I devote one Third of my AP in the First Round yes and since the KI is stupid as hell my Summond doesnt even die + use the right Summon and Heal it with your Spells easy. Fire Elemental -> use Fire Spells. And all Enemies gather around that Elemental ( Sometimes Ranged ones too ) -> perfect for Aoe. And if you dont have AP in fight summon it before you start fighting them.
Also Poison + Fire = explosion Steam = Water + Fire and its useless because it does not deal any Damage.
Also who is talking about Double Mages? I clearly said all the time im playing Mage + Warrior with double Lone Wolf and thats where it comes in handy that Summons eat all CCs.
I disregard special circumstances. I am talking in general since a game of such complexity cannot be balanced 100% perfectly for every type of gameplay, never has, never has been. There has yet to be provided an argument for melees being terrible aka useless.