Trying out level 2 phantom summoner today

[Bipeo]

my expectation is that it will be terrible mechanically.
I'll post the problems I foresee conceptually now and then the actual experience later.

The problems I foresee:
>The phantom's reaction will mostly be a dead ability. I won't be able to keep up with the phantom without making myself useless.

>phantom not having AOO or any access to it is gonna suck. Enemies will just walk around him to get a lower AC gate to my HP. And since the reaction requires him to be adjacent to me, I'll only be able to pull that off every blue moon.

>low spell slot count is gonna suck. I'm already prerecording myself saying "I cast telekinetic projectile" since thats all I'll be doing 90% of fights.

_____

What I'm looking forward to:

>RP will be really cool. My phantom is a lich whose phylactery was broken and he latched onto this kid as a last ditch effort to keep from being judged by pharasma and he's trying to get his power back to get revenge. Thats gonna be cool.

>basically having advantage on every skill check. "Oh did I not find anything in this room? Luckily my eidolon also uses perception"

>taking the animate dead spell. I've been wanting to try that out and having an eidolon on top kinda gets close to that minion master vibe necromancer has traditionally had.

[Alchemic_Genius]

The phantom's reaction would honestly be so much cooler, thematic, and actually synergistic with the class if it peeled away that "your eidolon is adjacent to you" part. It's a devotion phantom, it should be more than happy to charge in and fight, and the summoner class overall is very much geared to having the summoner stay in the back lines providing support casting while the eidolon mixes it up. It also gives the eidolon a really unique ability that punishes enemies "targeting the squishy" instead of being a discount ranged reprisal that lacks the cool damage reducing effect.

I guess in the current form it's kinda neat if it actually works with synthesis

[Candlejake]

Yeah the reaction seems pretty dead which is sad. Hope its gonna become better.

But tbh the ability works better if you take the feat that makes the eidolon bigger because then you can ride them. But that generally goes against what people imagine the phantoms to look like unless you want to take a piggy back ride on your lich.

[Falgaia]

Only way I could find to make the Phantom reaction semi-functional was by utilizing Tandem Move and Ranged Evolution, allowing the Eidolon and Summoner to fight in lock-step and still contribute from a distance. Still not great, since it requires 2 feats and level 6 to really function. Definitely needs some kind of buff. Maybe just turn the reaction into early Summoner's Call; eidolon senses the damage, knows you're in danger, and warps adjacent to attack your assailant. Lacks the ability to recall your eidolon when it is hit, but would still admittedly be strong though. Definitely needs something though, as-is.

[RexAliquid]

Add in a champion dedication and the phantom summoner can be quite the tanky duo.

[Bipeo]

Bipeo wrote:

things I said

So I ended up switching to dragon summoner at the last minute because the GM didn't like my backstory for phantom.

The session ran short so I had only a little bit of experience with it.

The good:
With "act together" I basically had a dedicated "I flank it" action.
Boost eidolon and shield make sure you're never wondering what to do with remaining actions.
Having my eidolon assist knowledge checks and rolling its own perception is awesome, though maybe unintended.

The bad:
I absolutely did not want to cast any slotted spells. I may as well have 0 spell slots because with only 2 to burn, I'd need to be in a real tough spot to waste one.
Breath weapon seemed like a lackluster choice. For 2 actions I could go for an electric arc or a telekinetic projectile. Never compelled to use it.

[Falgaia]

Bipeo wrote:

Bipeo wrote:

things I said

So I ended up switching to dragon summoner at the last minute because the GM didn't like my backstory for phantom.

The session ran short so I had only a little bit of experience with it.

The good:
With "act together" I basically had a dedicated "I flank it" action.
Boost eidolon and shield make sure you're never wondering what to do with remaining actions.
Having my eidolon assist knowledge checks and rolling its own perception is awesome, though maybe unintended.

The bad:
I absolutely did not want to cast any slotted spells. I may as well have 0 spell slots because with only 2 to burn, I'd need to be in a real tough spot to waste one.
Breath weapon seemed like a lackluster choice. For 2 actions I could go for an electric arc or a telekinetic projectile. Never compelled to use it.

Yeah, Breath Weapon is kinda rough at level 1. Might be worth trying to put in a word for it starting at 2d6 and scaling as it currently does, idk. It does feel a bit better at later levels, but its still mostly for clearing out mooks until the final upgrade at 17.

Personally I'd love to see Feat pickups in both this class and Magus for more spell slots as well, as 2/2 is pretty limiting especially until you're able to procure supplemental wands.