Does 5E have a class that is especially good for summoning?
I have never played PnP and I am completely new to 5E.
It was not in the computer game, but I read a bit about the summoner class in pathfinder.
The idea to craft your own companion sounds great.
I will not play PnP anytime soon and I have no idea if it is powerful, but it would be nice to have a pet similar to a Marilith: A snake with arms holding several weapons. It has wings and can constrict enemies.
Eidolons are fantastic, indeed. I love quadruped Eidolons or biped/tauric ones in high-magic campaigns with powerful weapons you´re not going to use.
The only class remotely akin to the PF summoner that I know of it is the Battlesmith Artificer. You build your own companion from scratch and he serves and accompanies you. Sadly it´s from the Eberron book so even tho it´s an official class of WOTC its presence in BG3 is not confirmed.
Besides the spell "Find familiar"(familiars are never meant to fight, they give support), there´s also the Beastmaster ranger. It gives you an animal companion, but this subclass needs some serious overhauling because it´s very subpar, even for ranger standards.
Druids and bards could use the "Awaken" spell to animate a brush, tree, another plant or small animal and give themselves a faithful intelligent companion for a month (You need 9 levels of druid) After the month passes the creature is not bounded to your service anymore and they could choose to stay with you voluntarily or not.
There are the "Animate objects" or "Tiny servant" spells too, but they do not last for long. There are more spells above level 10.
Does 5E have a class that is especially good for summoning?
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Druids and necromancer/conjurer wizards are the best summoners in the game by far; IMHO.
Depending on what do you want to summon and why you might want one or the other.
