D&D 5E True Polymorph

[jgsugden]

The comment before was mine and it was in the context of casting it on one's self.

My question is why bother casting it on one's self instead of just using Shapechange? I don't really see what the advantage that is being sought?

Can you afford to prepare both? If not, do you want Shapechange, which gives you versatility and more power for your transformation, or True Polymorph which gets you most of the advantages you will be seeking from a new form, but can also be used on others, etc...

The cost to acquire a 9th level spell is high. The 'room' to prepare more than 1 (when you only have on slot) is also a challenge. If you have to decide between the two, you have to look at which serves you more...

And in many cases, that is just True Polymorph. My wizard casts it on the party fighter to turn them into a dragon and then maintaines concentration for an hour. Then we take a full rest so that I can get my slots back and the fighter wades into combat a a dragon and reverts to his humanoid form once the HPs are lost. During combat, I often cast it on myself so that I can have prolonged efficiency once my powerful spells are done. In a long hanul dungeon where we didn't gte a chance rest, it was a way for me to stay really effective at the tail end of the dungeon.

In AD&D, an elf would look to do something like this so they could be raised, but I don't really see the value in 5e.

 

[shadowoflameth]

Warlock doesn't get Shapechange, only Wizard or Druid.