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From my understanding, the primary problem with the Synthesist isn't that it's inherently more powerful than other classes, it's that it has a far higher max power level. You could pull off quite a scary synthesist on a literal 0-point buy (7-7-7-7-9-18) because the character has almost no need for any physical stats- the eidolon's overwrites them. The real issue with the Synthesist is that, in many ways, you become a fighter (that out-fighters the fighter) with 6th-level spellcasting, the ability to full attack with an insane number of natural attacks on a charge, and more.
In many ways, the Synthesist isn't much more powerful than the average summoner. It's just that, with an incredible inherent potential for min-maxing, it has a much, much higher power ceiling than it should.
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Synthesist breaks point buy, so I wouldn't have both in the same game. If you roll for stats, it's not very OP. If you use a rolling method that results in a lot of high scores, the synthesist may even begin to lag behind something like a barbarian. The synthesist is also a lot hardier than most classes in the very early levels, but this smoothes out after a few levels.
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Don't do that silly 7/7/7 for physical scores. 14 Strength qualifies you for power attack and helps if you're caught without your suit on. Same for a 12 Constitution minimum. 7/7/7 makes you look like a bit of a jackass.
Start with Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon as one of your two spells. The suit's HP count as temporary so almost nothing else heals it. You'll want a wand of it ASAP.
Your Eidolon (assuming APG version) already has tons of extra evolutions. Consider utility or even flavorful changes. Web, Immunity, Tremmorsense, Skilled, etc. If you ever need to go Ham there's always the Evolution Surge spell line.
Edit: if your base form does not have arms, get some arms. I almost made that mistake in a home game.
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Skilled and the extra senses are great ways to round off a Synthesist without breaking them. Otherwise, they're fine as long as you exercise self-restraint - as others have said, they lose the action economy advantage and aren't so bad in the long run.
That said, in the short term... well, they're pretty nutty in the early levels. You can start with a bunch of natural attacks, reach, way more HP than anyone else, and so on.
It's overpowered.
Huge bucket of hit points. Incredibly high AC, high all around stats, great spell list, great damage.
"roll for stats it's not so bad" yes if you lie about your rolls or have a rolling system that is better than the standard 4d6 drop lowest 6 times.
People saying the syntheist isn't strong if you watch what you take is like saying the wizard isn't strong if you don't take good spells.
See what the rest of the party are playing, if it's really strong builds like vivisectionist Alchemist, falsepriest sorcerer, Saurian Druid and the latest pact wizard then go for it.
Synthesist has a higher skill/power floor but a lower skill/power ceiling. You might have a character with fewer obvious weaknesses than a standard Summoner, but the loss in action economy ultimately makes you weaker, since there is less you can do in a round.
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If I had to rate Synth, I would say it is far more -broken- than the old Summoner, but it still isn't as strong for raw power. Ultimately a flavorful sidegrade.
It breaks point buy with the split between using one set of physical stats and a different set of mental stats. (Though, in my humble opinion, the extra Wisdom doesn't tie to any class features and the extra Intelligence is simply a compensation for your abhorrent number of skill points so it isn't as big of a deal.) It also breaks the hit point system by allowing you to filter your HP to the Eidolon's HP. (But remember, the Eidolon is really hard to heal.) And a shout out to having Paladin-like saves.
However, you're cutting your actions in half. You can't cast spells and attack in the same turn. You can't be in two places at once. Your skill pool is laughable compared to the original Summoner. Plus, your feat pool is more limited because you only have one body's worth.
The feats of combat prowess that make a Synth look awesome are not only possible on a vanilla Summoner but they're more efficient. Plus, Summon Eidolon gives both versions near immortality anyway.
Don't do that silly 7/7/7 for physical scores. 14 Strength qualifies you for power attack and helps if you're caught without your suit on. Same for a 12 Constitution minimum. 7/7/7 makes you look like a bit of a jackass.
7/7/7 on physical stats and the synthesist dies the first time something gets rid of his eidolon at mid-level or higher.
It is a self-resolving problem.
As an aside: I impose a house rule on all my players. Only a single stat can be reduced to 8 and no stat can be reduced below 8, after racial mods.
*Damn well every NPC caster with Banishment or Dismissal is going to target the synthesist ASAP. At high level, NPC may very well have heard of various party members, and may have prepared objects that will give them a bonus on their DC for Banishment.
7/7/12 would be the minimum non-suicidal stats for a Synthesist Summoner with a size Medium eidolon suit. Even a Con of 12 can be a problem if he makes the eidolon size Large or Huge.
Maybe it's not a good idea after all, then... What if you halved the summoner's or eidolon's hd?
Have the eidolon HP be separate (don't allow transfer of summoner HP to eidolon) and lock out spellcasting while in eidolon form.
Furthermore use unchained summoner eidolons (and the whole class in general)
If you really want the spellcasting, remove the eidolon's HP and stat replacement features. Have the form merely alter your stats and use your HD and BAB while allowing you to use eidolon healing spells.
If I were going to give the synthesist a nerf, it'd be to use the polymorph rules instead the stat replacement it currently has. If I were going to give it a major nerf, I'd limit it to only humanoid base form.
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Maybe it's not a good idea after all, then... What if you halved the summoner's or eidolon's hd?Have the eidolon HP be separate (don't allow transfer of summoner HP to eidolon) and lock out spellcasting while in eidolon form.
Furthermore use unchained summoner eidolons (and the whole class in general)
If you really want the spellcasting, remove the eidolon's HP and stat replacement features. Have the form merely alter your stats and use your HD and BAB while allowing you to use eidolon healing spells.
The whole thing is that Eidolon bodies (synth or vanilla) only really excell when boosted by spells, so I think that's going overboard.
However, I love the idea of making it work more like Wild Shape. Physical stats still matter and the balance means I could finally play one in PFS.
Maybe it's not a good idea after all, then... What if you halved the summoner's or eidolon's hd?Have the eidolon HP be separate (don't allow transfer of summoner HP to eidolon) and lock out spellcasting while in eidolon form.
Furthermore use unchained summoner eidolons (and the whole class in general)
If you really want the spellcasting, remove the eidolon's HP and stat replacement features. Have the form merely alter your stats and use your HD and BAB while allowing you to use eidolon healing spells.
The whole thing is that Eidolon bodies (synth or vanilla) only really excell when boosted by spells, so I think that's going overboard.
However, I love the idea of making it work more like Wild Shape. Physical stats still matter and the balance means I could finally play one in PFS.
If his goal is to not be disruptive, then I recommend the first option.
Reworking it to a custom wildshape is the better answer, but requires more work to determine what the appropriate stat adjustments are for things like base form selection.
Synths are tanky monsters with a double scaling Con boosted health from a score not tied to your character, free AC from class features, concentrated wealth, and basically fullcasters (chained version). Things cool down at higher levels and the base Summoner is stronger in ideal conditions, but any half-way interesting DM or Adventure path is going to put PCs in less than ideal conditions and the Synth will be nearly unphased by any and all attempts to stop their steamrolling.
Making it unchained is but the first step to toning down this monster and to my experience free full Hit-point shields are just terrible for game balance.