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Hi everyone,
I recently started to play my Summoner quite extensively. It is still low level but I already got a blast playing it. The class is fulfilling my need for complexity while packing quite some punch, everything I love.
But I feel the way I play it is very different from both the discussions I've read here, the builds I've seen posted and the only guide I've found about the Summoner.
I wanted to write a long post about what I call the "Caster Summoner", but as I can't modify posts on these boards after an hour I thought it'd be better to format it like a guide and maybe update it along my experience and your comments.
Here it is: Guide to the Caster Summoner
Don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it.
Some thoughts. Initially like most people I have just written off the ranged attack of the Eidolon as a d4 range 30 unarmed attack is not very good. I do appreciate it will get the benefit of a few runes as you go up levels. So maybe it is not so bad. But I trust you have run your numbers right.
1) Ranged Unarmed was a vacant space early on in the books so I'm not confident the CRB, and some GMs won't throw you a few curve balls.
2) It is surprising but some of the eidolons abilities work fine with ranged unarmed. Like the +1 damage several of them get, or Beast's Charge.
3) Isn't the reverse easy to do. I mean a Summoner might start with 16 Dex and can find a way to train in a bow. You would be down on proficiency for that bow, but the Eidolon can use your spell DC. All it takes is the Magical Understudy feat. So one feat out of an otherwise normal Strength based build.
4) Are you a fan of the Arboreal Sapling animal companion. Which can fufill a similar role for a Druid. But with a much worse attack roll - I could never quite bring myself to try it out.
Initially like most people I have just written off the ranged attack of the Eidolon as a d4 range 30 unarmed attack is not very good.
I must admit I did the same. A year from now, maybe even just a couple of months, I would have rated it orange at best.
But I trust you have run your numbers right.
I ran them quite a few times. The main issue of this build are the single digit levels. Overall, you deal less damage than the classical Eidolon build, but you really have more flexibility and when you decide to unleash your real spells you reach superior efficiency (which is a strong asset in my opinion).
About your other points:
1) As the Eidolon can't benefit from feats and from most magic items, I don't see what curve balls they could launch. I don't really see a potential bad rule interaction with it.
3) The Summoner starts at 16, ends up Expert, and at level 17 you need to choose between +2 Dex and +2 Cha. On top of it, the Eidolon can only cast cantrips (and low level spells) when the Summoner has access to its whole spell list (and Scrolls, Staves and Wands). Electric Arc is your bread and butter spell but you keep the same strategy when you have to cast a slotted spell.
Also if you want a strength Eidolon, you can. You'll only lose 15% damage at range at level 10+ and you have both the versatility of a ranged combatant and the excellent melee damage of the Strength Eidolon (5% more damage than the Dexterity one at level 10+). Actually, if you can retrain your Eidolon from Strength to Dexterity, I encourage you to start with a Strength Eidolon and retrain it at level 10. This is by far the best of both worlds.
4) Not much. I've looked at it. At level 8 and 9, if you build it Nimble, you have nearly the efficiency of the Eidolon. But as soon as you reach level 10 the Sappling becomes ridiculous. At level 10+, Animal Companions are really bad. They are a low level choice.
The real advantage of the Sapling (to the degree that there is one) is that it's a free attack. Once it gets to mature, it'll have an action per round to play with regardless of what your'e doing, and as a ranged-capable companion, you can just have it play turret. Unfortunately, it becomes a less and less useful turret as the levels scroll, but if it doesn't have to engage in melee and it doesn't have to move, then it's one attack per round that didn't cost you anything other than the feats to set it up.
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The real advantage of the Sapling (to the degree that there is one) is that it's a free attack. Once it gets to mature, it'll have an action per round to play with regardless of what your'e doing, and as a ranged-capable companion, you can just have it play turret. Unfortunately, it becomes a less and less useful turret as the levels scroll, but if it doesn't have to engage in melee and it doesn't have to move, then it's one attack per round that didn't cost you anything other than the feats to set it up.
It's an advanced maneuver, you can't use it with the free action from Mature.
It's an advanced maneuver, you can't use it with the free action from Mature.
Huh. Well that's useless.
Man... I just keep being wrong today. I need to take this as a sign or something.
How much do you suppose a Summoner going Athletics w/ a STR eidolon gains in benefit?
I get that athletic maneuvers don't add to a damage chart, but it's hard to deny the power of Trip / Grab, especially on a class w/ access to Eidolon's Opportunity.
And the less one invests into the potency of an Eidolon's Strike damage, the comparatively better it will be to use that MAP for a maneuver instead.
And because this is not specifically a feat investment, it plays nicely with some of your suggestions, like archetype dipping for a Focus Spell.
I'd also like to ask what the common ruling on the Weighty Impact, Grasping Limbs, etc feats are.
In my opinion, it makes sense to use the referenced entries of Grab, Knockdown, etc, as they existed when Summoner was written, and tables should *not* use the remastered changes to the monster abilities until Summoner itself is remastered and has the opportunity to alter the feats.
To copy/paste what I said on your other thread:
Hmm. It's an interesting idea and I love trying new things but I fail to see how it's better than a plant Eidolon that has almost the same reach (20 feet at lvl 7, 25 feet at lvl 9) but deals way more damage (starting at 1d8+4 vs 1d4 and finishing at 4d8+6 vs 4d4, ignoring other runes and weapon spe), is more accurate (can benefit from flat footed or prone, doesn't suffer from lesser cover), helps your team (by providing flanking) and can use combat manoeuvers like trip and grab.
In my opinion, it makes sense to use the referenced entries of Grab, Knockdown, etc, as they existed when Summoner was written, and tables should *not* use the remastered changes to the monster abilities until Summoner itself is remastered and has the opportunity to alter the feats.
I'm trying to remember what the pre-Remaster rules were for Grab and Trip abilities. It has been over two years since this thread was last used. Was it that they would auto-succeed instead of being a Grapple/Trip attempt with a check that ignores MAP?
Also, how much errata are you putting as the threshold for considering the rules to be considered Remastered? Secrets of Magic got an initial pass with the Remaster Compatibility errata and again with the recent Fall 2024 errata.
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How much do you suppose a Summoner going Athletics w/ a STR eidolon gains in benefit?
I get that athletic maneuvers don't add to a damage chart, but it's hard to deny the power of Trip / Grab, especially on a class w/ access to Eidolon's Opportunity.
And the less one invests into the potency of an Eidolon's Strike damage, the comparatively better it will be to use that MAP for a maneuver instead.
And because this is not specifically a feat investment, it plays nicely with some of your suggestions, like archetype dipping for a Focus Spell.
I'd also like to ask what the common ruling on the Weighty Impact, Grasping Limbs, etc feats are.
In my opinion, it makes sense to use the referenced entries of Grab, Knockdown, etc, as they existed when Summoner was written, and tables should *not* use the remastered changes to the monster abilities until Summoner itself is remastered and has the opportunity to alter the feats.
As a player who tried this, I would say it depends.
If you're the primary trip martial, it's not bad. You can't do it as well as the fighter or barbarian or other trip martial until level 10 when you can pick up Weighty Impact. You also may need to pick up Skilled Partner at level 4 for Titan Wrestler for the Eidolon so you don't have to spend Evolution Surge on size increases to ensure you can trip larger creatures.
If you have a trip martial like a fighter or barbarian in the group, the summoner is inferior at performing this function and you're better to focus on doing as much damage as possible either striking or a combination of striking and a cantrip with the occasional big dog spell.
With a summoner you have to have a very clear idea of what you want to do with your spells. Maybe they are for big AOE. Maybe you want them for buffing if divine or occult and putting heroism on the eidolon. The spell power should be very focused with a spell strategy for the summoner according to how you want to build as this will become increasingly important as the other classes in your group come into their specialties.
The summoner doesn't really have a specialty like other classes. So focusing the spell power to support the eidolon strategy is important.
The ranged attack really starts to fall off hard once you hit the greater striking runes. The d4 damage is vastly inferior to bows due to damage and range and especially d10 or d12 melee weapons with quality traits.
The ranged attack suffers the same problem all d4 weapons suffer from due to the math of striking runes where a lower initial weapon die becomes a progressively bigger limiter of damage the higher level you get.
If you only play in games that mostly hit in that 1 to 10 range, summoner hangs pretty well up to that level then starts to drop off at the higher levels and become less competitive.
Summoners scale more like a highly limited martial with some casting power. That scaling really starts to matter in the 11-20 range.
I'm trying to remember what the pre-Remaster rules were for Grab and Trip abilities. It has been over two years since this thread was last used. Was it that they would auto-succeed instead of being a Grapple/Trip attempt with a check that ignores MAP?
Yeah, the old version was that you do the Strike, and if you hit, you can use the Feat for 1A to invoke an auto-success. Super important when attacking PL+X bosses and stuff.
It means that you can have the Eidolon Strike first, and then decide the rest of your turn while being able to know you can spend that 2nd 1A for the guaranteed result.
Never played it myself, nor asked my main reference SMN player, but I'm pretty sure most GMs would rule that the 2nd Trip/Grapple action is valid for Act Together while the SMN does a 2A spell.
There's also edge cases where you cannot normally Trip something via a maneuver, but can hit them w/ a Strike, like an incorporeal foe. If you use the new, mostly nerfed versions of Knockdown, adding that extra roll and fail chance also invokes their immunity when one previously had the quirk of bypassing it.
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It sounds like right when SMN starts to lag in damage is when they can transition into spending more of their actions on Trip/Grapple when those feats come online.
It's normal / expected to me that generalists like that need to find as many useful non-damage actions as possible, and picking one of those feats seems like one of the most powerful milestones in the SMN progression, to be honest.
I'm also curious as to how the ruling on things like feeding an Eidolon a Bestial Mutagen would work. The mutagen explicitly does not work with / care about Striking runes (which may only be a gp save), and provides a to-hit & Athletics bonus +1 beyond the norm. Seems like a perfect pairing for a Trip eidolon.
If an Eidolon can open up and be fed a healing elixir, it's hard to rule that they cannot be fed and benefit from a potion or mutagen.
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I'm trying to remember what the pre-Remaster rules were for Grab and Trip abilities. It has been over two years since this thread was last used. Was it that they would auto-succeed instead of being a Grapple/Trip attempt with a check that ignores MAP?Yeah, the old version was that you do the Strike, and if you hit, you can use the Feat for 1A to invoke an auto-success. Super important when attacking PL+X bosses and stuff.
It means that you can have the Eidolon Strike first, and then decide the rest of your turn while being able to know you can spend that 2nd 1A for the guaranteed result.
Never played it myself, nor asked my main reference SMN player, but I'm pretty sure most GMs would rule that the 2nd Trip/Grapple action is valid for Act Together while the SMN does a 2A spell.
There's also edge cases where you cannot normally Trip something via a maneuver, but can hit them w/ a Strike, like an incorporeal foe. If you use the new, mostly nerfed versions of Knockdown, adding that extra roll and fail chance also invokes their immunity when one previously had the quirk of bypassing it.
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It sounds like right when SMN starts to lag in damage is when they can transition into spending more of their actions on Trip/Grapple when those feats come online.
It's normal / expected to me that generalists like that need to find as many useful non-damage actions as possible, and picking one of those feats seems like one of the most powerful milestones in the SMN progression, to be honest.
I'm also curious as to how the ruling on things like feeding an Eidolon a Bestial Mutagen would work. The mutagen explicitly does not work with / care about Striking runes (which may only be a gp save), and provides a to-hit & Athletics bonus +1 beyond the norm. Seems like a perfect pairing for a Trip eidolon.
If an Eidolon can open up and be fed a healing elixir, it's hard to rule that they cannot be fed and benefit...
I don't know. Non-damage actions really start to lose their value at the higher levels when everyone is built to optimally smash things and everyone hits real hard, especially crits.
One of the summoners I played was an elemental summoner. I picked up Weighty Impact and rarely used it because we had a maneuver monk in the group. Monks are far more action efficient for maneuvers than a summoner. Monks start to do a lot of damage as they stack runes with a d8 martial art with agile, while also doing maneuvers.
That's one of the biggest problems with the eidolon is they can't be customized like a martial to do much efficiently and effectively. Even with act together, their action economy which looks great at low level starts to look meh.
No one cares about Demoralize much at high level or Bon Mot. Just blow off the hardest hitting combination you can with 4 or 5 characters with three actions each doing this, someone usually crits and the damage gets nuts.
Even caster decision making gets pretty binary. Slow/debuff bosses and AOE groups. Once a caster lands slow, then damage hammer the boss.
The summoner gets no abilities that give them a big dog boost like say a barbarian gets when they get greater specialization or a thief rogue gets when they get Precise Debilitations or a fighter gets as they pick up Tactical Reflexes.
Their spell power goes up, but four spells and Master casting at 17 instead of 15 and never legendary.
The summoner doesn't have a core ability that has feat support that takes the class to the next level of power. It's more of a class that plays the same at level 1 as it plays at level 20 with a bunch of situationally useful abilities.
By no means take this as the summoner is weak. It isn't. It's what I could call one of the middle tier combat classes with some bland feats. The eidolons are too limited for my tastes and don't feel like the creatures they represent.
For example, its' not super fun to be playing a dragon eidolon when the druid shapechanges into a dragon nearly at will with a closer approximation of a dragon than eidolon with far faster movement speeds, reach, and harder hitting dragon attacks.
So you have to sort of lower your expectations when playing the class and put out of your mind the eidolon is anything like a real version of what it purports to be. See it as a weapon extension cosmetically like some creature, but nothing like it in ability or usefulness. The cost of being a caster-martial hybrid is being fairly weak at both, noticeably so as each type of class grows into its power.
Hmm. It's an interesting idea and I love trying new things but I fail to see how it's better than a plant Eidolon that has almost the same reach (20 feet at lvl 7, 25 feet at lvl 9) but deals way more damage (starting at 1d8+4 vs 1d4 and finishing at 4d8+6 vs 4d4, ignoring other runes and weapon spe), is more accurate (can benefit from flat footed or prone, doesn't suffer from lesser cover), helps your team (by providing flanking) and can use combat manoeuvers like trip and grab.
A few things.
First, the Plant Eidolon doesn't deal "way more damage". Here's a damage comparison, considering the need to move before level 8 (as you just have a 10-ft reach) and then the use of Weighty Impact and the corresponding Reflexive Strike at level 10+. There's definitely a damage difference (and considering how PF2 is balanced it's a significant one) but it's not as stellar as half of your damage comes from Electric Arc (and you won't beat Electric Arc + Strike with just Strikes).The main asset of the Plant build is control, as you will regularly Trip enemies.
Second, the Plant build is a build when the Caster Summoner is a way of playing the Summoner. For the comparison to be fair you'd need to compare the Plant build to Caster Summoner's builds, and that's when it starts getting hard. The Caster Summoner encompasses the Summoner versatility, and as such can be built very differently without hitting it's core combat features. You can make a top end skill monkey out of it, you can increase it's casting ability or even add some gimmicks to it like the Disturbing Knowledge build I find so funny. But that would make the comparison extremely hard as both will have very different defining features.
Also, the Plant Eidolon has a massive impact on the party. It's supposed to be the party tripper and as such you need the party to play around it as otherwise it'd be rather weak. But more importantly it's Large (and even Huge at some point) and as such attracts a lot of attention while not being a tank at all (the Eidolon tanking ability is very average). So without party support you'll just eat the dirt most of the time.
And finally, I wouldn't say the plant build is worse than any Caster Summoner build I'd could come up with. It's the Summoner build that gets the most praise after all.
Well, your graph shows it does deal in fact way more damage. And you don't ALWAYS have to move before level 8 (you get 10 feet at lvl 1, 15 feet at lvl 7, and if you had time to use evolution, that's 5 feet more at lvl 5). Comparing one strike from plant against 2 from range is comparing the best situation for you against the worst for plant. There will be lots of rounds where the plant won't have to move, or where the ranged eidolon will still have to move because he doesn't have a line of fire.
Also, you didn't take into account the much higher accuracy I mentioned. A plant Eidolon should often get flanking, or attack tripped enemies, which is a net +2 accuracy gain comparing to ranged attacks - while the ranged eidolon will often suffer from lesser cover (-1 accuracy) or even regular cover (-2).
Also also (^^), you didn't take into account attacks of opportunities he will most certainly do during the fight due to high reach and trips from either him or his friends. That's coming close to double the damage output, while the ranged eidolon only has AOO in melee (where he allegedly doesn't want to go).
So that puts our plant eidolon way higher in the DPS race.
Second, the Plant build is a build when the Caster Summoner is a way of playing the Summoner. For the comparison to be fair you'd need to compare the Plant build to Caster Summoner's builds, and that's when it starts getting hard.
I really don't understand what you mean here. Plant summoner, like most eidolons who aren't beast/dragon, IS a caster summoner. The eidolon relies mostly on 1 actions vs 2 actions for the caster. The features I emphasized higher don't cost any feat to get apart from weighted impact and Eidolon's Opportunity (and maybe the Large feat if you don't want to rely on evolution). So you can diversify to your heart's content.
Also, the Plant Eidolon has a massive impact on the party. It's supposed to be the party tripper and as such you need the party to play around it as otherwise it'd be rather weak. But more importantly it's Large (and even Huge at some point) and as such attracts a lot of attention while not being a tank at all (the Eidolon tanking ability is very average). So without party support you'll just eat the dirt most of the time.
Well, it's true that you CAN be the party tripper while the ranged eidolon CAN'T. But you CAN also get in a straight DPS race and not trip at all, in which case you outDPS the ranged eidolon because of higher damage and higher accuracy + eventual AOO. So you have MORE options and BETTER options: the best of both worlds.
As for being squishy, that's true, but reach (even at lvl 1) allows you to cower behind your sturdier melee if need be. And a Towering Eidolon has 25 feet reach, which means you're basically ranged like you.
And finally, I wouldn't say the plant build is worse than any Caster Summoner build I'd could come up with. It's the Summoner build that gets the most praise after all.
Well, sure, but you mentioned it in an optimization post and made a lot of DPS charts to try to prove it's a great summoner build DPS-wise, which IMO it isn't.
It's certainly a fun build, and it allows you to grab different eidolons to mix and match your experience. But if we're talking pure efficiency, the plant eidolon outclasses the ranged one in every single area.
Now if it were a topic "you're tired of the plant eidolon and want to play something else while still being competitive, boy do I have an option for you", that would be much better ^^
To start with the specific:
And you don't ALWAYS have to move before level 8
If the Plant Eidolon doesn't need to move then the ranged Eidolon can switch to melee and they then deal very similar damage (the difference is higher at low level but negligible at high level).
Also, you didn't take into account the much higher accuracy I mentioned. A plant Eidolon should often get flanking, or attack tripped enemies, which is a net +2 accuracy gain comparing to ranged attacks - while the ranged eidolon will often suffer from lesser cover (-1 accuracy) or even regular cover (-2).
The ranged Eidolon can also switch to melee, it's not forced to ranged damage. So it can get the same bonuses when they are available and a better choice. It's a perfect switch hitter.
Also also (^^), you didn't take into account attacks of opportunities he will most certainly do during the fight due to high reach and trips from either him or his friends. That's coming close to double the damage output, while the ranged eidolon only has AOO in melee (where he allegedly doesn't want to go).
Yes I did. Once you get Weighty Impact I've considered an AoO every time you manage to Trip the enemy. I haven't before but we are speaking of levels 6-9 only. So, ok, for these 4 levels my calculation are under the actual value, I fully admit that.
I really don't understand what you mean here. Plant summoner, like most eidolons who aren't beast/dragon, IS a caster summoner.
I've called Caster Summoner this way of playing a Summoner. You can say ranged Eidolon if you prefer but it's more than just a feat.
The features I emphasized higher don't cost any feat to get apart from weighted impact and Eidolon's Opportunity (and maybe the Large feat if you don't want to rely on evolution). So you can diversify to your heart's content.
If you rely on Evolution Surge to increase your size then your damage output is now significantly lower and you lose potential AoOs during first round. And you also lose the versatility of Evolution Surge as you now need it for your main shtick.
For the Plant Eidolon to inflict more damage than the ranged one you need the size feats and then it costs most of your options.But you CAN also get in a straight DPS race and not trip at all
It doesn't really increase your damage output unless you have an external source to trigger your AoOs. Weighty Impact is really that good.
As for being squishy, that's true, but reach (even at lvl 1) allows you to cower behind your sturdier melee if need be. And a Towering Eidolon has 25 feet reach, which means you're basically ranged like you.
Yeah, but you're also Huge, take more damage from AoE effects, and at level 12+ monsters have ways to hit creatures at 20 ft. (25 ft. is only when you attack but you want the juicy AoOs). You will definitely grab a lot of attention which may have an impact or not depending on your party composition.
Well, sure, but you mentioned it in an optimization post and made a lot of DPS charts to try to prove it's a great summoner build DPS-wise, which IMO it isn't.
My damage charts are there to prove it's competitive. Not that it's somehow better. This build is unexpectedly working fine, as at first glance the Ranged Combattant option seems very underwhelming.
Now for the more general:
This whole guide is not just about ranged Eidolon but about a way of playing the Summoner. I've seen countless Summoners using Boost Eidolon for example (actually, all those I played with) and as such ignoring the potential damage output coming from the Summoner.
Also, there's no massive opposition between your Plant build and the concept of Caster Summoner, it's a way of achieving something similar through reach instead of range. Still, you'll invest more feats and options on your Eidolon which will look more like an Eidolon-centric Summoner than a Caster Summoner.
And I won't write a guide to say: Play this One True Build and ignore the rest of the class. So even if the Plant Summoner is an absolute beast there are a lot of people who want to play a Summoner which is not a Plant Summoner. This guide covers it for them.
And I won't write a guide to say: Play this One True Build and ignore the rest of the class. So even if the Plant Summoner is an absolute beast there are a lot of people who want to play a Summoner which is not a Plant Summoner. This guide covers it for them.
Well, that's exactly what I said in my last sentence so it seems we're in agreement ^^
But yeah, basically, Dragon and Beast (and Anger, though nobody plays it) have always been considered melee summoners, with an emphasis on Two-actions from the eidolon (which doesn't leave a lot of room for casting, and leans towards the use of Boost Eidolon), while all other eidolons are considered caster summoners (since they can use only one action and as such leave more room to the summoner to cast).
But yeah, basically, Dragon and Beast (and Anger, though nobody plays it) have always been considered melee summoners, with an emphasis on Two-actions from the eidolon (which doesn't leave a lot of room for casting, and leans towards the use of Boost Eidolon), while all other eidolons are considered caster summoners (since they can use only one action and as such leave more room to the summoner to cast).
I actually play a Caster Summoner with an Anger Eidolon. The level 1 ability is worthless (even if you're melee) but the level 7 one is really nice when you don't have to be at melee range: +2 to damage to all your attacks compensates the lower damage output of the ranged option.
But yeah, basically, Dragon and Beast (and Anger, though nobody plays it) have always been considered melee summoners, with an emphasis on Two-actions from the eidolon (which doesn't leave a lot of room for casting, and leans towards the use of Boost Eidolon), while all other eidolons are considered caster summoners (since they can use only one action and as such leave more room to the summoner to cast).I actually play a Caster Summoner with an Anger Eidolon. The level 1 ability is worthless (even if you're melee) but the level 7 one is really nice when you don't have to be at melee range: +2 to damage to all your attacks compensates the lower damage output of the ranged option.
Hey, that's actually a good idea !
My SMN on the shelf started with the character of "Butler" as the Eidolon, and I've been using Devotion Phantom as my baseline to compare against.
I gotta say, a Reaction at L1 w/ a 15ft range to hit back against Strikes sounds very good, especially considering that those Strikes are the main way foes will mess you up while still avoiding the RS trigger, so the ability does not become obsolete later.
Dutiful Retaliation is also explicitly "a melee unarmed Strike", so things like granting an alternative via bestial mutagens works.
(Super minor, but if the SMN gets hit during their turn, such as due to AoO, it seems RaW that Reaction Strike fulfills the prereq for Knockdown, lol)
I've got to say that in general while I'm the sort of Alch to stack an injury poison, alch siphon, and spellheart (& Gravity Weapon) on my spear to maximize every little bit, I'm also someone that thinks that a single extra hit somewhere is typically the bigger math changer.
It takes a loooot of little bits of extra dmg to break even with a full on extra hit that wouldn't otherwise happen.
Seething Frenzy is definitely a good ability, it's like a 0FP version of Gravity Weapon, but also carries that -2 AC penalty (and fatigue mechanic).
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That fatigue actually should get an explicit question / mention there.
The frenzy lasts for 1 minute, after which it's fatigued for 1 minute and can't start another frenzy for 1 minute.
Unfortunately, I think many tables will not run this RaW, and say the debuff removes itself after that one minute is up. That would be real nice, but that's not what it says.
RaW, any attempt to cure the condition during the 1 min will result in it being reapplied, and after the 1 min is up, you can treat / remove the debuff condition, but there is nothing in any rule text, including that eidolon's, that would allow the condition to remove itself.
Fatigued is one of the sticky conditions, though most don't think of it the same severity as Drained. If a table would not handwaive the removal of Drained, then Fatigued should be treated the same.
Fatigued is actually such a forgotten condition, it's missing from spells that can cleanse things like Drained. You can't buy Sound Body scrolls to treat it, lol, yikes. Even things like Legendary Medic remove Drained & Doomed, but not Fatigued.
It's genuinely a sticky and hard to cure condition. (might be #1 w/ least/worst removal options?)
R4 spell Soothing Spring requires a full hr of bathing to remove it (but this looks like the best option at an AoN glance).
L6 alchemy Scholar's Drop allows a 2A bite to suppress fatigued for 10 min, but w/ a 1hr cd and 3 per day max.
(and no, the Alch Class feat elixir additives do not cure Fatigued, none of them do)
Honestly, Drained would be an upgrade, or a side-grade at worst compared to Fatigued, lol.
Small quibble but I think the Str eidolon is still a very good choice, even for this way to play.
If you look at Eidolon choice, I recognize that Str Eidolon is fine for this style of play. Dex is mostly better for defense and skills. In terms of damage, Strength is better at low level and it gets more of a wash at mid levels when elemental runes start to kick in.
And yes, the goal is not to always be at range even if, from experience, you end up often at range. It's a build that fully benefits from the Summoner flexibility while avoiding the main issue of the class: It's lack of survivability compared to an actual martial.