Can a Familiar use "help" action to give advantage on ranged attacks? [duplicate]

Question

According to this question, it appears a Familiar can take the Help action and grant advantage to an ally -- but can the same thing be said if I'm trying to hit with a ranged attack, such as eldritch blast or witch bolt, or even just a bolt from my crossbow?

Does this ability of the familiar to take the "help" action and confer advantage extend to ranged attacks, whether shooting with my light crossbow, or casting spells? If so, it would be another feather in the cap of the Chainlock -- and if not, nothing is lost.

I don't believe this is a duplicate of this question, because that one asks, more or less, what actions will and won't end invisibility -- I'm asking about conferring advantage.

Answer 1

Yes, Help works on ranged attacks

Help says (emphasis mine):

[...] Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint, distract the target, or in some other way team up to make your ally’s Attack more effective. If your ally attacks the target before your next turn, the first Attack roll is made with advantage.

So the only condition to using the help action in combat is that the Helper is within 5 feet of the target.

The Familiar can take the help action on it's turn to provide whomever you target with the Help action advantage. Who it targets is cleared up in the first half of the description:

You can lend your aid to another creature in the completion of a task. When you take the Help action, the creature you aid gains advantage on the next ability check it makes to perform the task you are helping with, provided that it makes the check before the start of your next turn.

Answer 2

The simple answer is, yes, they can help.

Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint, distract the target, or in some other way team up to make your ally's attack more effective. If your ally attacks the target before your next turn, the first attack roll is made with advantage.

The longer answer is that the familiar must be within 5ft of the target. So while you are a safe distance away, your familiar is in the front lines. Also making them a target to the enemy.

Some familiars (namely the owl) have the "flyby" trait which would allow them to swoop in, help then fly out of harms way without incurring an Attack of Opportunity, but they still need to, at some point, be within 5ft of your target.