I know can say just "don't use them" and don't be a scrub that way but they are there and gave some interesting effects. Plus I do believe using figurines to delay aggro is not in itself a bad exploit strat or more say the use of a scroll to cc groups is also good, but right now you don't have to fight if your party just all uses summons from figurines and there are damage arcana scrolls that still clear whole encounters or at least 1/2 health with one scroll. And alchemy is known to scale too well with poison attacks. 

 

I would say decrease durations of summons from figurines by 75% and decrease scroll spell damage by 50%. that way proper classes can be built which rely on their abilities to clear the game and not items. 

Probably summons are (mostly) there for solo runs.

 

I don't know what it's like with level scaling on yet, but without it, if you're a thorough player and do a lot of sidequests, starting from a certain point you'll be overleveled in most encounters, and the game gets really easy without even relying much on abilities in general, let alone summons.

 

Which is a shame, cause summoning should be super fun and you should be able to use it regularly without feeling like you're cheesing the game.

arcana is insane in particular

 

once you get to 15 arcana and can craft greater maelstrom scrolls (cheap, everything can be bought at store) the game is done pretty much. Nothing stands a chance. Maelstrom wipes the whole screen.

I prefer not to use figurines, except when I end up in a battle with three red skulls enemies.

 

I've been surprised by stronger enemies even in quests that have no skulls, so I always keep some figurines ready.