Are Shifter familiars meant to be falling through the world in public areas?

[TekkenDevil]

They just keep plumetting through the ground into video game heck.
Do they even give their CHA to hit and damage bonuses if they're not close to you? The wording on the enhancements is convoluted. Does it being active on the hotbar mean the familiar is by my side or do they physically have to be next to me?

I'm also very disappointed you can't have both the Shifter and Falconer familiars active at once. I wanted to make a druid who surrounds herself with critters but guess not.

[rabidfox]

Those aren't Shifter familiars; they're Feydark Illusionist familiars from the new universal tree. And them falling through terrain has been bug reported so hopefully we'll see a fix in the next patch or two.

Do they even give their CHA to hit and damage bonuses if they're not close to you? The wording on the enhancements is convoluted. Does it being active on the hotbar mean the familiar is by my side or do they physically have to be next to me.

The CHA to hit/damage, perma-shield effect, etc. all work fine once they're toggled on regardless of where the pet actually is.

[TekkenDevil]

Thanks for the clarification!
If vicinity is not a factor, then them falling through the ground isn't so bad.