Pls explain how early summoning spells are useful

[NTJedi]

Aleph said:
The Eater of the Dead starts out under your control, but, as you might guess from the name, he eats dead. This makes him stronger. After some amount of this (I have no idea what the corpse count has to be), he becomes an independent terror, running around attacking provinces at random. I think the main strat for him is to Gift of Reason him (IIRC he starts as a rank and file), load him up with nasties, and push straight into enemy territory. That way, when he goes bonkers, his rampages will still work out in your favor.

For 50 astral gems this creature has toooo many weaknesses to be considered worthwhile. Astral gems are more wisely spent on other summoning spells such as golem construction, juggernaut or ethergate.

[Aleph]

Just to be clear - I wasn't advocating the Eater, just saying what he's for.

I think my favorite overkill late game use for astral gems (besides wishing for SC chasses and blood slaves) is something I saw in the Alexander's Tome. Golem + 3 astral boost items + Cloak of Shadows + Luck shield/faithful + Ritual of Return, tucked in a corner of the battlefield, scripted with Astral Tempest, Doom, and Astral Geyserx3 and loaded with 10 pearls, and teleported at a large enemy stack. Get 2 golems, switch the gear back and forth between them, one casts teleport every round while the other casts ritual of return. It's fairly effective at whittling away large armies of regular troops and slapping afflictions/horror marks/curses on tougher ones, and also has the silly fun aspect which eater of the dead has without the inevitable loss.