Siphon was added because there was no reason at all to get the elemental pacts. They still suck to this day, and are only ever used for siphon. If we had these we would once again never use spirits.
This comment is proof that ppl don't know what they talk about. The spirits can be very useful if you build correctly for them. I have out-damaged my avatars several times with my spirits by changing my gear around to compliment them. The problem isn't that the spirits suck, the problem is ppl don't utilize them to their fullest potential. The spirits are situational summons. If ppl want to play their jobs mediocre, that's on them. Just makes them look bad when someone who knows how their jobs work joins the group.