The spiritualist's phantom can't weild weapons and it's slam damage scales with basically nothing but damage dice, meaning it's damage ends up trivial.
You can't wear items in the same slots as it, so it can't get any of the star buff items unless you give them up.
In etherial form, it can basically do nothing but deliver touch attacks, something that is a novelty at best as there are spells or abilities on other classes that simply deliver touch attacks better.
I'm not seeing anything a spiritualist does that another class doesn't do better in every way.
Thier companion is so bad that I'm pretty sure you could do better with a familiar, and I'm rather certain almost every 6 level spellcasting class casts better then them.
So what I want to know is-
Is there anything a spiritualist actually does well, or is it as garbage as it seems?
It's pretty bad. There are some interesting things that a phantom can do though, since unlike a familiar it gets feats and unlike an animal companion it's fully intelligent, and the emotional focus gives it a different set of powers to an eidolon - more magical, less good at being a melee blender. Basically it's good if you want a magical pet.
Edit: also the spiritualist has some odd archetypes. Phantom blade is a sort of magus, exciter has a very odd rage, etc.
Familiar can get feats though, with an archetype of fighter, beast bonded, or an archetype of wizard.
While yes, I realize those are specific archetypes, each one is immensly strong in it's own right.
Exiter is... kinda bad, but not the wort..
Phantom blade is ok but does magus worse then magus.
Geistcaller interested me before I realized that it's baked in that it has no emotion and is basically a non-charecter.
Phantom blade work, but not so good.
The spell list for phantom blade is not good, but if you wish to play a WIS meele one-hand magus...
So, I like the spiritualist as a class quite well. They have incredible mental defenses, a fun spell list, a combat buddy with unique combat abilities/auras, and they can always enhance their own abilities if they get caught without their phantom materialized.
They are Psychic Summoners with a mix of touch spell delivery, incorporeal scouting, and strong mental defenses.
There was someone going by Moonheart who said they'd made a phantom blade work in game and even wrote a guide.
You get something different with those kinds of familiars. An eldritch guardian fighter is looking to make a mini-me, a second character as much like the first as possible. I don't know what a beast bonded witch is after exactly but you want to be careful with your spellbook. It seems like it'd mainly be for non-combat uses which makes the feats less useful. The spirit binder wizard is the closest. Your loved one isn't disposable but you might risk putting it in harm's way, especially if it's actually a delusion (the figment archetype.)
OK, looking at how to make a phantom useful in ways different to any of the usual pets.
A lust phantom gets abilities related to being a damage sponge. It's also an effective face as you might expect. Those feats might go to something retaliatory like panther style or broken wing gambit and/or defensive stuff like toughness or amateur swashbuckler, or even more social feats.
Fear gets you a phantom which is innately sneaky besides being incorporeal when it wants. From 7th level it can spend a swift action to turn shaken into panicked (with a save, true). I want to combine that with the callous casting feat.
Kindness gets you a friend who gives you +4 via aid another, which can be further boosted in several ways. It also has lay on hands and potentially feats to make use of that. There are a surprising number of such feats, though it doesn't have the mercy ability for some of them. It even has an effective paladin level for the ability and could potentially get the sunblade feat. Phantoms are only restricted from using armor not weapons.
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I think its pretty natural to compare Spiritualists to Summoners, as they look similar but I think they operate a bit differently. Basically, besides spells the only ability that the Summoner has is their eidolon and their summon monster ability. And while they do have some good control spells like grease and stinking cloud, their list seems to be focused on spells for buffing their summons. Without spells and summons, you have a class with one good save, simple weapon proficiency and two skill points per level.
The Spiritualist's phantom lacks the raw power of the eidolon, but the Spiritualist is a bit stronger on their own. They get proficiency in saps, sycthes, and kukris; 4 skill points per level and have two good saving throws (Fort and Will). Their spell list has more debuff and save or die spells on it. They also get some other abilities, such as being able to see invisible creatures at level 9.
Also, while the combat form of the Spirtualist isn't as strong as an eidolon, you also have the option of manifesting your phantom in ways that boost yourself. The bonded manifestations give you some pretty nice boosts to your defenses, while the shared consciousness boosts some skills and makes you very resistant to mind affects.
Basically, I think the biggest difference between the two classes is that the Summoner feels like you're playing as your eidolon and the summoner is just there for support; while the Spiritualist feels like a more complete character who is being supported by the Phantom.
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I think you could get the spiritualist/phantom combo up to general snuff if you basically crib every single melee combo that hunters use (the phantoms get feats, and they are fully intelligent, so they can take teamwork feats on their own). Of course.... eidolons could do the same, and they have huge melee focused stats/abilities.
Generally speaking- you are usually aiming for a one trick pony with whatever trick the emotional focus comes with. Example- Fear phantoms are great at abusing fear mechanics... but obviously, they suck once you face opponents immune to fear.
Hatred can probably get off decent damage on its own. It is basically slayer- it gets a form of 'studied target' (+2-+4 attack, 1/2 HD in extra damage), and it can sneak attack. Eventually, it can even turn into a heavily tanky damage dealer since it can still attack its target, even if it is incorporeal. That latter ability also gives nice bonuses to party members too.
There is also something that seems like a large upgrade to the class- the totem spiritualist. This basically gives you an animal companion (including the str bonuses they usually get), but it keeps the better parts of phantoms (emotional focus, ability to go incorporeal, etc). Heck, this might be easier to use than normal animal companions (since larger ones don't have to squeeze through tight passage ways when they have the phase lurch ability to pass through walls).
A totem wolf with the hatred focus seems like it would actually be pretty strong and presents a nice image.