I suggest getting these staves for early game:
www.exiledkingdoms.com
www.exiledkingdoms.com
www.exiledkingdoms.com
As for the skills and traits: the basics for a summoner is the Lesser Summoning II, Summoner II or III, PER 4, Earth Mastery III, which gives you the strongest summon in the game. You can also get Fire Mastery I and Ice Mastery I, which are useful early on, but replaceable with scrolls later on. These absorb elemental damage, so you can use them as tanks. Other than that, everything goes well with summoner builds, so pick whatever your imagination indicates