Valet Familiar and aid another

Am I reading aid another wrong, or is the aid another abilities of the Valet familiar either not very useful, or very dangerous?

Aid another says:

In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent’s next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.

You can also use this standard action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell, or to assist another character’s skill check.

So how does my 0 reach familiar aid another? Does he have to enter the enemies square, which will provoke?

Not all familiars have 0 reach. But yes, in general, a tiny familiar will have to share an enemy's space to aid another.

Retraining for the Lunge feat might be useful. Alternately, enlarge person.

Evolved familiar feat to get reach.

Evolved Familiar could work.

If you intend for your Familiar to deliver Aid Another effects, consider the PC taking Evolved Familiar and the Familiar retraining its starting feat to Extra Traits. Have the Familiar take the traits Fools for Friends and Helpful (GM approval permitting). This Familiar now delivers a +4 on all successful Aid Another checks.

Share Spells isn't a viable option for Valet Familiars unfortunately; they trade that for being able to cast Open/Close and Prestidigitation at will. Any transmutation that affects the Magical Beast type of creature will modify it, but otherwise lobbing a spell on it to increase size is a bust. Alternately you could equip a Wondrous Item with the ability to change the creature's size.

Another way to get the ability to Share Spells back, weirdly, is by spending two feats and taking a 1 level dip into a class that grants an Animal Companion: First, you take the dip and get an Animal Companion so you've got Share Spells back. Second you take the 2 Teamwork feats Bonded Mind and Share Spells. Since your Valet Familiar automatically shares ALL Teamwork feats with you, the Valet is immediately eligible to qualify for both and you can now share spells again.

So a Human Druid 1/Wizard 3 for example, having retrained their starting human bonus feat to Bonded Mind and taking Share Spells at level 3 now has a Valet Familiar eligible for sharing Alter Self or other spells again. Add in Evolved Familiar as their level 1 feat and perhaps Boon Companion at level 5 and the druid/wizard can slap a bunch of boosts on their Familiar to protect it, give it some combat abilities or what not. At level 7 the thing is moving before and after combat to deliver Aid Another and at level 13 the Familiar is delivering a +4 bonus to up to 3 adjacent allies as a Full Round action.

Not too shabby.

...I read that as "Food for Friends" and thought, that's a rather wasteful use of a familiar....

...I read that as "Food for Friends" and thought, that's a rather wasteful use of a familiar....

Use the Figment archetype for that. They have about half the nutritional value of a regular Familiar, but they come back the next day.

I like that. Familiar Lite. Diet Familiar.

...Are figments vegan?

More importantly, does a Figment Pig Familiar still taste as wonderful?

(It would explain the diplomacy bonus)