You have listened too much to Maya 
I recently made SSF cheap pet build (WIP) [1.1.9.0] SSF Budget Bleed & Chaos Pet Conjurer (SR 65-66) and it was a blast! The pets VERY seldom died, not even against the act bosses in ultimate. I lost one birb to Gargabol. The hardest thing in main campaign was Morgoneth. It was a very easy to make and play build!
I think i prefer a more proactive style of play and that’s the reason why i’m interested in hybrid builds where i can fight alongside my pets and not just be a heal/debuff bot.
You should perhaps look up pseudo pet builds, like those that uses blade spirit and/or guardians of empyrion then