arcane surge and srs

I realize arcane surge is not a great minions support gem, but playing ruthless and so far the only one I've found capable of supporting minions in any meaningful way -- I've got it linked to summon skellies and SRS. I can see that I gain the arcane surge buff as expected, that's fine. But can I assume that the SRS will not do more damage because -- although technically a spell -- their damage does not scale off of spell damage?

They don't scale with spell dmg.

You'll find something eventually. Speed clearing lower areas can help for finding supports if you get stuck. Haven't played any ruthless settlers, but sending ore to one of the ports in normal settlers give support gems, that might be worth a try. Bismuth to Ngakanu. Might not be as efficient, but I heard shipping was relatively decent in Ruthless. Looks like you've managed to find some decent gear.