3. Link Focus / Link Wellspring
As of the remaster, recharging Focus Spell points is very simple to do, and these feats are out of date. They should probably just increase your Focus cap to 4, or let you recharge in combat for a free action. Anything to modernize them!
The designers probably will simply remove the wellspring as like they did with other classes.
4. Eidolon Items
There an entire section in the Eidolon rules about how Eidolon can equip items with the Eidolon tag... but there's only TWO items with that tag! There should really be a slew of these items added to Pathfinder in the future. Maybe items that let Eidolons access Fighter-like maneuvers, martial feats like Whirling Throw, or more things like the Stampede Medallion that give them a daily single-use spell. Anything really! It's unexplored territory!
As I pointed in the last companion about topic, the designers made the eidolons already, considering that they are in their max. They restrict most item's interaction to not pass this limit and to not require extra costs for characters that plays with more than one creature.
It's unlikely that they add too many items to eidolons, specially those who increases their power, no mater if it is vertical or horizontal.
5. Evolution Surge
This one's a bit spicy, but I think Evolution Surge should be 1 action, not 2. The ability is akin to a Monk or Fighter Stance, granting your Eidolon a bonus for 1 minute but it costs so many actions that it's hard to justify using. Many of the options are super weak, like the Imprecise sense or Amphibious options. Giving up casting a buff or a powerful AoE spell just to give your little buddy gills is a big ask for little reward. And the more powerful options like the enlarge+mount evolution effect are kind of a joke compared to similar abilities from other classes. Like Kaiju stance which (for a single action) enlarges a monk, gives them a big big damage boost, and reach VS the eidolon which is using two whole actions to get reach. The Enlarge spell is a better use of your resources especially at later levels.
The enlarge+mount evolution option is cute but hard to do anything with. It'd feel better to be able to 1 action Enlarge Eidolon, 1 action mount + 2 action act together, VS the current pattern of: 1 action enlarge, 1 action to mount, and then you have 1 awkward action left which isn't enough to run in and hit something. Even choosing not to mount still leaves you with an awkward amount of actions (not enough to cast a spell) and is a big momentum loss if you chose to do this over just buffing the Eidolon with a 2 action buff spell (Heroism, Envenom Companion, Haste, or even the normal Enlarge spell which provides a dpr boost and can hit all your allies when heightened, etc)
I would be happy keeping it at 2 actions if the options were a little stronger, like providing AC, Save, damage boosts, or gave the Eidolon a free Boost Eidolon packaged in for 1 turn. But it doesn't feel quite right as it is.
Evolution Surge is a focus spell inspired from ranger's Animal Feature but stronger.
These spells are very powerful because they are made to deal with a many different circumstantial situations with a single focus spell. Instead of the every one as a passive, usually using feats, this spell allows dealing with every different one with just a single focus spell and 2-actions. You are underestimating looking only just specific options and comparing with stances that deals with single buffs.
This spell is useful in many situations:
When heightened (3rd) gives the option to:
When heightened (5th) gives the option to:
So this is a super strong multi-use spell to deal with many situations just using a focus point and 2-actions. This even way stronger than Animal Feature that really becomes useful at rank 4. I don't see any reason to power up a so strong and versatile focus spell that saves to take a lot of feats and spells. Just because you think it is difficulties, your set of actions with a class that already have more actions than others by default.
Compare it with a focus spell that you get for free at level 1 with a level 8 stance feat with polymorph trait is beyond from unfair.
What are the thoughts on tweaking Meld Into Eidolon?
Firstly, there's the QoL changes to make it more flexible, such as clearly stating you can use this alt Manifest Meld activity when the Eidlon is already active, or perhaps even giving that "already summoned" case an alternative lower action cost.
The next set of possible changes are around the wild disadvantage of the SMN being completely unable to act.
First "step up" would be allowing mental activity, such as what one can do while Paralyzed.
(and yeah, it's crazy that right now, Meld is a worse disable than the paralyze condition)
Second tweak would be to allow the SMN to act w/ the Eidolon's body. This matters for skill actions, etc. This is also where it would be possible to turn spellcasting back on.
Third would be a change to the rules around gear & ongoing affect absorption.
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Note that some or all of these could be done via a new feat chain.
Especially the gear one. The notion of one's robes and gear smoothly integrating into equipment for the Eidolon makes for a rather compelling visual.
It's lucky that the deletion of those focus point feats leaves some room.
It's also already a little jank that you can give your Eidolon spellcasting, which uses the SMN stats. So this bypasses Meld turning off SMN spellcasting, enabling one to still have an SMN--Eidolon fusion throwing electric arc and striking, pretending to be a proper union instead of a passive cargo-carry.
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IMO, it makes the most sense for Meld to have the downsides of no more Act Together nor Tandem actions, and the usual gear-absorption complications.
I really think the outright "cannot act" is just a bridge much to far, and leaves the RP / fantasy of that fusion completely unfulfilled as the SMN is nothing but a passenger.
Letting SMN be a class that could keep using their staff/scrolls via a 2nd Meld "Integrate Matter" feat would imo be a great addition, especially with how intuitive and mechanically costly it is to still be sacrificing SMN's main gimmick of Act Together & Tandem actions.
A 3rd near-capstone feat in the chain could even turn Act Together back on with an asterisk, allowing for the PC to do things like have the Eidolon use the shared body to Strike while the SMN does a RK on the foe, both as the first shared action that doesn't result in body-control issues.
This feat would probably need to allow both the mental-only stuff like RK, and allow for the pair to something like each do a 1H action at the same time, such as Strike + Draw, else it'll not be worth the higher level feat slot.
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I second YuriP, Evolution Surge is excellent, definitely an asset of the Summoner. I've used it a lot and it's super handy.
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I would really love a tweaked Meld into Eidolon or a class archetype that focuses on making it worthwhile like the old PF1e synthesist. I feel the possible character concepts this allows are really interesting and arguably more fun than the base pet-based summoner.
I feel the innate restrictions eidolons have, plus the loss of the few benefits of being two characters brings to the table like Share Senses, tandem actions, and likely Act Together which would need to be tweaked, are already more than enough to compensate an archetype of feat line to make this viable and not OP.