ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Does the target of a summon skill (e.g. Summoner's Ritch) have any effect besides placement?

More explicitly: When I target an enemy beyond the cast-range it will summon the unit at the max range possible in the path (not fail like other range-based skills). Does the target matter at all in this case? For instance: preferentially targetting that enemy (if ranged) or moving to engage that enemy (if melee).

I'm uncertain about this. I would need to test it in game.
For NPCs using summon talents, their target is passed on to the summoned creature.
When a player uses a summon talent, it looks like the target is wiped by the game checking what your ai target is, but a player doesn't have one.