Everything used to make summoning potions is renewable, Sometimes I'll even make enough summoning potions for perpetual summoning buff.
True, but I said the Bewitching Table didn't need to be replenished, not that the Summoning Potion wasn't renewable. You could feasibly have enough for a perpetual summoning buff, but my playthroughs generally last 100 hours, so 8 minutes for each Summoning Potion isn't going to make grinding those out fun.
Terraria isn't the sort of game where you can 'count your shots' damage is heavily randomised even without crit, and you will be hitting bosses 100s of times. The main flaw of crits is that they don't effect summons and every build is going to have at least 3 of those.
You don't have to count your shots, the the fact that a crit may not happen at all while base damage is guaranteed (and universal) makes the latter a more significant mechanic. Not every build is going to have at least 3 summons, some builds might not use summons at all, I use two at most if I feel like whipping about a Bewitching Table before a boss fight. And even then they may not even be worth it due to not having a dedicated Summoner build.
Melee speed is only an offensive boost to swords and spear, it doesn't increase the fire rate of projectiles with the exception of true excalibur and terrablade, which are post mech... you'll have a mech glove by then.
Melee Speed increases velocity of projectiles by the percentage bonus it provides. With seven accessory slots, a Melee build is better off stacking a Fire Gauntlet, Mechanical Glove and Berserker Glove for the wide array of bonuses than a Putrid Scent. If you don't want to use the Berserker Glove for whatever reason then a Warrior Emblem is better than the Putrid Scent.
Stuff like the shadowflame knives, drippler crippler nd flying kife don't get any dps out of the melee speed bonus.
The Shadowflame Knives had noticeably more speed and range when I used them with more melee speed, and the Drippler Crippler can swing faster as well. Might not be as noticeable as with other more traditional Melee weapons, but it is apparent.
8 defense is pretty weak as I already mentioned, its better than not having it at least.
It's weak if you don't invest in it. Every defense bonus is weak individually, you get the most by combining them, through items like the Worm Scarf, Beetle Armour, Warding or finding accessories with high Defense.
All the good melee weapons at this stage have autoswing.
Some don't, like the Ice Sickle. Even later on serviceable melee weapons like the North Pole don't have it. It's even useful for Yoyo's so you don't have to reclick, as well as Whips.
10% weapons size is a joke, non projectile swords are terrible weapons, and you can't even stack the size increase.
Size affects projectile swords too, in which case it gives you somewhat more range and and protection in-between projectiles, or to keep away mobs.
Even if you're melee only I'd say 5% damage and crit is better than 8 defense and 12% melee speed, see what I've said about those stats above.
I wouldn't say that, especially considering the stats above are still decidedly relevant on their own and combined with other accessories, considering the Emblems do what the Putrid Scent does anyway, while nothing providing not as much of an array of bonuses.
Bonuses to minions and support magic weapons a fairly minor on thier own but its enough for it to be competitive with the warrior and ranger emblem.
Where are these bonuses coming from? If you're playing Ranger then yes, you may as well go for the Putrid Scent, but it doesn't provide any niche bonus to Melee, certainly not enough to justify hybridising and switching to different weapons mid-fight.
Summoner's who want to use whips are the only ones that will be using the berzerk gloves, autoswing is very useful for if you want to use whips as your main weapon, but If I don't have a spare power glove I'm not making the berzerker glove in case I want to do melee later.
Melee can use the Berserker Gloves, considering their early availability and wide variety of bonuses to all things Melee. As far as resources are concerned, you don't need to save them for spare Power Gloves or Mech Gloves or anything because everything used to craft them can be permanently attained again with more time investment.
Also there's the fact that Impure summoner builds are viable and often better than pure summoners, those builds get very little out of the berzerk gloves.
Technically any Class that decides to use a Summon weapon could qualify as an impure summoner, so if said class is Ranged-Summoner or Mage-Summoner then yes, they get very little out of them. However, if they're Melee-Summoner then they're actually doubling up since the Berserker Gloves provide bonuses to both classes at all stages. Both the Putrid Scent and the Berserker Glove eventually start to get outclassed by later accessories, but I've kept the Berserker Glove for longer in my playthroughs than the Putrid Scent, if I even found a spot for it when it was initially available.