Here's another side content addition coming in the next update to Shattered Pixel Dungeon, a few new terrain objects! Each region is getting something new for a little more visual variety: barrels in the sewers, cages in the prison, metal scaffolding in the caves, flaming pedestals in the city, and chunks of rubble in the demon halls.
These new terrain types will show up in some new standard rooms, and a few of the existing rooms already in the dungeon. Here's an image showing one example, with some very much unfinished barrel visuals.
(Image Description: screenshot showing the sewer region. In the top-right of the room there is a row of storage barrels. The barrels are using placeholder visuals, they are notably lower detail than the other dungeon elements.)
Summon elemental exists because people complained that there wasn't an alt use for elemental embers, I don't think it would make sense to make the spell generic in terms of recipe. At the moment the spell does serve a nice niche by giving you a big power boost in the earlier stages, but I would like to adjust it to be a bit more useful later on.
Glad to hear it, I'm looking forward to summon elemental buffs! At the moment it severely harms the player as you sacrifice upgraded wand + potions + energy for it. The free upgraded wand alone gives a much larger power boost. We could have a unique use for embers (like rotberry throw), as well as a reliable summon option in alchemy table. I think having allies in SHPD makes the game sooo much more interesting, but they're often too weak and unavailable in runs, which is why I was hoping summon elemental becomes an item you can craft in every run via arcane stylus.