So im a bit confused, is spirit shift supposed to last until the end of combat? mine keeps dropping way before combat is over? it doesnt have a duration listed so not sure whats going on

 

Nope, the ability is working as intended. The druid class is designed mainly to be a strong aoe (area of effect) spellcaster, not a melee. The spiritshift ability is there to help at lower levels when s/he has very few spells or as a last solution/defense at higher levels when you're out of spells (before you get your 1st level, 2nd level spells "per encounter") or need some extra defense if you are wearing cloth/light armor. 

Nope, the ability is working as intended. The druid class is designed mainly to be a strong aoe (area of effect) spellcaster, not a melee. The spiritshift ability is there to help at lower levels when s/he has very few spells or as a last solution/defense at higher levels when you're out of spells (before you get your 1st level, 2nd level spells "per encounter") or need some extra defense if you are wearing cloth/light armor. 

in that case they need to update the description of spirit shift, it explicitly states that it is supposed to last until the end of engagements

This seems to be a recurring problem in PoE. Ability descriptions either have bad information or lack important information. For example, ciphers don't seem to tell you how much focus you can hold at any given time and the druid's elemental damage abilities don't tell you what their damage actually applies to.

It only lasts for 12s. Doesn't matter as the game progresses on since the spirit form doesn't scale.

 

You'll hit harder and tank better if you get better equips and enchant them.