If you wanted to make a secondary melee class, this could be an interesting way to go about it. You can build a pretty tough Eidolon that does some nice damage. Focus on buffing it and keeping it healed and you're like a melee mage.
If your Eidlolon goes down, you can summon some creatures to continue fighting. Toss in Augment Summoning and even your summons are pretty tough.
I'm playing in a game at level 3 with a Summoner right now, and this seems correct, at least for now. The Eidolon basically IS the PC, and he does ok grapling things and tanking. The actual summoner has yet to do anything in combat other than summon more stuff or buff/heal the eidolon. Could just be player's choice in how to do things, or the optimal playstyle, not sure.
This class is also a slow build class. It doesn't look very great at low levels. It isn't comparable to other secondary melee classes like the monk or rogue in damage or the bard or summoner in utility.
But once you start getting some levels, this class can do some nice things. You do eventually get Righteous Might and Divine Power. If you have a strength-based build with those spells on and maybe a rage and the Destruction Domain with the Destruction/Justice judgments up and Bane going, you can do some damage. But that's at a minimum 13th level to get that combo going. Prior to that you're definitely going to lag behind the other classes in damage.
But you do offer some unique utility. You will be able to figure out quite a few monster weaknesses. You have some decent backup spells that might help during battle like Remove Fear and Remove Paralysis. It's real hard to fool you or lie to you with all Detect Alignments and Discern lies.
This class is conceptually cool. But seems a bit lacking compared to other classes that may fit the same role until you get to 12th or 13th level. Which not too many groups get to. It's hard to recommend the class if you like seeing more bang for your buck at lower level or rarely get past 8th to 10th level.
It does have some unique abilities, like being a pokedex (monster lore) and stealth (without any mechanic to make it very useful for the class other than actual recon, which in D&D too often tends to get the scout killed...), but those are minor party roles. You say it can be ok as a melee class, I think there's at least half a dozen classes better at it than that, including druid and cleric, if you want casting.
I will say, I did like the
concept of an archer Inquisitor with the
Caves (Earth) subdoman. The pit spels, already hilarious and effective, are a step nicer when you have a good ranged attack to pelt people trapped in it with. More importantly, the granted power is amazing if you go in a lot of dungeon environments (should be a lot of groups...). (Better) Darkvision! Spider Climb (if only it was like the slippers so you could shoot the bow while on walls/ceiling
)! Stealth bonuses, and
add your wisdom to Initiative twice! On top of Dex!
Cool uses for a sniper archer, though in a similar vein to what you said, the magic doesn't even come until 8th level.
2. Two-hander Fighter: This is the premier damage dealer in the game. This build hammers harder than any other build all the time. No special circumstances needed. Just rush forward and hammer with your big two-handed weapon.
It hits the hardest, but I like Mobile Fighter better. Since they still get Weapon Training 2-4 (so an eventual +3 with one weapon) AND Leaping Attack for a basically constant +1-5, it adds up late game. And Mobile Fighter's just cool with all the move and attack options.
I'd really love to make a Mobile Fighter with a reach weapon and Whirlwind Attack, depending on how the DM interprets WWA as working with the level 11 Rapid Attack.
3. Zen Archer Monk: Not as much damage as an Archer fighter all the time. But still a very capable archer with some nice abilities. And can spike damage high enough to come close to fighter archer.
Just finished playing one from levels 3-8, alongside an archer ranger (it was like an 8 person party, lots of overlap). My Zen Archer held up well, was just as good at attacking and did slightly better damage. I could get off more shots per round with ki points and by level 8 i just plain had more attacks. He was horribly feat starved, I actually only spent my level 3 feat on something arhcery-related (Deadly Aim), the rest there was nothing very good beyond what the massive amounts of bonus feats covered so I ended up with Dodge, Deflect Arrows, and Spider Step (for coolness). I think 3-10 if the Zen archer's definite sweet spot. Level 1 is godawful, and also SHAME on Paizo for not changing the Zen Archer monk's starting gold. When you focus on BOWS, you need a tad bit more cash than the regular unarmed monk. Past level 10, the bonus feat options just aren't very good and you stop getting particularly good class features. Really, past level 6, I'd gladly trade every single Zen Archer variant class feature for the normal stuff, even things that don't at all benefit archery. Level 17 might be a sudden jump in power since you can then Stunning Fist, Touch of Serenity, etc... from your bow. But by then you're probably too far behind the Fighter and casters for it to matter. I think in the long run, the Ranger's spellcasting, extra actions (animal companion), and earlier feat qualification (having real full BAB instead of pretend ful BAB is nice) would have pulled him decisively ahead of me.
In conclusion: Nice class for the middle levels to not worry about feats, would NOT recommend for a higher level game.
Rogue is still incredibly lacking compared to other classes. Still the easiest to kill or neutralize with low fort and will save. Still lacks abilities as interesting or potent as other classes save for sneak attack. Doesn't hit as often as melees, doesn't offer the utility of secondary melee classes.
Yeah...I think Rogues got worse in PF, sadly. I started the game with the Zen Archer at levels 1-2 with a Thug Rogue but had ot dump him because he just wasn't good at anything. Even with TWF the Fighter easily outdamaged him (and he sure did hit more often!). I tried to do a Intimiadte focus for flavor and to help the casters, but got disappointed when I realized the sorcerer and bard, through sheer charisma score, could trounce me at it. Thanks to PF's skill system, non-class skills aren't particularly punitive or pricy to get ranks in, so my many class skills mostly just meant I had a lot of one point wonders. It was a large party, granted, but i don't think there was a single skill I could have focused on and been significantly better at it than anyone else. Meanwhile, squishy AC and the worst saves in the game don't help.
I'm thinking of houseruling some sort of Skill Superiority class feature, similar to Fighter's Weapon Training for Rogues. Something like +1 per 3 Rogue levels, and it applies to one skill selected at each 3rd level (so at level 6, you could have +2 stealth and acrobatics, for example). Just...something to help. Nevermind other things they need, like "you can sneak attack against all but total concealment."
And doesn't have very cool paths in the Advanced Player's Guide. Maybe someday someone will make an interesting rogue that people in my group want to play.
I sort of like the Rake and Thug paths, though they're slim in what they change.
