Sorry for excavating this thread, but I just had to say the obvious that it's all about party composition. I'm currently doing a playthrough with pure Stormspeaker Tekehu dual-wielding in melee (obviously off the tank which is Eder) specced for speed. I don't need a druid in the backline because I have Aloth there taking care of CC and quite importantly Combusting Wounds... which will synergize nicely with Tekehu (and with my main who dual-wields blunderbuss).
Chanters are THE best buffers who can oporate from the frontline, because their phrases are passive, most invocations are near-instant, and they cover many more situations than paladins. Summons just aren't needed for this philosophy, they are good for other builds.
By the way Aloth is going to put the Watershaper's Focus to good use once he gets Freezing Pillar.