Wild Shape lets a Druid adopt an eligible Beast form, but the details depend on your rules edition. In 2014, the base feature uses an action, requires previously seen beasts, and gives you the beast's HP. Under revised 2024 rules, it uses a Bonus Action, draws from known forms, and keeps your own HP with added Temporary HP. Swimming restrictions and animal stat blocks also differ.
This wild shape 5e guide keeps those systems separate. Use the matching form list, check your Druid level, and apply Moon subclass exceptions only when you actually have them. A creature's familiar animal name is not enough: its printed creature type, challenge rating, movement, and rules version determine whether it belongs on your list.
The important differences at a glance
| Question | Original 2014 base Druid | Revised 2024 base Druid |
|---|---|---|
| When does the feature begin? | Druid 2 | Druid 2 |
| How do you transform? | Action | Bonus Action |
| Which forms are available? | Eligible beasts you have seen | A limited list of known eligible forms |
| Starting uses | Two | Two |
| Short Rest recovery | Both expended uses | One expended use |
| Long Rest recovery | Both expended uses | All expended uses |
| Swimming forms at level 2? | No form with a swim speed | Allowed if otherwise eligible |
| Flying forms | Druid 8 onward | Druid 8 onward |
| Hit points | Replace with the beast's HP | Retain your HP; gain Druid-level Temporary HP |
| Ordinary speech | Limited by the form's physical capabilities | Ability to speak retained |
| Ordinary spellcasting | Unavailable while transformed | Unavailable while transformed |
Both versions normally last a number of hours equal to half your Druid level, rounded down, and permit early reversion as a Bonus Action. At Druid 3, that duration is 1 hour. Specific class and subclass features can change parts of the system.
The base comparison and forms below use the licensed SRD 5.1 and SRD 5.2.1, with current official errata. These are tabletop rules, not Baldur's Gate 3 mechanics.
The broader edition comparison puts these changes in context. The class guide explains the Druid’s wider role.
Check five things before selecting a form
- Rules version. Use the stat block approved for your campaign, with relevant corrections.
- Creature type. Ordinary Wild Shape requires a Beast. A creature resembling an animal may have a different type.
- Challenge rating. CR is the stat block's challenge rating, not the creature's size or your character level.
- Movement gates. A low CR does not bypass the edition's swimming or flying restriction.
- Access. In 2014, the previously-seen requirement matters. In 2024, the form must be on your known list, and other-source choices require the DM's permission.
These are separate checks. A level-2 original Druid cannot select an Octopus merely because it is CR 0; its swim speed is disqualifying at that level. A revised level-2 Druid can learn the Octopus but cannot learn an Owl yet because flight remains restricted.
Likewise, a Moon Druid's higher CR allowance does not remove a separate flight gate. Read the subclass as a specific modification of the base feature, not permission to ignore every limitation.
Original 2014 rules in practice
Level limits and previously seen beasts
| Druid level | Maximum CR | Movement restriction |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | 1/4 | No swim speed or fly speed |
| 4-7 | 1/2 | No fly speed |
| 8 onward | 1 | Flight allowed |
These are the base limits. There is no fixed four-form list, but you must have seen the eligible beast. Agree with the DM about what your character encountered before the campaign and add newly encountered forms to your notes. Do not treat every published animal as automatically familiar.
Transformation consumes your action unless a specific feature changes that cost. At low levels, transforming during combat can therefore mean spending that turn preparing to act in the new form rather than immediately using its attack. Transforming before a predictable challenge can be useful when circumstances and duration allow it.
Statistics, HP, and reversion
You use the beast's statistics with the feature's stated exceptions, including retaining your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. You keep relevant skill and saving throw proficiencies and also gain the creature's; apply the actual comparison rule when both supply the same proficiency. Retained features must still be usable by the form, and special senses have their own restrictions.
The beast's HP and Hit Dice replace yours while shaped. When you return to normal, you ordinarily return to the HP you had before transforming. If damage reduces the beast form to 0, excess damage carries into your normal form.
For example, your normal form had 30 HP. Your beast form now has 6 HP remaining and takes 10 damage. The form reaches 0, you revert, and the remaining 4 damage reduces your normal HP to 26. Transformation did not erase the excess damage.
Becoming unconscious, reaching 0 beast HP, or dying ends the form. The feature's other timing limits also apply. Keep the two HP values separate so you do not accidentally heal your normal form merely by reading a new monster stat block. Official original Druid rules.
Spellcasting and equipment
You normally cannot cast spells while shaped, but transformation does not itself end Concentration on a spell already cast. Concentration means maintaining an ongoing spell effect under its rules; damage and other events can still threaten it.
Speech and actions requiring hands depend on the animal's capabilities. Equipment may fall, merge, or remain worn where the form can practically wear it. It does not automatically resize. Merged equipment has no effect until it is available again under the transformation rules.
Do not assume your normal armor's AC, a worn magic item's benefit, the beast's natural defenses, and another AC calculation can all be added together. Establish what remains worn and what rules apply before a tense scene.
Revised 2024 rules in practice
Known forms and movement
| Druid level | Known forms | Maximum CR | Flying forms? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | 4 | 1/4 | No |
| 4-7 | 6 | 1/2 | No |
| 8 onward | 8 | 1 | Yes |
There is no base swimming prohibition. After a Long Rest, you may replace one known form with another eligible choice. This is not a daily rewrite of the entire list.
Rat, Riding Horse, Spider, and Wolf are the rules' suggested first four forms. They provide different uses: escape or scouting, speed, climbing, and a combat option. A water-heavy campaign can justify replacing one with Octopus. The correct list reflects the adventure, not simply the largest attack number.
The current PHB errata replaces Appendix B stat blocks with the Monster Manual (2025) versions. This guide's revised animal details use the checked SRD 5.2.1/current blocks and the current Monster Manual errata. First-printing advice can therefore need updating.
Your HP remain your HP
You retain your own HP and Hit Point Dice and gain Temporary HP equal to Druid level when assuming a form. Temporary HP absorb damage before normal HP and do not stack with another Temporary HP pool. Choose which pool to keep when applicable.
At Druid 8, with 30 current HP and no existing Temporary HP, transformation grants 8 Temporary HP. If you take 15 damage, those 8 absorb part of it and your own HP become 23. Losing all Temporary HP does not itself end the form.
The beast's printed HP do not become a second reserve. A revised Owl's small monster HP total does not make you lose your form after that amount of damage. Conversely, a Brown Bear's printed HP do not supply extra HP beyond the actual class feature.
The form ends when its duration expires, you use Wild Shape again, become Incapacitated, or die; you can also leave it early as a Bonus Action. Reverting is not a way to restore a separate untouched humanoid HP pool. Official revised Druid rules.
Retained abilities and resource recovery
You retain your creature type, mental ability scores, class features, feats, languages, and skill and saving throw proficiencies, along with your personality, memories, and speech. The feature specifies using your proficiency bonus for retained proficiencies and a higher beast skill or save modifier when applicable.
That is not permission to replace every printed beast attack bonus or save DC with your spell statistics. Read what is retained and what remains part of the stat block. A Wolf's Bite does not become a Wisdom-based spell attack simply because you are a Druid.
The maximum use pool becomes three at Druid 6 and four at 17. A Short Rest restores one expended use; a Long Rest restores all.
From Druid 5, Wild Resurgence can turn a spell slot into one use when you have no uses left, once on each of your turns without an action. Its reverse exchange creates a level-1 spell slot by spending a use, once per Long Rest. These options consume resources; they are not an unlimited supply of both slots and transformations.
Useful 2014 forms, with their real limits
Every row below uses the original stat block and the earliest base-Druid level. Moon exceptions come later. Movement values are feet.
| Form | CR | Base level | Movement | Practical reason to prepare it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat | 0 | 2 | Walk 40, climb 30 | Tiny urban scout; Stealth +4 and smell-based awareness |
| Wolf | 1/4 | 2 | Walk 40 | Pack Tactics and a Bite with a prone save |
| Black Bear | 1/2 | 4 | Walk 40, climb 30 | Medium climber with Bite-and-Claws Multiattack |
| Octopus | 0 | 4 | Walk 5, swim 30 | Small underwater scout with underwater Stealth advantage |
| Brown Bear | 1 | 8 | Walk 40, climb 30 | Large melee form with 34 beast HP and Multiattack |
| Giant Spider | 1 | 8 | Walk 30, climb 30 | Ceiling climbing and a ranged Web attack |
| Owl | 0 | 8 | Walk 5, fly 60 | Tiny flying scout, Flyby and 120-foot Darkvision |
| Giant Owl | 1/4 | 8 | Walk 5, fly 60 | Large flying Beast in this edition |
The legacy Cat has no Darkvision. Being a cat does not supply a trait missing from its block. The Owl has only 1 beast HP, so an otherwise appealing scout can be fragile under the original replacement-HP system.
Legacy Octopus has a special 30-minute out-of-water breath allowance. It still does not become a comfortable land-travel form with a 5-foot walking speed. Think about how it reaches and leaves the water.
Large forms can be useful in combat but awkward in passages or places where a large animal would draw attention. A Giant Spider's web is a specific attack with its own range and escape procedure, not unrestricted creation of whatever structure you imagine.
These entries are selected from the original SRD beast blocks. Use their full text for senses, attack details, and unusual traits.
Useful revised forms, with current stat blocks
These rows use revised blocks and the earliest base-Druid level. They are a menu of eligible options, not a claim that you know every listed form simultaneously.
| Form | CR | Base level | Movement | Practical reason to learn it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | 0 | 2 | Walk 20, climb 20 | Tiny scout; Agile avoids Opportunity Attacks when leaving reach |
| Cat | 0 | 2 | Walk 40, climb 40 | Tiny climber with Darkvision 60 and Stealth +4 |
| Riding Horse | 1/4 | 2 | Walk 60 | Fast movement where a Large animal fits |
| Spider | 0 | 2 | Walk 20, climb 20 | Tiny ceiling climber with Darkvision 30 |
| Wolf | 1/4 | 2 | Walk 40 | Pack Tactics; Bite knocks Medium-or-smaller targets prone on a hit |
| Octopus | 0 | 2 | Walk 5, swim 30 | Underwater scout; Compression permits 1-inch gaps |
| Black Bear | 1/2 | 4 | Walk 30, climb 30, swim 30 | Three useful movement modes and two Rend attacks |
| Crocodile | 1/2 | 4 | Walk 20, swim 30 | Large swimmer with a grappling Bite |
| Brown Bear | 1 | 8 | Walk 40, climb 30 | Bite-and-Claw Multiattack; Claw knockdown against eligible targets |
| Giant Spider | 1 | 8 | Walk 30, climb 30 | Large ceiling climber with saving-throw-based Web |
| Owl | 0 | 8 | Walk 5, fly 60 | Tiny flyer with Flyby, strong senses and Stealth |
The revised Spider has no ranged Web action; that belongs to a different, larger creature. Its ceiling movement and web-related senses are useful without inventing a restraint attack.
Revised Octopus breathes only underwater and lacks the legacy block's 30-minute Hold Breath trait. Its explicit Compression is a better basis for a narrow-gap plan than assuming every Tiny form can fit through a keyhole.
Crocodile's Bite can grapple a Medium-or-smaller target and restrain it while that grapple lasts, with escape DC 12. Holding a creature can be useful, but size, position, breathing, and allies' plans still matter.
A practical known-form plan is the recommended first four, then Black Bear and Octopus at level 4, and Owl among the level-8 additions. Swap sooner for aquatic adventures. Keep the entire current stat block with your notes. Revised SRD animals.
Wild Shape 5e pitfalls when animal names stay the same
Wolf is not one interchangeable stat block
The original Wolf has AC 13 and Bite damage 2d4 + 2. Its prone rider calls for a DC 11 Strength save and states no target-size limit. The revised Wolf has AC 12 and Bite damage 1d6 + 2, knocking a Medium-or-smaller target prone on a hit without that save.
Do not combine the original damage with the revised automatic knockdown. The change affects tactics as well as arithmetic.
Brown Bear changes damage and knockdown
Original Brown Bear uses Strength 19, Bite 1d8 + 4, Claws 2d6 + 4, and 34 beast HP. Its attacks do not include a prone rider.
The current revised block uses Strength 17, Bite 1d8 + 3, and Claw 1d4 + 3; that Claw can knock a Large-or-smaller target prone on a hit. Its printed 22 monster HP do not replace revised Druid HP. Both versions attack at +5 and have their stated Bite-plus-Claw(s) Multiattack.
Creature type can change eligibility
The original Giant Owl is a Beast. The revised Giant Owl is a Celestial, so it is not an ordinary revised Beast form. The revised Giant Vulture is a Monstrosity. A chapter called Animals does not override the type printed in an entry.
An Owlbear is also not an ordinary eligible Beast. A DM can authorize a house rule, but label that exception rather than presenting it as the standard class feature.
Circle of the Moon: separate exceptions by edition
2014 Moon begins at Druid 2, allows Bonus Action transformation, and permits CR 1 forms immediately. From Druid 6, its CR limit becomes Druid level divided by 3, rounded down. The original swim and fly gates still apply. At Druid 10, Elemental Wild Shape spends both uses for its specified elemental choices; it does not make every Elemental an eligible Beast. See the official original transformation guide.
2024 Moon begins at Druid 3. Circle Forms allows CR up to one-third Druid level, uses AC 13 + Wisdom modifier if that beats the beast's AC, and grants Temporary HP equal to three times Druid level. You can cast the subclass's Circle spells while shaped. At 6, relevant beast hits can deal Radiant damage and Wisdom is added to Constitution saves. The revised subclass does not retain Elemental Wild Shape. Licensed revised Moon entry.
The checked revised Circle spells are Cure Wounds, Moonbeam, and Starry Wisp at 3; Conjure Animals at 5; Fount of Moonlight at 7; and Mass Cure Wounds at 9. That permission is specific, not general spellcasting access.
For a revised Moon Druid 6 with Wisdom 18, the relevant alternative AC is 17, Temporary HP are 18, and the maximum CR is 2. Flight remains unavailable until Druid 8. These are feature calculations, not a complete character build.
Spell timing, actions, and form statistics
For an ordinary Druid, a useful sequence is to cast an appropriate Concentration spell and then transform. Under revised rules, an action spell followed by Bonus Action Wild Shape can fit on the same turn because transformation is not casting another spell. The original base Druid ordinarily needs another turn because both activities use an action.
Maintaining an earlier spell is not casting a new one. Check the spell's range, duration, ongoing action requirements, and Concentration rules. A form that keeps you safe can preserve a valuable effect; charging into melee may make maintaining it harder.
At Druid 18, Beast Spells creates edition-specific spellcasting permission. The revised version still excludes spells with costly or consumed Material components. The original version permits Druid spells' verbal and somatic components in animal form, but you cannot provide Material components in beast form. Read the correct high-level feature rather than extending low-level Moon permission to every spell.
Multiattack is a stat-block action with listed attacks. It is not automatically the Attack action, and it does not freely combine with an unrelated Extra Attack feature. Use the named action's text.
Knocking someone prone also needs context. Attacks from within 5 feet can gain advantage; attacks from farther away have disadvantage. A bear helping one melee ally may hinder a distant archer. Tell the party what you are trying to achieve.
A revised Wolf turn, with stated conditions
For this wild shape 5e comparison, consider a revised Druid 2 who knows Wolf and has a use available. An allied creature stands within 5 feet of a Medium enemy and is not Incapacitated. You can reach the enemy, and no other advantage, disadvantage, resistance, or immunity affects the example.
Spend your Bonus Action to transform. You gain 2 Temporary HP under the base feature. Move within Bite range and use your action for Bite. Pack Tactics provides advantage because its nearby-ally condition is met. Against illustrative AC 14, roll 7 and 14, taking 14 + the Wolf's attack bonus 4 = 18, a hit.
Roll 4 on the damage d6 and add 2 for 6 piercing damage. The Medium target falls prone under the current Bite without a saving throw. You do not then add another Bite, a Druid spell, or a second Bonus Action. Your allies must still consider their distance when attacking the prone creature.
An original base Druid transforming on that turn normally spends the action on transformation instead. Its later Wolf Bite also uses different damage and a prone save. The same animal name does not make the turns interchangeable. These selected rolls demonstrate procedure, not expected damage.
A practical form card and scouting checklist
Keep a short reference beside the full stat block:
- Edition, source, creature type, CR, and whether the form is currently available.
- Transformation cost, remaining uses, and duration.
- Size, movement modes, senses, and breathing restrictions.
- Correct AC, attacks, skill/save handling, and any Moon changes.
- HP method: separate beast HP in 2014, or own HP and Temporary HP in 2024.
- Equipment decision, current Concentration, and a way to communicate or return.
The DnDDen character-sheet resource can hold the character's normal statistics; keep a separate form card so the two sets of values do not become mixed.
Before scouting, decide what information you need and when you will return. A Cat can be conspicuous in a place with no cats; a large bird can attract attention; a web-covered ceiling may contain something dangerous. Transformation changes capabilities, not every observer's behavior.
Keep the party's participation in view. A brief scouting loop with a clear question often works better than exploring an entire location alone. If the plan requires opening a door, carrying an object, or signaling allies, establish how the chosen body can do that before leaving.
For physical dice organization, the dice types and notation guide discusses keeping changing rolls manageable. You can also use the dice roller to rehearse a form's printed attack and damage procedure, adding its listed modifiers yourself.
For character planning beyond the form card, compare the 2014 build routes or the separate 2024 build routes.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Tiny animal fit through any gap?
No general Tiny-size rule guarantees passage through every crack. Use explicit traits, such as revised Octopus Compression, or ask the DM to assess the actual creature and opening.
Can I turn into an animal I have never encountered?
The original feature requires previously seen beasts. The revised feature uses known forms selected under its rules, including source permission. Do not transfer one edition's access test to the other.
Does running out of Temporary HP end the revised form?
No. The feature has separate ending conditions. Your own HP continue taking damage after Temporary HP are gone.
Does Moon let me fly early?
Its higher CR allowance does not remove the normal flight restriction. Under the compared rules, flight becomes available at Druid 8.
Is the highest-CR form always the best choice?
No. Size, speed, senses, breathing, stealth, and the task can matter more. A small legal scout can be more useful than a large combat form in a narrow passage.
The most useful wild shape 5e habit is simple: choose the edition first, check the complete form, and select it for a specific job. A prepared reference and a clear plan save more table time than a long list of animal names without their limits.
Rules attribution: This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. Comparisons, examples, form-selection advice, and checklists are original adaptations and additions. Moon subclass summaries are separately sourced.