So I've been playing a Wizard for a little while now, he's a Shadovar Abjurer, which means he gets no Conjuration. At the time I figured that he gets that racial ability and Greater Spell Focus Illusion so he could rely on his illusionary doubles to grind, and to a degree, he could. But that starts dropping off around level 15, they just don't have the damage output, a few magic damage per hit, and 1d6 Sneak Attack with no progression based on ability or class modifier. For non-Shadovar Illusion enthusiasts, those summons only have use between levels 10-15, so I've had to look elsewhere for a reliable meatshield.
Undead are not an option because of the stigma that comes with them, neither I nor my character are interested in a philosophical debate with every other person he runs into about his choice of summon, much less risk fighting to the death over it. He's not one to draw attention to himself.
The next option was Enchantment, and my character has Greater Spell Focus in it as well, so I figured I could at least supplement with a dominated creature, which worked to a degree, but unless I can reliably disable the group for my weak summons and dominated goon, I would be wasting a whole lot of potions just keeping this creature alive as they would also occasionally get hit with some group disabling spell and I'd lose control anyways. It's doable but requires an extreme level of micromanaging and takes the fun out of it for me, I need a reliable frontline summon to survive a group that hasn't been disabled.
Golems are fun and thematic to my character, he would definitely make and maintain a golem for general tasks, as a Wizard would do, and it seemed they're even getting some attention. Alas, the golem I bought in a store was destroyed when I got swarmed by Reavers on the road, the parts that I could easily remake were there to be looted, but the most crucial piece was gone, the Control Stone.
So golems are out until the Control Stone is added to the dead golems loot, or they become craftable. So back I am to looking for a meatshield, the most reliable one available to me as it turns out is one not made of meat at all, but blood. This thing slashes, it dices, it has immunities, HP, and regen, it also takes half your HP when you cast it, but even the tier 1 can hold its own against most things you'll run into.
I don't mind this summon, but the only reason my character is using it is out of necessity, he's a squishy d4 Wizard, good luck getting tier 3 out of this thing. I even tried Mord's Sword but it's weak to anything not caster, and like the Illusion, no way to grow.
The streams add a lot of flavor but they're all tied to two schools, I'd love to see more summon options from the other schools that can manage it. More golem options and add the Control Stone to the dead golem's loot. A boost to Mord's Sword and maybe a greater and lesser version of it. The applications for Illusion summons are practically limitless with the manipulation of Shadowstuff, you can summon illusion monsters, or grannies with rolling pins.