Yeah I never use Summoner anymore. Except for things like:
- When I'm in open world and need my own personal tank to pop up and summon Titan-egi. Hell I'm practically my own Light Party between me, my pet, and my Chocobo
- When I'm in PVP and want to direct attacks against two distinct targets at the same time using Garuda-egi as my remote machine turret and OSK'er off a cliff (I swear I can hear her laugh when she does this)
- When I'm doing new 4-man content (like the just-released dungeons) with a party that wants to work out solutions ourselves and I don't want the healer to shoulder the sole burden of having no one in the party to res them if they get OSK'd
- Killing mobs with relatively enmity generation by spreading 3 DOT's that can be charged up with Raging Strikes and Foe Requiem, extended with a pet CD, and spreading to 3 nearby enemies with Bane which doesn't break binds and doesn't wake from sleep. SMN and BLM synergize nicely. You can DOT and they can sleep; can bind and they can Flare.
- Having my own entourage trail me around wherever I go... some people only have a minion willing to follow them, and that's just sad.