Making the Most of the Polymorph Spell in D&D 5e

Digging into the polymorph spell and how it can be used effectively.

How does polymorph work?

Below are the rules for the polymorph spell from the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

4th level transmutation

Casting Time: action
Range: 60ft
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 hour concentration

You attempt to transform a creature that you can see within range into a Beast. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or shape-shift into Beast form for the duration. That form can be any Beast you choose that has a Challenge Rating equal to or less than the target’s (or the target’s level if it doesn’t have a Challenge Rating). The target’s game statistics are replaced by the stat block of the chosen Beast, but the target retains its alignment, personality, creature type, Hit Points, and Hit Point Dice.

The target gains a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to the Hit Points of the Beast form. These Temporary Hit Points vanish if any remain when the spell ends. The spell ends early on the target if it has no Temporary Hit Points left.

The target is limited in the actions it can perform by the anatomy of its new form, and it can’t speak or cast spells.

The target’s gear melds into the new form. The creature can’t use or otherwise benefit from any of that equipment.

Available for: Bard, druid, sorcerer, wizard

PHB 2024, p306

Essentially, you can transform a creature into a beast of equal or less challenge rating to its own challenge rating or level. This grants the creature temporary hit points equal to the new form’s hit points and the stats of the new form.

Changes from the 2014 version

Although the actual effects are largely similar, there are some important and substantial changes to the version found in the 2014 Player’s Handbook. These include:

• You can now cast this spell on a shapechanger.
• You now retain your creature type, hit points and hit dice.
• Hit Points are no longer replaced by the hit points of the beast they transform into. Instead, they take on temporary hit points equal to the beast’s hit points.
• Many beasts have been recategorised in D&D 2024. Some giant beasts with the ability to speak, have now been categorised as celestials, giving polymorph a subtle nerf to the options available.

Using polymorph as a buff

Polymorph makes a great buff in a few ways:

• The target can gain a big stack of temporary hit points
• The target can get enhanced statistics from the new form (if they’re better than their original form’s stats)
• The target also gains the abilities of the new form. This might include things like flight, swimming and enhanced vision.

Which forms are best for buffing?

The hard part is knowing which forms are best to use. Below I’ve listed out some of the best options you can choose from depending on what you need. Just remember you’re limited to beasts only:

Best combat form – Tyrannosaurus rex

The highest challenge rating option is the t-rex at CR8. It will give a whopping 136 temporary hit points, cause an average of 58 damage with both its attacks (if they hit), grant extra melee range and cause the grappled, restrained and/or prone conditions on hits. A considerable improvement for most characters (certainly at mid-levels). The main drawbacks are your low AC and very low intelligence but the increased temporary hit points more than makes up for this in the resilience department.

Best flying form – Giant eagle

The flying forms available aren’t overly powerful. This leaves you with the giant eagle at CR1. This won’t be a great option for combat at the levels you’ll have this spell, but if all you need to do is get someone high, then a giant eagle is probably your best choice. However, it has been recategorised in D&D 2024 so it’s no longer a beast. This leaves you with things like the giant bat or giant wasp if you want flight in this edition.

Best swimming form – Giant squid

If you want an option for underwater combat, a giant squid just edges out the giant shark for hit points, damage and additional abilities. You’ll get 120 temporary hit points, 15ft grapple attacks, an ink cloud and an 80ft swim speed.

Best ranged form – Giant ape

The giant ape is up there with the t-rex for combat capabilities. At CR7, you can also use this form as soon as you get polymorph. You’ll also get loads of temporary hit points and some pretty good damage output.

The rare thing for the giant ape is it can also hurl boulders, giving it a ranged attack. Just be aware that the 2024 version of this beast can only do this once every 6 turns.

Best climbing form – Giant ape

Giant apes also happen to be pretty great climbers with a 40ft climb speed.

Best form for blindsight – Various

The giant shark is technically your most powerful option here, but is limited to underwater environments. Giant constrictor snakes are your best land beasts for blindsight, but it only has a range of 10ft. This leaves you with the giant bat. It’s quite poor for combat, but has 120ft blindsight (60ft in the 2014 rules) and can fly, making it a useful utility option.

Best burrowing form – Giant badger

It’s slim pickings on the burrowing front. You can either take a badger or a giant badger. They’re not really built for combat at this level, but can at least dig through the earth. It’s slow going at a 10ft speed, but if you need something to burrow for you, it’s the best polymorph will grant.

Using polymorph as a debuff

Alternatively, you can use polymorph to debuff opponents. You do this by transforming then into a severely weakened form to limit their effectiveness in combat. This allows polymorph to be of use even when your characters outperform the best polymorph forms. It also allows you to nullify highly threatening enemies.

The drawback of this approach is that enemies can attempt to resist the spell, making it less reliable. You’ll also want to be careful of forms where a single attack from one of their allies could remove the hit points and end the spell early.

Best polymorph forms for debuffing

If you do want to use polymorph as a debuff, then a good way to tackle this is by transforming into a form unsuited to the environment. In most cases, this means using a swimming form.

If you want something that lacks bite and can barely move on land, then a giant seahorse or a reef shark are both good options. They also have just enough hit points that a single attack isn’t likely to break the spell.

If you’d rather use this tactic with more hit point protection, there’s the hunter shark and killer whale. And if you need this form to survive beyond a single combat, the killer whale is a good choice as they can breathe on land so can survive beyond a few minutes.

If you happen to be fighting in the water, you can do the opposite and pick one of many land creatures to polymorph your opponent into. Flying creatures tend to have slower movement speeds so work well if you’re underwater (I’d consider a giant wasp) but if you’re on the surface of the water, then they can easily fly away.

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That’s everything you need to know to use polymorph effectively in D&D 5e. How do you like to use polymorph? Let me know in the comments below.

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