My question is with all of the restrictions on the Summoner and Eidolon (same health pool, limit on actions, limit of spells) how is it any better than a normal full caster with an Animal Companion. Please bear in mind I haven't run a Summoner but I have been in groups with them but again I fail to see a huge benefit overall.
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The main benefit is act together. With it you effectively have 4 actions per turn. You just can't combine a 2 action activity with another 2 action activity.
It's also better to see the summoner and eidolon as the same PC, rather than a PC with a minion. It's one character that occupies 2 spaces with a lot of versatility in the actions you can take thanks to act together. Plus they have different stat arrays so you have versatility in how effective you are with your skills.
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My question is with all of the restrictions on the Summoner and Eidolon (same health pool, limit on actions, limit of spells) how is it any better than a normal full caster with an Animal Companion. Please bear in mind I haven't run a Summoner but I have been in groups with them but again I fail to see a huge benefit overall.
Biggest benefit is act together - it allows the summoner to be a gish, different than the magus but much more flexible.
Your turn can basically be move (both of you if you get tandem move), eidolon hit, summoner cast. Which is much better than what other gishes can do since:
1) You can both move, cast and hit
2) As a summoner, you're usually out of harm's way which means you don't care about AOOs like other gishes do.
As for your eidolon, it has martial progression and can benefit from runes and apex bonuses, which means that it's much more accurate.
At level 14, where your animal companion is at the peak of its power, it can get +6 dex and expert proficiency, so +24. In comparison, the eidolon has +5 str and master proficiency and +2 rune for +27. A +3 difference in PF2E is a HUGE thing. And the gap only widens from there.
At level 20, your AC still has 6 dex and expert proficiency, so +30.
Your eidolon, meanwhile, now has 7 str, master proficiency and a +3 rune, which is +36.
It also benefits from your skills, so it can be legendary in athletism for instance, or legendary in intimidation, whereas an animal companion won't ever get more than expert in a couple skills.
And that's not counting the fact that your eidolon could be huge, and fly, and explode, and might have reach, or draconic frenzy, or can cast spells, and many other reasons it's better than an animal companion (which is good in itself, don't get me wrong, but nowhere near an eidolon ^^).
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Another thing is that an Eidolon is much flashier than an animal companion, you can build your Eidolon do make ranged attacks, cast spells, use skills, control space with reach or trip/grapple, etc.
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1. Eidolon scales better at high level.
2. Eidolon can be improved with feats.
3. Eidolon's AC, saves, and damage are affected by your items including weapon property runs.
4. Eidolon has scaling special abilities.
5. Eidolon gets Juggernaut and Resolve.
6. Eidolon and summoner have a 10 point hit point pool.
7. Eidolon and summoner can be healed at two different points allowing a summoner to stay in heal range while the eidolon goes forward.
8. Eidolon can be improved with Evolution Surge with a focus point.
9. Eidolon stats scale and gets a free Apex item bonus as part of a class feature.
Does this make the summoner with eidolon better than a full caster with an animal companion? Depends on what you want to do. The eidolon is definitely a better martial than an animal companion by a good measure, but the summoner is a worse caster.
In play, I find the summoner plays like it caster-martial hybrid. So its power remains in that range.
I think the class does fine. It's power level is properly set. Some players have a lot of fun running them.
You have to decide if you like the combination and know how to use it well.
Yet still have an disadvantage. Summoners have less spellslots and their spell DC/spell attack progress up master only instead of reach legendary and progress a bit slowly (a full caster becomes expert at level 7, master at level 15 and legendary at level 19 while summoner becomes expert at level 9 and master at level 17).
Yet even being a little worse caster the eidolon action togheter compensates. Also Act Together has a great flexibility to summoners and eidolon actions you basically can do anything with both actions when you need. If you want to cast a 3-actions spell and want to Shove an enemy into it you can. If you want to drink a potion (2 separated actions) while your eidolon Breaths into enemies (2-action activity) you can.
There's no other class with such action flexibility.
The summoner HP is also pretty high and the shared HP give some interesting too give a big disadvantage initially when you and your eidolon falls in an damage affect the hits you both because the hit/save is rolled twice and uses the worse damage (for example if you and your eidolon was hit by a fireball and it rolls a success but you roll a failure will be used the failure damage).
But for other side healing opportunities are doubled. If you drink a healing potion a safe position, far from reactions, your eidolon will be healed too. If someone uses a Battle Medicine into you, you becomes immune but your eidolon not so someone can apply Battle Medicine to your Eidolon too to recover the HP twice (this is valid to all haling effects with cooldown like healing versatile vials or kineticist healing).
At level 10 you can get an reaction that inverts the damage logic of saves affecting you both. If you both rolls the same damage save you use the lowest damage (so if are lvl 11 and a fortitude damage effect affect both you and your eidolon both of you roll and if you or your eidolon gets a success you take no damage). It's better than a fortune reroll and also can apply fortune check too like hero points.
So in practice summoner and eidolon aren't devastated by AoE effect like companions are and are way more easier and efficient to recover HP.
1. Eidolon scales better at high level.
2. Eidolon can be improved with feats.
3. Eidolon's AC, saves, and damage are affected by your items including weapon property runs.
4. Eidolon has scaling special abilities.
5. Eidolon gets Juggernaut and Resolve.
6. Eidolon and summoner have a 10 point hit point pool.
7. Eidolon and summoner can be healed at two different points allowing a summoner to stay in heal range while the eidolon goes forward.
8. Eidolon can be improved with Evolution Surge with a focus point.
9. Eidolon stats scale and gets a free Apex item bonus as part of a class feature.
Does this make the summoner with eidolon better than a full caster with an animal companion? Depends on what you want to do. The eidolon is definitely a better martial than an animal companion by a good measure, but the summoner is a worse caster.
In play, I find the summoner plays like it caster-martial hybrid. So its power remains in that range.
I think the class does fine. It's power level is properly set. Some players have a lot of fun running them.
You have to decide if you like the combination and know how to use it well.
Summoners also is super flexible with support and healing archetype but eidolons doesn't get benefits from archetypes that gives extra actions/activities like Vicius Strikes.
Unfortunately death happens. If an animal companion dies you need to spend a week of downtime finding a new one. If your eidolon ‘dies’ because you’re knocked unconscious, once you are brought up to positive hit points you spend three actions to summon it again.
Not exactly. If summoner/eidolon dies you need to be ressurected as anyone (something very expensive).
But what is more common is dying condition. If you reach 0 HP your eidolon umanifests and you fall dying. This can be good or bad depending from the situation. Can be good if your eidolon was in a dangerous position and/or you are close to healer or can be bad if you are too distant from the healer.
Companions also falls dying too and can be healed like any other character. They doesn't inst die like monsters.
I put eidolon dies in quotation marks because that’s not what really happens. What I meant is that your hit point pool drops to zero, you start dying, and your eidolon disappears. Once you are brought back to positive hit points it is a lot easier to just resummon your eidolon.
If an animal companion starts dying, you likely have to spend actions trying to save it. With an eidolon that’s not the case.
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The words versatile and flexible are starting to become trigger words for me, every time i hear versatile, flexible, viable, ok etc... in a class discussion I 'm starting to assume its horrible.
Then... every class in PF2 is horrible.
Which is a reasonable thing to think, I guess. May your adventures be wild.
But PF2 is designed such that your choice of class and selection of build options are not going to put one character at a significant power advantage or disadvantage compared to other characters. Some people like that design. Some people don't. But that is the PF2 design.
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My question is with all of the restrictions on the Summoner and Eidolon (same health pool, limit on actions, limit of spells) how is it any better than a normal full caster with an Animal Companion. Please bear in mind I haven't run a Summoner but I have been in groups with them but again I fail to see a huge benefit overall.
It's not. It's different, but its not "better". It could be worse, if you make a poor Eidolon selection, and there are definitely poor Eidolon selections. Spellcaster Eidolons in general are not great, which is why so many of the people talking up Summoner are talking about more martial focused Eidolons.
Summoner gives up a lot of casting power in exchange for a significantly more capable of companion in the Eidolon and more action flexibility. Not more actions, though: a full caster with a mature animal companion has the same number of actions. Summoner is just a lot more flexible in how they get split up, and Tandem actions let you get more out of them.
One often overlooked feature here is that Summoner can take two Exploration activities at level 1, since both the Summoner and Eidolon get one. This can be quite helpful since you can do things like have two checks to find things, have one track while another scouts, etc.
Animal companions fall off at high level while Eidolons do better at keeping up. Conversely, Summoner has fewer and less potent spells than a full caster at those same levels.
I had one in one of my Ruby Phoenix games and it was an effective character, but didn't have some grand advantage over everyone else in most situations. Aside from the weaker Eidolon options acting as something of a trap, I think the class is in a pretty good place where it offers something unique without balance issues.
(I also don't think casters tend to get a ton out of animal companions. The Rogue got more out of his than any caster I've ever seen with one.)
Now that Tridus pointed about two Exploration activities. There's another thing that eidolon does that companion doesn't Speak and Interact!
Eidolon are intelligent creatures, not necessarily humanoids that share your skills, can interact with objects (but cannot use non-eidolon items) and with people.
Needs to RK something about Arcana but you failed in the RK check? Try it again with you dragon eidolon maybe it can remember something. Wanna a bonus to not fail a craft check? As you construct eidolon to Aid you. Needs to Treat Wounds and want's to try a high medicine DC ask you plant eidolon for help to Aid you holding the patient in place or providing you some herbs wanna help the party rogue to Disable a trap but you dex isn't to good make you fey eidolon to Aid him.
Eidolon share skills with you and can do a large set of things or just Aid both with physical and mental skills using their own attributes.
Summoner perception is pretty bad and both summoner and eidolon usually doesn't have a high wis but you both together have 2 chances to notice things in exploration allowing to both search (2 rolls) improving your chances to notice something.
Powers128 is right: the advantages of a second body are balanced out by the drawbacks of sharing the same actions, HP, and MAP, so the bulk of your power as a Summoner comes from having effectively four actions to play with each turn, as well as the two exploration activities you can undertake simultaneously as Tridus mentions. Make no mistake: having two bodies to work with means you get to do a lot of things no other classes can do, and your effectiveness as a Summoner will come from leveraging that along with the distinct advantages of your martial and caster halves. The bulk of your power, however, will come from your superior action economy, which which you'll need both your halves to leverage fully.
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It's also worth pointing out thay while an Eidilon and a Mature/Advanced Conpanion have the same base number of actions shared with their master (4, not counting additional tandem actions), Eidilons don't have any restrictions on what they can use a single action for, whereas a conpanion that isn't commanded can only stride* or strike- Stepping, demoralizing, and using single action special anilities are all things only rhe eidilon can do in this situation.
*Technically, this would mean a companion that isn't commanded shouldn't be able to use special movement speeds, but this seems to be near universally ignored for being pointlessly cruel, especially to companions at the risk of falling or ainking.
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I didn't see this mentioned before: eidolons are considered separate creatures for most game effects.
Among other things, that means you can bypass all kinds of limitations. IE, being able to demoralize the same creature twice in the same encounter; once from the summoner and once more from the eidolon.
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The words versatile and flexible are starting to become trigger words for me, every time i hear versatile, flexible, viable, ok etc... in a class discussion I 'm starting to assume its horrible.Then... every class in PF2 is horrible.
Which is a reasonable thing to think, I guess. May your adventures be wild.
But PF2 is designed such that your choice of class and selection of build options are not going to put one character at a significant power advantage or disadvantage compared to other characters. Some people like that design. Some people don't. But that is the PF2 design.
I would stipulate, that's the goal and intention.
Arguably some classes fall a little short but on average, yes I agree.
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with. This includes exploration activities. They also don't scale very well after level 14, with STR based ones being much worse.
While the Eidolon is a fully intelligent character tied to another. Eidolon's can do everything (except maybe use tools or kits depending on how your GM rules) that a player can do. They can aid you in the task your doing, do the same task at the same time such as RK, they can be in a different room talking with another character. They can learn spells, they can fly, you can potentially ride them, they share all your skills, they can pick up a few skill feats, and they scale up to level 20 properly. They can get one of the best offensive focus spells, though it's difficult to use.
An AC gives your group more health for enemies to take away, while a summoner is easier to heal since you can heal/battle medicine both the summoner and eidolon. This becomes a bigger issue in the later levels when your Eidolon has martial armor class and your AC can be up to 4 points behind depending on type. Eidolons get apex boost in their offensive stat to maintain equality with martials, while an AC will be 2-5 points behind and do noticeably less damage.
You need to invest up to 5 feats to keep an AC at maximum capability, while a summoner already is balanced to have a martial component by having wave casting.
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with.
Please share the rule(s) that clearly state (1) animal companions are not living beings and (2) are wholly unable to act unless commanded.
I am quite certain your assertions are incorrect.
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Like in terms of realism, as a GM, if someone was totally unwilling to spend actions commanding their animal companion, the most plausible thing for "a wild animal" do it in a context in which people are screaming and throwing fire around is "go hide somewhere until it's safe."
The *unrealistic* thing for an animal to do, which requires training since an animal probably wouldn't do it on its own, is "go attack that bandit archer over there."
I didn't see this mentioned before: eidolons are considered separate creatures for most game effects.
Among other things, that means you can bypass all kinds of limitations. IE, being able to demoralize the same creature twice in the same encounter; once from the summoner and once more from the eidolon.
This is super handy for Battle Medicine. You can get silly with it if you get Godless Healing on your Eidolon. And if your Eidolon is one with hands and your GM falls on the "Eidolons can use mundane items but not magical ones" side of that... well, have fun!
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with. This includes exploration activities. They also don't scale very well after level 14, with STR based ones being much worse.
I think I get what you're trying to say, but Animal Companions are Animals, which are very much living beings per the rules. Otherwise you wouldn't be able do things like use Treat Wounds on them, which you most definitely can.
You're correct that they don't get exploration activities and until Mature can't act at all without their controller spending actions. But I'm not sure this is actually a thing people are doing wrong in large numbers?
Like in terms of realism, as a GM, if someone was totally unwilling to spend actions commanding their animal companion, the most plausible thing for "a wild animal" do it in a context in which people are screaming and throwing fire around is "go hide somewhere until it's safe."
The *unrealistic* thing for an animal to do, which requires training since an animal probably wouldn't do it on its own, is "go attack that bandit archer over there."
I agree.
The rules are clear that you need to command your companion during combat. What I don't believe is supported by the rules is the notion that an AC will simply stay in place and starve to death if its master abandoned it.
They are, and behave like, autonomous living creatures when left up to their own devices.
Edit: Unless it's something like a construct or undead companion. Then it may very well sit around forever.
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with.
This is not the case in my experience. Everyone seems to understand that young animal companions don't do anything in combat when uncommanded besides run out of dangerous terrain (which the rules for Minions say all minions should do), and the general consensus is that if you want your animal companion to do anything more complicated than follow you around/carry you in exploration or downtime you need to be actively commanding it.
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At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with.This is not the case in my experience. Everyone seems to understand that young animal companions don't do anything in combat when uncommanded besides run out of dangerous terrain (which the rules for Minions say all minions should do), and the general consensus is that if you want your animal companion to do anything more complicated than follow you around/carry you in exploration or downtime you need to be actively commanding it.
Yep. Most GMs I know allow the animal companion to participate in Exploration activities, but when they do their master can't. It's either/or, unlike with the summoner, which can both participate simultaneously.
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with.This is not the case in my experience. Everyone seems to understand that young animal companions don't do anything in combat when uncommanded besides run out of dangerous terrain (which the rules for Minions say all minions should do), and the general consensus is that if you want your animal companion to do anything more complicated than follow you around/carry you in exploration or downtime you need to be actively commanding it.
Hasn't been my experience, and several times here on the forums it's come up how people want them to do things that normal animals and pets might do that aren't supported by the rules. Mechanically, they can survive on their own but for you as a player to benefit from them you need to use actions to do so. That's the important thing, you have to spend actions to get a benefit from them as a class resource, and not just in combat, your beloved companion isn't going to stand over your unconscious body to defend you even though that feels right.
The big issue with them is they are designed tightly so that you don't get free benefits from them. That leaves them feeling less like their own creature and more like a pawn you control. When you don't have control the GM does, and that leaves a lot of room for differences in experience. I've been in groups where your AC just leaves the story when you can't control them for a while, and I've been in groups that will send an AC on a multiple hour long command.
At the most basic level, most people likely give AC's far more autonomy then the rules give them. They are not their own living beings, they are a low impact resource that you need to spend actions on to do anything with. This includes exploration activities. They also don't scale very well after level 14, with STR based ones being much worse.
Yes, this is a fact, companions, in addition to consuming 4 mandatory talents to improve their chassis, which is quite punishing in itself, end up with a chassis considerably weaker than that of an Eidolon that uses the chassis of a martial.
In terms of attacks:
The eidolon, in turn, initially causes a little more damage and hits more (1d8+4 and the same proficiency).
While the eidolon receives the item bonuses of its weapon, it gains +1 to hit at level 2, and an extra damage die because of the Striking rune. This basically keeps it with +1 to hit over the companion.
While the eidolon at level 5 becomes a specialist in unarmed attacks, gaining +3 to hit over the companion until level 8, when they return to +1 to hit compared to the companion, they also gain +2 damage because of their Weapon Specialization, and at level 8 they can benefit from +1d6 from an elemental damage rune, dealing considerably more damage than the companion.
While the eidolon at level 10 increases the item bonus to +2, and can add another property rune, gaining +1d6 damage and increasing the attack attribute by +1. At level 12, the eidolon gains the Greater Striking rune, increasing the base damage by one more die. At level 13, the eidolon gains Unarmed Mastery, increasing the proficiency bonus by +2, which also increases the damage of Weapon Specialization to +3. In total, at level 14, it is dealing 3d8 + 5 (strength) +3 (Weapon Specialization) + 2d6 from the property runes, which is significantly more than the companion.
While the eidolon increases the Weapon Specialization bonus to Greater Weapon Specialization at level 15, doubling the bonus to +6. In addition, at level 16, it increases the item bonus to +3 and takes another property rune. Now totaling 3d8 + 5 (strength) +6 (Greater Weapon Specialization) + 3d6 from the property runes.
While the Eidolon gains his Apex increasing the hit and damage attribute by +1. Now totaling 3d8 + 6 (strength) +6 (Greater Weapon Specialization) + 3d6 from the property runes.
At the end of the levels, calculating everything, the Eidolon is on average 2x stronger.
A very similar situation happens with AC. It starts out very low because of the cost of the companion's armor and the high strength requirement. And at the end of the day, when the dexterity bonus is higher than it, you have to throw it away.
Making proficiency without level to make it easier:
Compared to this, the Eidolon follows the basic AC progression of a martial, including runes:
* You can increase all these ACs by +1 with the Drakeheart Mutagen, but then it depends on the MC or an alchemist friend.
Which in the end is interesting because the companion's AC can keep up with the martial ones, but if your companion is Savage, then forget about the AC because it locks at 19+lvl at level 4 and never increases again.
And finally, the HP, which is complicated to compare because the eidolon shares its HP with the summoner.
But basically the companion is 6 + (6 + con) x lvl, with the companion's con being 2 at level 1, 3 at level 4, and 4 at level 8. Totaling 206 at level 20.
While the summoner starts with something around 8 + (10 + con) x lvl, considering that the summoner starts with 1 con (because he needs to invest in charisma and dexterity), but since it is not uncommon for the player to compensate by choosing an ancestry that allows for bonuses in dex+con+cha, we will increase this to 2 con. Considering that con will increase to 3 at level 5, 4 at level 10, and 5 at level 20. In total, the summoner will have 308, which can go up to 328 if the summoner also gets Toughness. In other words, despite being shared, in the end it is still 50% more HP.
In the end, the eidolon ends up having a much stronger offensive power than the companion and this without costing you an absurd 6 feats!
Honestly, if you are a caster and want to have a "companion" then you should seriously consider playing as a summoner. Because you will probably regret spending so many feats on a companion and receiving so little.
But if you want to play as a martial then the situation may be different. I would honestly recommend that you consider playing as an inventor because his companion receives many more benefits and is a true construct, with all the immunities that a construct would normally have, and is Repaired instead of Healed, which can be a problem to "heal" him in battle, but with Quick Repair, from level 7 onwards you can heal him without spending resources in a very efficient way. Besides, if he is destroyed, you can rebuild him the next day.
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Conclusion
In the end, the eidolon ends up having a much stronger offensive power than the companion and this without costing you an absurd 6 feats!
Honestly, if you are a caster and want to have a "companion" then you should seriously consider playing as a summoner. Because you will probably regret spending so many feats on a companion and receiving so little.
But if you want to play as a martial then the situation may be different. I would honestly recommend that you consider playing as an inventor because his companion receives many more benefits and is a true construct, with all the immunities that a construct would normally have, and is Repaired instead of Healed, which can be a problem to "heal" him in battle, but with Quick Repair, from level 7 onwards you can heal him without spending resources in a very efficient way. Besides, if he is destroyed, you can rebuild him the next day.
Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I tend to think of the summoner as the "companion" and the Eidolon the actual character, at least as far as comparing proficiencies goes. Not sure if I ever checked point for point, but I recall the summoner's proficiencies winding up somewhere near a companion.
So basically you get a companion that can use scrolls.
In fact, this feeling comes from the fact that the summoner only has standard access to 4 spell slots and his spell CD progression is 2 levels lower, preventing him from becoming legendary, along with the fact that almost all class feats are to improve the eidolon.
But in practice it is a middle ground, especially if you note that external feats such as general and archetype feats only improves and gives abilities to the summoner and not to the eidolon, for the eidolon you already have almost all of your class feats focused on it, but it cannot take advantage of external feats with the stances of a monk for example.
The summoner is actually quite divided, you are not as good a caster as a sorcerer, but you are definitely a true caster, your eidolon is not as good as a martial, but it definitely has the full chassis of a martial and many of martial feats.
Summoner shines in the point where it has a martial dedicated to it, which is the eidolon, it will be where you think best, act in the way you want it to act and so on, and the opposite is also true, the eidolon has a caster dedicated to it, he will give the buffs and healing that the eidolon needs most, will complete its attacks and provide all kinds of magical assistance.
So much so that for many years I defended that the summoner was probably the best option for those who wanted to make a combat healer, including being one of the best ways to play with him. As the summoner is easily able to both heal the eidolon by healing himself, as well as having great flexibility to move around the battlefield healing and providing support to his allies.
In fact, many of the criticisms and complaints I saw from summoner players came precisely when they tried to dedicate themselves to just one side and forgot about the other. Only when they remembered that the idea was for the two to complement each other and started to choose feats, spells and tactics in order to explore the two acting together did they start to really like the class.
For example, one of the most curious builds I've ever seen is the grandeur champion summoner build where the summoner can use his champion reaction even on the eidolon itself, protecting it and the rest of the party while staying in a safer position, especially after you get Expand Aura at level 12.
It's a great class for creative optimizers who have good ideas for it.
The really curious contradiction of the summoner for me is that of the available caster classes, it is the one that is least useful for summoning creatures.
This is because the way summoned creatures were designed in PF2e makes them not good for fighting for you, but rather for completing that third action that you don't really know what to do with it.
For example, one of the most effective and common uses I know of for summoned creatures is to summon a dragon so that (non-summoner) casters can cast their fireballs and similar spells while your dragon helps allies flank, distracts opponents and helps complete your DPR with breath weapons and Draconic Frenzy.
But the summoner doesn't need this, his economy of actions is already complete, since his "third action" is already the eidolon whose attack with map-5 already has the same hit rate as a summoned creature. Even having feats like Master Summoner, Legendary Summoner, it is not usually worth it, except if used for incarnations.
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Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I tend to think of the summoner as the "companion" and the Eidolon the actual character, at least as far as comparing proficiencies goes. Not sure if I ever checked point for point, but I recall the summoner's proficiencies winding up somewhere near a companion.
So basically you get a companion that can use scrolls.
A companion that can cast Moment of Renewal. ;)
I view them as two halves of a whole. Playing the class optimally requires setting yourself up to get the most out of both of them. It's not really the same as with a companion, where if you don't quite get it into position this turn because you want your actions for yourself, its not that big a loss. Companions are useful, but they're very much secondary.
The Summoner by itself is a weak caster. The Eidolon by itself is a weak martial. What makes them work is that they can be both things at the same time, in a single turn.
That's what I saw out of the one in Ruby Phoenix. A turn where you Weighty Impact hit/trip the big bad while also putting out a big Heal on the Fighter is a good turn.
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"Two halves of a whole" I think is definitely the philosophy for playing a Summoner. The caster body on its own is surprisingly decent for its spell DC, but not great for spell output, and the martial body on its own is bare-bones, but together and with their superior action economy they become more than the sum of their parts. Simply being able to cast a cantrip and make a melee Strike each turn, even two sometimes, makes for decent baseline damage output, and that's without counting the utility you can produce from spell slots or Athletics maneuvers, in a game where most characters are generally good at only one or the other. The Summoner gets to have the best of both worlds, and their power specifically comes from leveraging the full ability range of a martial and caster class, adapting to the situation as needed. Often, you'll want your summoner to use Act Together on a two- or three-action activity, but sometimes you'll want your eidolon to move in and make a Furious Strike instead while your summoner Demoralizes, and that's the kind of flexibility you can't get out of an animal companion.
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I mean fey and elves aren't related in Pathfinder, but I guess yeah it could work. You could also take one of the phantom eidolons and reflavor them as your ideal self or something like that. Let's say your character is a scrawny and weak individual but the eidolon is a brawny and muscular version of you. You don't really need much guidance than that since this is mostly a flavor thing and not something mechanically, unless you want to have your character literally twinned and have to characters with exactly the same two stats and abilities.
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Play a Skeleton with a phantom eidolon that's your own ghost, your choice whether it's more motivated by anger or devotion.
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Play a Skeleton with a phantom eidolon that's your own ghost, your choice whether it's more motivated by anger or devotion.
Or play a skeleton with an undead eidolon that's a zombie, or rather what's left from your body and organs. Or any race and the eidolon is your skeleton.
The summonner doesn't really need a remaster besides a few things that still work like they used to pre-Remaster. Its not like the remastered classes are that much different from their original counterparts anyways (except for swashbuckler. That one was really bad pre-Remaster and is fantastic now).
Back to the twinned idea. I guess you are going for something like playing two twins (not literally, but I understand that's what you want other players to believe). In that case I guess the closest would be something like your original idea of fey and elves but with the existing eidolons. Angel and demon eidolon would pair well with a nephilim, beast with some of the animal-like ancestries or beastkin, construct with automaton or android, dragon with dragonblood, elemental with any of the genie-kin, plant with ghoran or leshy, psychopomp with duskwalker, and undead and the phantom eidolons with skeleton, dhampir, or any of the undead archetypes if you take one of those. Btw, I just noticed there's a Twin Eidolon feat for summoners, but its 20 level. Not like it would work in this instance since you transform into your eidolon and not backwards. I hope someday someone makes a class archetype around that feat.