is the biggest rulebreak/wrong that happens in summoner builds?
It is quiet a few things. They get the math wrong on the evolutions. They get free evolutions that should not have. They have too many attacks. They use magic items in slots for the summoner and the eidolon. Sometimes they get basic rules wrong in addition to the rules specifically for the summoner.. Etc Etc..
Summoners brokenness stems from the ability to at will modify the eidolon on the fly using the aspect spells.I'm understanding why they're strong. What always struck me as curious was why they tend to get more flak than other classes of comparable power or even moreso than the characters that outperform them.
Interesting stuff so far though.
There aren't any classes that outperform them. You're completely ignoring all the posts that specifically point out all the reasons Summoners are ridiculous. Yet you act like the case is closed when the Summoners-are-fine crowd's arguments basically amount to "nuh uh!".
Read Ashiel's post and just try to demonstrate how his arguments are wrong, specifically. I'll be waiting (but not holding my breath).
First of all define "out perform". They are easy to optimize like I said before, but a full caster can cause more trouble than a summoner. They are on the high end, in terms of power, but I wont say the class is broken, even if that class can easily be used to make a "broken" character.
For the most part, they get bad press because whenever something new comes out a GM can't deal with it they try to call it broken across the board when it is broken in their games. The paladin's smite was getting this attention before because the 3.5 paladin was a lot easier to deal with so the paladin uber-smiting their pet BBEG was not something they knew how to deal with.
The DR used to shut make them do a lot less damage, but now amulets of mighty fist allow them to bypass DR IIRC, so that is another power boost for them<---Yes, I am aware this is not in my favor if I am saying they are not OP, but I try to be objective.
Simulacrum (magma dragon) + magic jar + don all my magic items (wondrous items resize to fit their wearers). Now I have the following:
Frightful Presence aura (DC 17 + my Charisma modifier)
AC 41, 7, 41 before buffs or magic items (counting my +5 deflection, +5 natural armor enhancement, and mage armor, and the +6 Dexterity modifier item I'll have crafted for myself that puts me at about AC 58 / 15 / 57 without any outstanding buffs). EDIT: A scroll of shield would bring my AC to 62 / 15 / 61.
Dragon immunities + immunity to fire.
Dragon senses.
DR 20/magic
SR 29 (doesn't apply to spells I cast myself)
40 ft. speed, 200 ft. fly speed.
Str 37, Dex 8, Con 25 before buffs or magic items.
168 HP before buffs (a +6 Constitution item will add +42 Hp)
An attack routine of...
Melee bite (2d8+26/19-20 plus 11 fire), 2 claws (2d6+20/19-20), tail slap (2d6+26), 2 wings (1d8+11)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite)
The ability to cast all of my own spells and SLAs.
I can use Arcane Strike to add bonus damage to all of my natural attacks (included above) and my chances of hitting are pretty solid (3/4 BAB + 13-16 from Strength is pretty nice, especially if I have heroism or greater heroism active).
Since I'm 14th+ level, I cannot die of HP damage until my Eidolon dies too and I can resummon him as a swift action with my lesser metamagic rod of quicken that I crafted with my 9th level feat, and when he comes back he has extra Strength and HP, which any round on my turn I can give myself a massive HP buffer that also slaughters mooks for me while I'm fighting with the dragon.
My chances of hitting the dragon are roughly as good as his chances of hitting me (+13 BAB, +16 Strength, +4 greater heroism, +1 haste, -2 size, +1 enhancement = +33 vs AC 45, versus +36 vs AC 58) and I do more damage with each hit (I've got +3 more Strength, and any round I didn't drop a quickened spell I've got +4 damage on every attack from Arcane Strike and +1 to all attacks from greater magic fang).
If my eidolon happens to be within reach of me I get a +4 shield bonus and +4 to my saving throws.
If I'm 18th level, I can absorb 6 evolution points worth of stuff from my eidolon, which allows me a number of options such as pushing my AC into unhittable levels for the dragon and his minions (+6 to my existing natural armor for 3 of this points) or if I'm happy with my AC I can just grab a +6 untyped bonus to an ability score that I like.
The dragon can't affect me with his breath weapon, the dragon dies to me in melee combat, the dragon basically just comes down to his spells and whether or not he can stop me, my eidolon, and anything I happen to have summoned or called.
I'm assuming for pure poops and giggles that my eidolon is completely naked to boot, so he's only got Str 21, Dex 21, Con 13, BAB +14, +16 natural armor, 91 Hp, +14 / +14 / +4 saves, 7 feats, 3 ability score increases, improved evasion, devotion, 56 skill points, and 26 evolution points to spend. Regardless of what evolutions, feats, and ability increases I decide to go with, you can bet that he and I will have protection from spells active which is a +8 resistance bonus to all saving throws vs spells & spell-like abilities.
And just for good measure, lobbing a greater dispel magic at me is a dumb, dumb, duuuuuumb idea, since spell turning means that I'm probably going to rip the dragon a new one after he removes all of his buffs for me.
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Since I'm 14th level, I cannot die of HP damage until my Eidolon dies too and I can resummon him as a swift action with my lesser metamagic rod of quicken that I crafted with my 9th level feat, and when he comes back he has extra Strength and HP, which any round on my turn I can give myself a massive HP buffer that also slaughters mooks for me while I'm fighting with the dragon.
I don't believe you can summon him if he dies again, even with the spell, until the following day. I could be wrong though, and if you can counter this please do. I'm interested.
If the eidolon is sent back to its home plane due to death, it cannot be summoned again until the following day.
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Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score.
If you cast this spell while your eidolon is already on your plane, this spell has no effect. This spell allows you to summon your eidolon even if it has been returned to its home plane due to damage.
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Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score.If you cast this spell while your eidolon is already on your plane, this spell has no effect. This spell allows you to summon your eidolon even if it has been returned to its home plane due to damage.
Thank you. When I skimmed the spell, I was looking for death and missed that last part.
Nice wall of text Ashiel, sort of misses the point which is that summons don't do very much at higher levels. No one is saying that summoners don't have options or aren't powerful, but we have people here claiming they are more powerful than full 9 level casters which is nonsense. The summoner is a strong tier 2/3 class but it doesn't approach the sheer versatility of a cleric, druid, wizard or paragon surge oracle/sorcerer.
I'm inclined to disagree. I think it's easier to be all that you can be with a summoner and do so from low levels. You begin the game as a bard (3/4 BAB, d8 HD, ability to cast in armor) with 2 + Int modifier and a solid list of class skills, plus a 1 HD expendable outsider who also has 4 more skills which can be class skills of your choosing. You also have a nice selection of weapon proficiencies (all simple weapons, which includes longspears) and nice spells which you can cast on your buddy even if they normally only affect you. If you buddy snuffs it, he comes back the next day. In the meantime, you get to replace him with summoned monsters until you get a chance to rest.
Late in the game when your summons are starting to slow down, you're a powerhouse with a cherry-picked selection of the best spells in the game, and your eidolon can easily serve as your on demand sidekick/buff-buddy/HP-battery.
Some of the cheesy stuff that full casters can do at high levels summoners can do more easily (because they get discounted spell slots, which makes metamagic and the like easier to exploit, and makes them more consumable-friendly).
So they're full casters who start strong and stay strong. They do all the crazy cheap stuff that a wizard can do, plus they've got more HP, more AC, more skills, more expendable minions, more martial combat ability, more, more, more, more.
Thank you. When I skimmed the spell, I was looking for death and missed that last part.Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score.If you cast this spell while your eidolon is already on your plane, this spell has no effect. This spell allows you to summon your eidolon even if it has been returned to its home plane due to damage.
You're welcome. Thanks for being cool about it. For the record I don't hate summoners. I just want to trim their spell list and re-arrange their chassis. I wouldn't mind them so much if they were a 2nd rate specialist caster who got a sweet minion, extra summoning power, and had good buffing potential. However, I find most of their early-access very irritating and in the hands of a competent player you could take the whole eidolon away and they would still be able to wreck stuff like it was their job (especially from level 5+).
I woudl be more Ok with summoners if they were d6 HD, 1/2 BAB, no armor, no cheaper spells in their list spellcasters
I woudl be more Ok with summoners if they were d6 HD, 1/2 BAB, no armor, no cheaper spells in their list spellcasters
I can understand cheaper conjuration and abjuration spells, the rest is a bit weird.
I think in a mixmaxed game the full casters can do more, but in a normal to slightly optimized game the summoner is so easy to optimize that it can give a GM headaches.
You can just build one, and it is already that good without you even trying to make it all that good. It is almost like accidental optimization.
Running a game when you kno2 everyone is going all out is a lot easier than trying to run a normal game and someone shows up with super character.
You're welcome. Thanks for being cool about it. For the record I don't hate summoners. I just want to trim their spell list and re-arrange their chassis. I wouldn't mind them so much if they were a 2nd rate specialist caster who got a sweet minion, extra summoning power, and had good buffing potential. However, I find most of their early-access very irritating and in the hands of a competent player you could take the whole eidolon away and they would still be able to wreck stuff like it was their job (especially from level 5+).Thank you. When I skimmed the spell, I was looking for death and missed that last part.Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score.If you cast this spell while your eidolon is already on your plane, this spell has no effect. This spell allows you to summon your eidolon even if it has been returned to its home plane due to damage.
I made a kitty summoner with a ton of claw attacks and pounce! :3
Nice wall of text Ashiel, sort of misses the point which is that summons don't do very much at higher levels.
I just realized I didn't actually respond to this specifically. My bad, I apologize. Summons lose their luster at very high levels when the martial power of those summons are no longer very formidable in the face of high CR opponents. At that point they become support for the party as they do things like drop wall spells, spam heals, buffs, or otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. They cease being the main contenders for offense and shift role.
That's a "good thing" since unlike in 3.x, you can't just replace a full powered martial by uttering a spell beginning with Summon and ending with Monster.
But for me specifically, it's not the summoning. It's not the eidolon. It's not just the spell list (it's mostly the spell list, but it's not the spell list specifically). It's the whole package.
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You're welcome. Thanks for being cool about it. For the record I don't hate summoners. I just want to trim their spell list and re-arrange their chassis. I wouldn't mind them so much if they were a 2nd rate specialist caster who got a sweet minion, extra summoning power, and had good buffing potential. However, I find most of their early-access very irritating and in the hands of a competent player you could take the whole eidolon away and they would still be able to wreck stuff like it was their job (especially from level 5+).Thank you. When I skimmed the spell, I was looking for death and missed that last part.Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score.If you cast this spell while your eidolon is already on your plane, this spell has no effect. This spell allows you to summon your eidolon even if it has been returned to its home plane due to damage.
NP! I just couldn't figure out how to summon an eidolon after killing it. And best way to find out is ask!
I personally don't mind the spell list too much. Sure a couple times they get early access, but not too bad. And it's still a lower level and thus lower DC. It's how it impacts item crafting that annoys me, and I already had installed a house rule for my home group on that due to the Paladin.
Some of the cheesy stuff that full casters can do at high levels summoners can do more easily (because they get discounted spell slots, which makes metamagic and the like easier to exploit, and makes them more consumable-friendly).I agree the summoner is a powerhouse class although I disagree that they can make easier use of metamagic. Their rod use is more efficient on a small list of spells, Dominate Monster, SMVII and VIII and Wall of Fire (lesser dazing rod ftw!) mostly but beyond that full casters make better use. Summoners have some strong options with spell perfection. Taking Spell Perfection for SMVIII or Dominate Monster and magical lineage will allow them to quicken it out of level 6 slots.
But, that is only a small number of options. The equivalent sorcerer is choosing freely between persistent flesh to stone or hold monster or dazing chain lightning or quickened greater invisibility or a whole range of other options which fit the particular situation without having to rely on expensive metamagic rods.
You're forgetting the potency of action economy here.
Your choosing to only use one or two of a dozen or so actions with varying effectiveness.
Summoners can use their eidolons and summons to drop tons and tons of actions per turn. Certain melee builds I've thought up can throw in tons of AoO's. Others I've made can charge almost as hard as a good cavalier.
Summoners are designed to destroy other player's fun. I think it was accidently so but that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if there might be stronger classes. But there is no other class as good at stepping on everybody's toes.
For me the game is just bettter without the summoner.
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My recipe for the cheesiest Summoner :
Be an idyllkin variant aasimar : you now have Summon Nature's ally as an SLA which opens up the Moonlight, Starlight and Sunlight Summons feats. You also benefit from the bonus to CHA and CON.
Make a Summoner (Archetype Master Summoner from UM for lots of friends to bring to the party and the free Augment Summoning at level 2).
A 1-level dip in Bard (Archetype Animal Speaker from UM for even more Summons) to boost them (and your other allies) with your performances. Note that if you meet its TPA prerequisites (and have the Extra Performance feat), the Master Performer feat from the Faction Guide will increase this boost without the need for further levels in Bard.
A 1-level dip in Cavalier (Order of the Dragon for added boost to your nearby allies) to get a faithful Mount who will also share in all these nice bonuses and use Tactician to give them all a good Teamwork feat such as Shake It Off (from UC). Alternately, the Standard Bearer Archetype from UC will boost your allies even more, though at the cost of your Mount.
With such a horde of boosted minions, who even needs other party members ?