SMN is the current underdog. While it is possible to pull off respectable DPS, against others of equal skill you will fall a little short. Some would have you believe SMN has decent utility, but I would argue the opposite. SMN pets have no other Party utility other then being a damage soak for certain abilities, two of them do have stun, but its a dps loss and a interrupt at best. The Summoner itself has access to Super Virus, E4E, and In-Combat Resurrection. All mage classes have access to E4E, so besides having a shorter cooldown, isn't all to special. The Super Virus additionally reduces INT/MND, but the current endgame won't have you needing to use this all to often, and when it is needed, SCH has it readily available. You will be hard pressed to find endgame groups that do not run with a SCH. Lastly the In-Combat Resurrection, while it certainly isn't bad it isn't very noteworthy, as deaths are unforgiving in most of the endgame.