Actually, the FAQ doesn't answer HOW it works, even if you assume it's supposed to somehow work. (given the FAQ mentions Shaman)
(the similar yet distinct issue of no-choice single-familiar type options e.g Domains is not even clear if it "should" work)
What it boils down to is the only thing Improved Familiar Feat does is expand your options when choosing a new Familiar.
If your variant Familiar ability doesn't let you change your original choice (Shaman),
or doesn't have choice mechanism in the first place (Domains, others), expansion of potential options is irrelevant.
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a new familiar
Benefit: When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed below are also available to you.
The Pre-Req itself may not be fulfilled by Shaman/Domains depending how you read it (new familiar = new type of familiar). The Benefit is clear how the Feat "kicks in" when utilizing the "choice mechanic" of Familiar ability, which neither Shaman/Domain(etc) provide.
When I asked Mark Seifter about the issue, he seemingly acknowledged the issue but basically was like "ask for a FAQ".
I'll re-quote the crux of it from other thread:
Was it ever clarified how Improved Familiar interacted with the Shaman's "you can never change your familiar type" rule?
Because RAW, while they qualify for the Feat it doesn't do them much good, i.e. "Once selected, the spirit animal cannot be changed." isn't changed by the Feat. (Only clear-cut case that works is multi-classing where you gain Familiar & Improved Familiar before becoming a Shaman (or simultaneous re: Feat) and you thus designate your Spirit Animal to be Improved Familiar from the get go... which you would then be unable to change type if it dies AFAIK)
(Similar is single-Familiar-type options like Domains "gain a hawk familiar" which never allow a choice mechanic in first place upon which Improved Familiar can expand... even if one assumes Improved Familiar implicitly grants a choice mechanic here, would they still be unable to choose different type of 'base' Familiar animals?)
And even if you want to assume "it's supposed to work, therefore it does", that doesn't tell you HOW it works. Do you get a 1-off chance to change your Spirit Animal to anything off what Feat allows? Are you allowed to choose new Familiars freely, but ones that aren't your original Spirit Animal choice won't get the Spirit Animal ability? Lots of possibilities there.
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The FAQ was specifically changed between a forum post and final faq edit to include the shaman.
So I see an a faq that says a shaman can take an improved familiar. This derived from a follow up question after they announced the arcane caster ruling asking if a shaman could take one. So the intent of the FAQ was that they can take an improved familair. If the FAQ is paizo intended rule then in at least one instance a specific familiar is able to change into an improved familair. It would follow that other specific familiars can be changed to. They also list a very specific set of exceptions that can't benifit from the feat.
Next, every example can get a new familiar if theirs dies, just not a new type, thus they still meet the requirement.
The alternate situation is, they used shamans as and example during a process of revising the FAQ so the shaman could take the feat and have it do nothing.
I agree that the wording is imperfect but given the process in which it was written and the specificity of the exceptions I will, until there is an additional faq, follow the logic in scenario one.
When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed here are also available to you.
So even if you were limited to one kind of familiar, "the creatures listed here are also available to you."
The witch does currently have an issue with losing any learned spells when switching familiars though.
@Grandlounge: You seem to be under the impression I am questioning whether we should interpret the FAQ as allowing Shaman's to use the Feat or not. I'm not. That's why in the first sentence I explicitly brought up the fact that the FAQ explicitly uses Shamans as primary "example" of "working" (sadly, without details of implementation). The issue is not the general intention (re: Shamans), but HOW it's applied, which rule interactions are altered and which aren't. "Being able to use the Feat" doesn't necessarily equate to "functioning like vanilla Familiar ability + Feat", and there is multiple permutations that are possible.
Do you want to say "Now they just work like normal Familiar class with Improved Familiar"? That's one option.
Or you could say "OK the Feat works for them, so they can make a one-time choice from new list, but no changes later."
Or no NEW changes, but you can switch back and forth between original choice & Improved Familiar choice.
Does taking the Feat allow choosing a new 'base' familiar type? Questions, Questions.
Likewise re: no-choice variant Familiars e.g. Domains, ARE they able at all to utilize the Feat, like Shamans?
Who knows, as they never were intended to have any choice EVER, so have less inherent entitlement.
Perhaps Paizo will rule they can, but there are also questions there, re: access to other base types (and Planar upgrades of).
(if ruling is "now it works like vanilla Familiar ability + Feat, then you can access those, but Feat doesn't tell us that)
If the issue was cut and dry, no need for more implementation information,
I would assume Mr. Seifter would have told me as much rather than encourage me to petition for a FAQ.
@Melkiador: Note the beginning of the sentence "When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed here are also available to you.". Somebody with Eagle Domain never chooses a Familiar.
Think of it like new expanded Ranger Weapon Styles via Feat. If you have Archetype that explicitly grants you Archery Weapon Style, how would that "expanded options" Feat affect you? It wouldn't. This would not be the first case of a Feat you can technically qualify for but don't functionally benefit from. Although re: Shaman since they used it as example, I default to believing it does functionally work, even if HOW isn't clear.
Even eagle domain chooses a familiar. They could choose from among an endless number of eagles when picking their new familiar. And then improved familiar adds additional choices to that list.
Like I wrote, *even if you assume that it works* (I'm agnostic), there are questions on the implementation, if only stemming from open issue of how Shaman compatability is implemented (which NEEDS RAW modification, and the speifics of that modification may or may not carry over to Domain Familiars, eg "now it works like vanilla Familiar + Feat" or other solution impacts choice re: other base types), which certainly seems FAQ worthy, which I assume is why Mr. Seifter encouraged it to get a FAQ rather than negate the issue.