2024 DnD Wild Shape Guide

Introduction

Wild Shape is an exciting and versatile Druid class feature which can do a lot, but which is easy to use poorly. Understanding Wild Shape primarily depends on understanding and selecting forms; which forms work, which forms work in specific situations, and which forms just never work. But you can also do quite a bit to maximize the benefits of Wild Shape between feats, spells, and magic items.

Circle of the Moon is the primary user of Wild Shape, as it’s their go-to combat tactic and frequently their go-to answer for most challenges. With a better CR progression than other Druids, Wild Shape remains a powerful combat option for your whole career. However, many Wild Shape forms have problematic limitations which might not be immediately obvious, and it’s easy to pick a bunch of underwhelming forms and not know any better until you’re rolling death saves.

Other Druids can still get a lot of our Wild Shape even if they don’t use it in combat. Additional mobility options, additional senses, and potentially additional skills can all make Wild Shape a powerful utility. You might get away with using it in combat at levels 2 and 3, too.

This article is for the 2024 DnD rules. For help with the 2014 rules, see our 2014 Wild Shape Guide.

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
Green: Good options. Useful often.
Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the 2024 DnD Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows. Also be sure to check for errata periodically.

Wild Shape Changes from the 2014 DnD Rules

Wild Shape is a Bonus Action for everyone rather than just Circle of the Moon
You can use Wild Shape again without returning to your original form
2 uses per Short Rest at level 2, but scales up to 4 per Short Rest by level 17, and you recover only one use when you take a Short Rest instead of all of them
Druids are now limited to just 4 known forms. You can change one on a long rest, so it would take 4 days to replace all of your forms
Swim speeds are no longer restricted by level
Instead of using a separate pool of hit points, Wild Shape now grants a pool of Temporary Hit Points

Moon Druid Wild Shape Changes from the 2014 Rules

Among other changes to the subclass, the Circle of the Moon Druid has a few changes which directly impact Wild Shape:

Gain three times as many temporary hit points as other Druids when using Wild Shape
Armor Class is now 13 + Wisdom modifier, or the beast’s AC, whichever is higher. Beasts generally have awful AC, so this is great
Moon Druids can cast spells from their subclass spell list while in Wild Shape

How Does Wild Shape Work?

The full text of Wild Shape is available in the free rules. Let’s go through the feature line by line to clarify exactly how all of this works and how to use it. I’ve removed flavor text and added additional links wherever it could be useful.

As a Bonus Action, you shape-shift…

Wild Shape is activated as a Bonus Action. Simple.

The shape-shifting general rule adds a couple extras:

Unless that description says otherwise (Wild Shape does not), any ongoing effects on you carry over from one form to the other
You revert to your true form if you die

…into a Beast form that you have learned for this feature (see “Known Forms” below).

Don’t see Known Forms. See Wild Shape Level Progression, below, for a table of how many forms you can know and what CR they can be.

You stay in that form for a number of hours equal to half your Druid level…

Pretty straightforward. At very high levels you can sleep through the night in animal form.

…or until you use Wild Shape again, have the Incapacitated condition, or die. You can also leave the form early as a Bonus Action.

This describes the ways that your current Wild Shape can end. By default, when Wild Shape ends, you return to your true form. However, “until you use Wild Shape again” means that you can use it again while already in Wild Shape. You could stay in your current form and only gain a fresh batch of Temporary Hit Points, or you could change forms as though you were using Wild Shape from your true form.

Number of Uses. You can use Wild Shape twice. You regain one expended use when you finish a Short Rest, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

You gain additional uses when you reach certain Druid levels, as shown in the Wild Shape column of the Druid Features table.

The 2024 rules don’t have any guidance on how many Short Rests to expect in a day. The 2014 DMG expects 2 Short Rests in a full adventuring day. At level 2 you can expect to use Wild Shape at most 4 times per day, so it’s important to fit as much adventuring as possible into the limited duration. This time pressure reduces significantly as you gain levels and the duration increases.

Known Forms. You know four Beast forms for this feature, chosen from among Beast stat blocks that have a maximum Challenge Rating of 1/4 and that lack a Fly Speed. The Rat, Riding Horse, Spider, and Wolf are recommended.

You know 4 forms at level 2, but that increases to 8 by level 8. It’s tempting to go all-in on combat options, but I recommend having some forms that are good for scouting, too. The PHB recommends the Rat for stealth, the Riding Horse for travel, the Spider for traversing obstacles, and the Wolf for combat. It’s not a bad list, but with only 1 hour of Wild Shape, you won’t get much out of the Riding Horse, so drop that in favor of a second combat option.

Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can replace one of your known forms with another eligible form.

Unless you’re traveling to new environments on a daily basis, this is usually enough to learn the forms of some local animals so that you can blend in. It also means that you can easily change your known forms if you’re finding that one doesn’t work how you hoped or if you reached a level where you can learn forms of a new CR.

When you reach certain Druid levels, your number of known forms and the maximum Challenge Rating for those forms increases, as shown in the Beast Shapes table.

In addition, starting at level 8, you can adopt a form that has a Fly Speed.

See Wild Shape Level Progression, below.

When choosing known forms, you may look in the Monster Manual or elsewhere for eligible Beasts if the Dungeon Master permits you to do so.

By default you have access to Beasts in the Monster Manual, but anywhere else requires DM permission. That’s the sort of “Mother, may I?” mechanic that the 2024 rules sought to get rid of, so it’s surprising that it’s here. Still, every newly-published beast is a potential buff to the Druid, which can present some issues. The Hulking Crab introduced in Storm King’s Thunder was a pretty great Wild Shape form, but we explicitly don’t cover content published in adventures because we can’t assume that that content is available to all of our readers.

Rules While Shape-Shifted. While in a form, you retain your personality, memories, and ability to speak, and the following rules apply:

You are still yourself, and you can still speak, both of which are very important.

Temporary Hit Points. When you assume a Wild Shape form, you gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Druid level.

RAW, there’s room to argue that the THP remains even if you drop out of Wild Shape, but I’m pretty certain that the intent is that the THP go away when Wild Shape ends.

Game Statistics. Your game statistics are replaced by the Beast’s stat block…

This is why you’re here. You get the senses, the attacks, the ability scores, etc.

…but you retain your creature type; Hit Points; Hit Point Dice; Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores; class features; languages; and feats.

Retaining Class Features and Feats is huge. This lets us benefit from multiclassing and from our feats while in Wild Shape. However, I don’t think you’re intended to apply ability score increases from feats simply because it would make the system too complicated.

You notably don’t retain anything from your species. You might look at your species’ feats and skill proficiencies and worry, but the text says that you keep your feats, and the next line specifies that you keep your skill and save proficiencies. You just don’t get things like Darkvision or damage resistances.

You also retain your skill and saving throw proficiencies and use your Proficiency Bonus for them, in addition to gaining the proficiencies of the creature. If a skill or saving throw modifier in the Beast’s stat block is higher than yours, use the one in the stat block.

This can be a bit of a pain because you need to reference both stat blocks for both your skills and your saves. Using the beast’s skills can be especially useful because many beasts have Expertise in Perception. Of course, the relatively low CR of your beast forms compared to your level may still put your own Perception modifier above that of your beast forms.

Determining your actual modifier can be somewhat confusing, and requires recalculating modifiers nearly every time a proficiency is involved. For physical ability scores:

If your beast form’s save/skill modifier is already higher than yours, use the beast’s modifier
If you are proficient in the save/skill, use your PB and the beast’s ability modifier
If the beast is proficient in the save/skill (even if it has Expertise), use your PB and the beast’s ability modifier. This will require recalculating the modifiers listed in the beast’s stat block
Else, use the beast’s ability modifier as normal

Mental ability scores are even more complicated since you retain your own mental ability scores. For mental ability scores:

If your beast form’s save/skill modifier is already higher than yours, use the beast’s modifier
If you are proficient in the save/skill, use your PB and your ability modifier
If the beast is proficient in the save/skill (even if it has Expertise), use your PB and your ability modifier
Else, use your own ability modifier as normal

Many beasts are proficiency in Perception or in Stealth, but almost never in any other skills. If you pick forms with these proficiencies, you may do well without taking proficiency in Perception or Stealth. Even so, Perception is still a really good proficiency.

Saving throw proficiencies are uncommon and unpredictable, so you can’t count on beast forms to provide them. The ones that do exist are almost exclusively physical saves.

No Spellcasting. You can’t cast spells, but shape-shifting doesn’t break your Concentration or otherwise interfere with a spell you’ve already cast.

You can’t cast spells in Wild Shape, but you can still cast things like Cal Lightning, then Wild Shape as a Bonus Action, and fly around as an Owl or whatever you like while raining bolts on your enemies for the next several minutes.

Circle of the Moon Druids have a special exception: they can cast spells from their subclass spell list while in Wild Shape. Druids also get Beast Spell at high levels, which removes this limitation.

Objects. Your ability to handle objects is determined by the form’s limbs rather than your own.

This makes sense, and it works the way you probably expect that it does. Animals can frequently manipulate objects with their teeth and claws, but you won’t be able to finely manipulate objects unless you Wild Shape into something like an Ape.

In addition, you choose whether your equipment falls in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it’s practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment based on the creature’s size and shape. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with the form. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect while you’re in that form.

It’s unlikely that your armor will fit your new form, so your armor, weapons, and any gear that you’re carrying but not wearing should be merged into your form into most cases.

Where this gets complicated is magic items. See Magic Items for Wild Shape, below.

Wild Shape Level Progression

Level	Uses Per Rest	Forms Known	Fly Speed?	Circle of the Moon Max CR	Other Circle Max CR
1	–	–	–	–	–
2	2	4	No	1/4*	1/4
3	2	4	No	1	1/4
4	2	6	No	1	1/2
5	2	6	No	1	1/2
6	3	6	No	2	1/2
7	3	6	No	2	1/2
8	3	8	Yes	2	1
9	3	8	Yes	3	1
10	3	8	Yes	3	1
11	3	8	Yes	3	1
12	3	8	Yes	4	1
13	3	8	Yes	4	1
14	3	8	Yes	4	1
15	3	8	Yes	5	1
16	3	8	Yes	5	1
17	4	8	Yes	5	1
18	4	8	Yes	6	1
19	4	8	Yes	6	1
20	4	8	Yes	6	1
* – You don’t get your subclass until level 3

Wild Shape Forms by CR

Note: Remember that Druids (including Moon Druids) can’t take forms with a fly speed until level 8, so many forms which are fantastic for their CR will be rated poorly because they need to compete with considerably more powerful forms by the time you get them.

It’s also important to remember that your choices of Wild Shape forms may vary in utility depending on terrain. If your forms are all amphibians and fish, traveling in the mountains will be hard. If all of your forms are native to jungles, it may be difficult to disguise yourself by turning into an animal. Sometimes the needs of your campaign will override the general considerations of character optimization. Read the assessments below, and weight that information within the context of your game.

If you’re transitioning from the 2014 rules, remember that the stats for every Beast in the Monster Manual has changed. See our Monster Manual Change Log for specific changes.

What About Forms from Adventures?

We intentionally don’t cover rules items specific to adventures including magic items, monsters, etc. because we can’t assume that those are available to you and because those things are often written for a very specific use within that adventure. Rime of the Frostmaiden and Stormking’s Thunder both add a whole bunch of new beasts which you might enjoy if your DM will permit them.

CR 0 and CR 1/8

Available to all Druids at level 2, this CR range has few good combat options, but has a lot of great options for scouting and utility.

Flight is typically your best bet for scouting, which makes the owl and the bat great options once you hit level 8. Underwater, the octopus is your best bet. If you need to climb instead of fly for some reason, spider is a good choice. If you need to get around unnoticed in a city, cat or rat are both good options in case you’re spotted.

Baboon ^MM: 30-foot climb speed and pack tactics. You’re not using this as a combat form, so it’s strictly worse than the cat in almost every way. The one distinguishing feature is that baboons have opposable thumbs, which will allow you to use tools and items. But you were probably a humanoid with opposable thumbs, so I don’t think that’s worth considering.
Badger ^MM: Even at 5 feet, a burrow speed can be incredibly useful. It also has resistance to Poison damage and Darkvision, though it’s not a great scout.
Bat ^MM: Flight and 60 feet of blindsight. Once you can fly, it can be a good scouting form in areas where the Giant Bat is too large, but it doesn’t come with proficiency in Perception or Stealth, so you may want to bring those yourself.
Blood Hawk ^MM: 60-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception, and Pack Tactics, but by the time you can fly you’ll have much better combat forms.
Cat ^MM: Good land speed, a good climb speed, proficiency in Dexterity saves, proficiency in both Perception and Stealth, and Darkvision. Jumper will let you cross small gaps until you hit level 8 and can fly. More mobile than a rat, but it might draw more attention in civilized areas than a rat would.
Crab ^MM: Slow, but it’s amphibious, proficient in Stealth, and has Blindsight. The Octopus is generally better.
Deer ^MM: Good speed, Darkvision, and Agile negates Opportunity Attacks. Nice if you want to Wild Shape and then run out of combat.
Camel ^MM: 50-foot land speed, proficiency in Constitution saves, Darkvision, and Large size. A decent option for distance travel, though the camel’s real-world ability to go extended periods without water isn’t represented mechanically. The riding horse will likely serve you better.
Dolphin ^MotM: Fast with 60 feet of Blindsight and proficiency in Perception. Remember to cast Water Breathing to get around the limitation of Hold Breath. This isn’t a combat form, but it’s good for distance travel underwater.
Eagle ^MM: Expertise in Perception and an impressive 60-foot fly speed. But by the time you can fly in Wild Shape, you likely have +5 Wisdom, which almost matches the Eagle’s Perception modifier, so the only useful bit here is the fly speed. At that point you’ll do just as well with the owl.
Frog ^MM: Slow, but it has a swim speed, and it’s amphibious. It also has proficiency in both Perception and Stealth. Standing Leap can help it get over small obstacles on land. It’s a passable scouting form, but there is almost always a better option in any given environment.
Giant Crab ^MM: A swim speed, proficiency in Stealth, and amphibious. At medium size it’s not any sneakier than you just walking around.
Giant Fire Beetle ^MM: Climb speed, fire resistance, Blindsight. Not mobile enough for scouting, not useful for anything else, really.
Giant Fly ^MM: 60-foot fly speed, Darkvision, and Large size. By the time you can fly, you’ll have considerably better options.
Giant Rat ^MM: Basically a larger, faster version of the rat, plus Pack Tactics and proficiency in Perception. The extra speed is nice, but a giant rat is also more likely to attract attention than a regular rat, and you’re not going to use Pack Tactics.
Giant Weasel ^MM: Basically a larger, faster weasel.
Goat ^MM: Good land speed, a climb speed, proficiency in Strength saves, proficiency in Perception, and Darkvision. It’s fine, but the cat is strictly better unless you need medium size so that a small ally can ride on your back.
Hawk ^MM: 60-foot fly speed and proficiency in Perception. Basically identical to the Eagle for our purposes since you’re not fighting in a CR 0 form, but still outdone by the Owl.
Hyena ^MM: 50-foot land speed, proficiency in Perception, Darkvision, and Pack Tactics. A weirdly effective combat option for this CR, but it still won’t compete with higher-CR options like the Wolf.
Jackal ^MM: Good land speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, and 90-foot Darkvision. It’s similar to the cat, but trades a climb speed and Leaper for better Darkvision. The ability to move vertically is very powerful, so the cat is a more reliable choice.
Lizard ^MM: Slow, and its Darkvision is only 30 feet, but it has Spider Climb without being a spider.
Mastiff ^MM: Decently fast, proficiency in Perception, and Darkvision. Nothing unique. The biggest appeal may be the ability to blend in when you’re in civilized places without the typical reaction people have to something like a bat or a rat.
Mule ^MM: Basically only useful for carrying heavy stuff.
Octopus ^MM: A swim speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Compression, and Ink Cloud. A great scouting form underwater.
Owl ^MM: 60-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, impressive 120 ft. Darkvision, and Flyby. An excellent scout form once you can fly at level 8.
Piranha ^MM: Good swim speed and Darkvision. It can’t compete with the Octopus.
Pony ^MM: Just a worse mule.
Rat ^MM: Slow, but it has a climb speed, 30-foot Darkvision, and Agile. Rats are also an ubiquitous presence in the lives of humans, so you may be able to move about in civilized areas with minimal scrutiny and without drawing as much attention as you might in other animal forms, which might be worth the reduced speed compared to the cat.
Raven ^MM: 50-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception, and Mimicry. Other birds easily outdo the Raven, so the only appeal is Mimicry, which is very rarely important.
Scorpion ^MM: 10 feet of blindsight is not enough, especially with a dismal 10-foot speed.
Sea Horse ^MM: A very slow aquatic form. Bubble dash looks briefly appealing, but the sea horse simply can’t compete with other forms like the octopus.
Spider ^MM: Slow, and its Darkvision is only 30 feet, but it’s proficiency in Stealth and has Spider Climb and Web Walker. It’s slightly better than the lizard due to the Stealth proficiency, but the lizard is smaller and isn’t a spider the size of a house cat, so the spider isn’t outright better.
Venomous Snake ^MM: A swim speed and a tiny bit of Blindsight.
Vulture ^MM: 50-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception, and Pack Tactics. You’re not using this as a combat form, so it’s basically just a slower version of the eagle and the hawk.
Weasel ^MM: A climb speed, proficiency in Acrobatics, Perception, and Stealth, and Darkvision. It’s not as fast as the cat and Acrobatics is basically useless, so there’s no niche where the weasel is appealing.

CR 1/4

Every Druid will start with this CR as their best option from levels 2 and possibly 3 unless you take Circle of the Moon.

Your go-to combat options at this CR are the boar, the fastieth, the giant venomous snake, the giant wolf spider, and the wolf.

Boar ^MM: Bloodied Fury will work based on your regular hit points, and Bloodied ignores Temporary Hit Points, so you can Wild Shape into a boar while below half hp to take advantage of Bloodied Fury. Gore is a decent attack, so you could Wild Shape, then charge into melee very briefly before possibly retreating.
Constrictor Snake ^MM: Proficient in Perception and Stealth and a little bit of Blindsight. Constrict is the primary appeal here. It may be effective at very low levels, but the DC 12 isn’t reliable, and Strength saves scale quickly.
Cow ^VGtM: Deep Rothé is strictly better unless you need to blend in with mundane cattle.
Deep Rothé ^VGtM: Gore is a decent attack if you can also get the damage from Charge, but, with no easy way to back away safely, you can’t count on that damage bonus repeatedly. The cow’s 10 AC will also be a problem for non-Moon Druids.
Dimetrodon ^MotM: Decent bite damage, but the +4 attack bonus is poor, so other forms will consistently do better in combat.
Draft Horse ^MM: Slower than the camel, not dangerous enough to be a combat form.
Elk ^MM: Fast, Darkvision, and proficiency in Perception. The Elk’s attacks are very similar to the deep rothé, but trades some of the deep rothé’s damage in exchange for knocking the target prone.
Fastieth ^E:RftLW: Fast, and good attack and damage with Bite. Quick allows you to Dodge as a Bonus Action on a recharge, which will add some durability. 14 AC is among the best that a non-Moon Druid can hope for, making this an effective combat option for low-level Druids.
Note that these are specific to Eberron and may not be available in all settings.
Giant Badger ^MM: A 10-foot burrow speed, Poison resistance, and Darkvision. The attacks are bad, so you’re basically just here for the burrow speed.
Giant Bat ^MM: Large size, an impressive 60-foot fly speed, and an incredible 120 feet of Blindsight. It even has 13 AC, which is pretty good for a Beast. Once you can fly, this is a fantastic option for distance travel, easily beating out options like horses unless you need to pull a wagon.
Giant Centipede ^MM: 14 AC, 30-foot climb speed, and 30-foot Blindsight. It’s decent mobile and durable, but the attack bonus is too poor to use this as a combat form, and there are better climbing options. The biggest appeal here is the combination of a climb speed and Blindsight.
Giant Frog ^MM: 30-foot swim speed, proficiency in both Perception and Stealth, 30 ft. Darkvision, Amphibious, and Standing Leap lets you jump over small gaps. Swallow looks like a tempting offensive option, but initiating a grapple may prove too difficult to make it work.
Giant Lizard ^MM: Large size, 40-foot land and climb speeds, proficiency in Dexterity saves, Darkvision, and Spider Climb. The regular Lizard is a better option for scouting since it’s considerably smaller. The Giant Lizard is really only appealing if you need to serve as a mount for some reason.
Giant Venomous Snake ^MM: 14 AC, 40-foot land and swim speeds, proficiency in Perception, a tiny bit of Blindsight, and a bite attack that does enough damage that this competes with CR 1/2 forms. This is a great combat option for low-level non-Moon Druids. The one problem is the abundance of resistance/immunity to poison, but at low levels where you’ll use this, it’s not ubiquitous. If you are worried, consider a backup combat option.
Giant Wolf Spider ^MM: 13 AC, 40-foot land and climb speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, a splash of Blindsight, Darkvision, Spider Climb, and a good bite attack. It’s mobile, it’s fast, it’s sneaky, and it has good damage. This is a great form for a lot of reasons, and I still can’t bring myself to use it because I am terrified of spiders. But if you’re braver than me, it’s objectively fantastic.
Hadrosaurus ^VGtM: Large size, 40-foot speed, and proficiency in Perception. There’s really no niche for this.
Ox ^MM: Basically the same as the cow. The Deep Rothé is better.
Panther ^MM: 13 AC, very fast, a climb speed, proficient in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, and a passable attack, but you’re here for Nimble Escape. With 50-foot speed you can use Nimble Escape to perform hit-and-run tactics, potentially ending your turn too far away for your target to chase you. It’s a decent combat form for non-Moon Druids.
Pteranodon ^MM: 60-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception, and Flyby. For distance travel, the Giant Bat is better. For scouting, smaller options like the Bat and the Owl are better. By the time you can fly, this isn’t useful as a combat option. There’s no niche for this.
Riding Horse ^MM: Large size and 60-foot speed, but the attack is weak. It’s only appealing if you need an ally to ride you into battle.
Stench Kow ^VGtM: Large size, 3 damage resistances, Darkvision, and its Gore attack is pretty good thanks to Charge. The Stench aura can also make enemies Poisoned, which is a very powerful debuff. Overall, it’s a passable low-level combat form.
Velociraptor ^VGtM: Tiny size, 13 AC, proficiency in Perception, Pack Tactics, and two attacks that total to decent damage. The velociraptor’s attack bonus is poor, but Pack Tactics easily makes up the gap. Even so, the damage isn’t any better than that of forms like the Giant Venomous Snake. Being tiny means that you don’t block space, but it also makes it very easy to move through other creatures’ spaces, which might be useful.
Folks who have watched Jurassic Park and think “how are these Tiny?” may be surprised to learn that the dinosaurs you’re thinking of are the Deinonychus.
Wolf ^MM: 40-foot speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Pack Tactics, and the wolf’s Bite knocks enemies prone on hit. The damage isn’t great, but, if you have other melee allies, it can be very effective to knock enemies prone.

CR 1/2

Everyone but Moon Druids will use this CR from levels 4 through 7, while Circle of the Moon Druids will skip this CR and go straight to CR 1. This puts CR 1/2 in a weird spot where you’re unlikely to use the forms in combat.

FSeveral excellent flying options exist at this CR, but Moon Druids have better options at CR 2 when they get access to flight, and other druids can’t select forms with a fly speed until they also get access to CR 1 forms.

Ape ^MM: Climb speed, proficient in Athletics and Perception. The ape can make two Fist attacks, but the attack bonus is poor and the damage isn’t any better than that of lower-CR forms like the Giant Venomous Snake. Rock provides a ranged attack and apes have opposable thumbs, but you’re a Druid and you probably also have opposable thumbs and ranged attacks.
Black Bear ^MM: Climb speed, swim speed, proficiency in Perception, and Darkvision. Multiattack is great, but the attack bonus is weirdly low. The Black Bear is fine, but it’s not good enough at any one thing to make it appealing. It’s not mobile enough for travel or scouting, and it’s not dangerous enough to be a combat form.
Crocodile ^MM: Large size, swim speed, proficiency in Constitution saves, proficiency in Stealth. The crocodile’s bite attack automatically applies Grappled and Restrained, which is pretty great. But the crocodile is slow-moving, and its attack bonus is poor, so it’s only effective against enemies with poor AC. It’s a decent combat form, but not always effective.
Giant Canary ^FToD: Large size and 60-foot fly speed, but its attack is unimpressive and it doesn’t have anything else to offer. The Giant Bat is more useful outside of combat, and there are better flying combat forms.
Giant Goat ^MM: Large size, good speed, a climb speed, proficiency in Strength saves, proficiency in Perception, and Darkvision. The giant goat’s Ram attack does decent damage if you charge and knocks your target prone automatically. This is an easy upgrade from the deep rothé and the elk. But if you don’t need the climb speed or Darkvision, the warhorse is a better choice.
Giant Seahorse ^MM: Large size and fast in the water, especially with Bubble Dash. You can use Bubble Dash to move away before charging in for the extra damage with Ram, and the damage is adequate for this CR, though the attack bonus is poor.
Giant Wasp ^MM: 13 AC, 50-foot fly speed, Flyby, and the damge on sting is good, though the attack bonus is low. It’s a decent combat form, but the same level that you can fly also gets non-Moon Druids access to CR 1 forms which will be be more powerful.
Reef Shark ^MM: Swim speed, Blindsight, Pack Tactics, and a passable bite attack. This is your go-to underwater combat form at this CR.
Warhorse ^MM: Large size, an impressive 60-foot speed, proficiency in Wisdom saves, an unusually high attack bonus for the CR, and great damage on Hooves even if you don’t get the bonus damage+knockdown from charging. This is a great form for travel and a pretty good combat form, too. However, the 11 AC is going to be a problem for non-Moon Druids.

CR 1

CR 1 is the max for non-Moon Druids, but by the time you reach this point, it may be hard to use these as combat forms. Enemies will have higher ACs than you can hit reliably without Advantage, and will hit you too easily and do too much damage to make Wild Shape an option that you can rely on constantly. Non-Moon get this CR at level 8 when flying forms become an option.

Moon Druids start at this CR, but remember that flying forms won’t be immediately available, and you’ll have access to CR 2 forms before you can fly.

Water Breathing comes online at level 5, allowing you to turn anything with a swim speed into a viable option underwater. Unfortunately, nothing at this CR will compete with the Giant Octopus underwater.

Brown Bear ^MM: Large size, Fast, a climb speed, proficiency in Perception, Darkvision, and two attacks, one of which knocks its target prone. The attack bonus is typical, and the damage isn’t amazing, but knocking an enemy prone can be extremely useful if you have other melee allies.
Deinonychus ^VGtM: 13 AC, fast, a climb speed, proficiency in Perception, two attacks, and you can knock enemies prone if you charge them first. The brown bear is comparable, but much more versatile. Non-Moon Druids may prefer the Deinonychus for its higher AC.
Dire Wolf ^MM: Large size, 50-foot speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Pack Tactics, and its Bite attack knocks enemies prone. The damage is fine, but you’re getting a ton of value from Pack Tactics and from knocking your target prone, making this an easy melee option if you have a melee ally who can help you trigger Pack Tactics.
Giant Hyena ^MM: Large size, 50-foot speed, proficiency in Perception, Darkvision, and Rampage once per day. The bite attack does good damage. It’s very similar to the Dire Wolf, but works better if you’re the only melee person in your party.
Giant Octopus ^MM: Large size, very fast swim speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, and its tentacles grapple and restrain enemies on hit. You can hold your breath in this form for 1 hour, which is much longer than most fights, so this may be viable in combat on land if you can boost your land speed with options like Landstrider and Speedy.
Giant Spider ^MM: Large size, 14 AC, climb speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Spider Climb, Web Walker, excellent bite damage, and Web on a 5-6 recharge that will let you restrain enemies at range. It’s really good, but also ew, gross!
Giant Toad ^MM: Large size, swim speed, Darkvision, Amphibious, Standling Leap, and the giant toad’s bite does good damage and grapples the target. The attack bonus is slightly low, unfortunately, which can make it hard to grapple and then Swallow your target.
Lion ^MM: Large size, 50-foot speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Pack Tactics, Running Leap, and Multiattack with good damage. The lion also has a unique Roar action which can replace one of its attacks to make a single creature Frightened. The save DC is poor, unfortunately, but otherwise the Lion is a good combat option.
Nyxborn Lynx ^MOoT: Large size, good speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Keen Smell, Pounce which knocks your target Prone and then allows an additional Bite as a Bonus Action, and Magic Resistance. All around pretty good, especially if you’re facing enemy spellcasters and if you have Speedy so that you can move away to use Pounce every turn.
Note that these are specific to Theros and may not be available in all settings.
Tiger ^MM: 13 AC, Large size, 40-foot speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Nimble Escape, and the tiger’s Rend attack does good damage and knocks the target Prone. Prone enemies will suffer Disadvantage on their Opportunity Attack when you move away, so you can use Nimble Escape to Hide and perform hit-and-run tactics.

CR 2

CR 2 is where Wild Shape forms start to really improve in damage output. Moon Druids get access to CR 2 forms at level 6, just behind martial characters getting Extra attack. Many forms at this CR have a +6 attack bonus, which is already behind the curve at level 5, where creatures are expected to have a +7 attack bonus. This gets worse at level 8 where the game expects players to start hitting 20 in their primary ability score and have a +8 attack bonus. Enemies’ ACs are scaling much faster than your attack bonus since you’re using the attacks of a creature much below your level.

Fount of Moonlight comes online at level 7, adding a powerful on-hit damage bonus which benefits from multiple attacks. This means that some forms will be great at level 6 (or when you can’t cast Fount of Moonlight for any reason), but fall behind forms with multiple attacks when you can cast Fount of Moonlight.

You don’t get flying forms until level 8, so you’ll spend 2 levels without flight but still using CR 2 forms.

Allosaurus ^MM: Large size, 60-foot speed, proficiency in Perception. The allosaurus has two attacks, but not Multiattack. Your best bet is to charge your target, use Claws, then knock your target Prone and get the free follow-up Bite attack. If you can pull this off, the Allosaurus’s damage is excellent. However, the 30-foot charge distance may be an issue in small spaces. Making a second attack adds a second point of failure, but also means a second opportunity to apply Fount of Moonlight.
Aurochs ^VGtM: Large size, 50-foot speed, an unusually high attack bonus, and good damage if you can charge to get the bonus damage and knockdown on Gore. The aurochs also has a +7 attack bonus, which is unusually high. If you have Speedy and can move away to recharge with relative ease, this can be really good.,
Giant Boar ^MM: Large size, proficiency in Strength saves, 40-foot speed, Bloodied Fury, and passable damage on Gore if you can get the additional damage and knockdown from charging. The speed and damage are strictly worse than the Aurochs, so this is only appealing if you’re Bloodied.
Giant Constrictor Snake^MM: Huge size, swim speed, proficiency in Perception, a little bit of Blindsight, and Multiattack that lets you Bite and Constrict. Constrict doesn’t make your target Grappled, and the DC doesn’t scale, so it’s really only good against enemies with poor Strength.
Note that Constrict isn’t an attack, so it won’t trigger Fount of Moonlight.
Hunter Shark ^MM: Large size, 40-foot swim speed, 60-foot Blindsight, and a really good Bite attack. This is an excellent aquatic combat form.
Plesiosaurus ^MM: Outright worse than the hunter shark in every way except for land speed and proficiency in Stealth.
Polar Bear ^MM: Large size, good land and swim speeds, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Cold resistance, Darkvision. Multiattack for two Rend attacks with an unusually high +7 attack bonus, but the damage isn’t amazing. Still, being able to hit more reliably means that Fount of Moonlight will be more impactful.
Remember that with Water Breathing you can use the polar bear underwater, too.
Quetzalcoatlus ^MotM: Hude size, an amazing 80-foot fly speed, proficiency in Perception, Flyby, and great damage on Bite if you get the damage bonus for charging, though the attack bonus is terrible. This is, without contest, your best option for distance travel. Huge size is easily enough to carry your party, and nothing can match the 80-foot speed.
Unfortunately, the quetzalcoatlus not a good combat form. A +4 attack bonus does not cut it. But you need to go back to CR 1/4 to find more flying beasts, and their damage is considerably worse. Your best bet is to avoid fighting from the air unless you can make another type of animal fly.
Rhinoceros ^MM: Basically a slower aurochs.
Saber-Toothed Tiger ^MM: 40-foot speed, proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision, Running Leap, Multiattack with two good attacks, and Nimble Escape.

CR 3

Attack bonuses at this CR largely don’t improve compared to CR 2 forms. All 3 of the forms in the Monster Manual have +6 attack bonuses, which continues to fall behind as players are expected to have +9 attack bonuses at level 9 when the Moon Druid gets access to CR 3 forms.

Ankylosaurus ^MM: Huge size, proficiency in Strength saves, and two good attacks that knock enemies prone on hit.
Giant Scorpion ^MM: Large size, 60-foot Blindsight, and multiattack with a total of 3 attacks. If you’re running Fount of Moonlight, it’s hard to do better than this.
Killer Whale ^MM: A modest improvement over the hunting shark. The killer whale’s swim speed is better, it adds proficiency in Stealth, its Blindsight is absolutely massive, and the killer whale’s bite does 50% more damage. However, both forms have the same +6 attack bonus. The hunting shark’s easy access to Advantage on attacks works out so that your expected damage is roughly the same in both forms. If you’re running Fount of Moonlight, the hunting shark will be better offensively unless you have some other source of Advantage on your attacks.
Remember to cast Water Breathing to get around the limitation of Hold Breath.
Spotted Lion ^GotG: Huge size, 60-foot speed, proficiency in Perception and Stealth, and Darkvision. With a +8 attack bonus, the Spotted Lion is among the most accurate beast forms available from Wild Shape, especially since it also has Pack Tactics. It only has one attack, unfortunately, but the dame is passable and it can knock enemies prone on hit (though it does allow a save).

CR 4

In the 2014 rules we had 2 CR 4 options, and we didn’t get the second until Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Now we have 2 right in the Monster Manual bringing our total to a stunning 3 choices.

Elephant ^MM: Huge size, 40-foot speed, two Gore attacks which can both knock a target prone, and then Trample as a Bonus Action for a total of 3 possible attacks. The +8 attack bonus is the highest available at this CR, making the Elephant a simple, but effective choice.
Hippopotamus ^MotM: Large size, swim speed, proficiency in Strength saves, two Bite attacks with good damage. Nothing crazy or novel, but with Water Breathing it works well underwater. On land, the Elephant is clearly better.
Stegosaurus ^MotM: Huge size, 40-foot speed, and a single attack. The Elephant’s damage is considerably higher before considering Fount of Moonlight.

CR 5

By this level, characters are expected to have attack bonuses of +10, and they’ll max out at +11 once you hit level 17. Your form options come close enough that you’ll be okay.

Brontosaurus ^MotM: Gargantuan size and proficiency in Constitution saves. Two attacks, but no Multiattack. The appeal here is the ability to take up an insane amount of space.
Giant Crocodile ^MM: Huge size, 50-foot swim speed, proficient in Stealth, and Multiattack with two attacks. Bite makes the target both Grappled and Restrained, and Tail can knock targets Prone.
Giant Shark ^MM: Huge size, 60-foot swim speed, proficiency in Perception, Blindsight, and two attacks with a +9 attack bonus and easy access to Advantage.
Titanothere ^GotG: Huge size, 50-foot speed, and one attack. Stomp does good damage if you charge before you hit, and can knock enemies prone with a save. The +10 attack bonus is the highest you’ll find at this CR. The Triceratops is very similar, but trades a very slightly lower bonus and damage for two attacks, which is already a good trade before considering Fount of Moonlight.
Triceratops^MM: Huge size, 50-foot speed, and two Gore attacks. Be sure to get some speed buffs so that you can charge multiple times per turn to get the bonus damage and knockdown from Gore.

CR 6

At this level your Proficiency Bonus is maxed out, so players are expected to have +11 attack bonuses.

Giant Squid ^MM: Huge size, an incredible 80-foot swim speed, proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, proficiency in Perception, Darkvision, Multiattack with two attacks, and Ink Cloud. It’s also the only aquatic for at this level, but it still needs to compete with the Giant Shark. The Giant Shark’s damage is worse and it can’t grapple, but both forms have the same attack bonus and the Giant Shark will nearly always have Advantage. if you’re using Fount of Moonlight (and you probably are), the Giant Shark is a better choice.
Mammoth ^MM: Huge size, 50-foot speed, proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, Multiattack with two Gore attacks. It’s very similar to the Triceratops, and the triceratops actually does more damage on a charge attack, but the mammoth adds Trample as a Bonus Action, giving you a third attack which does a lot of damage can apply Fount of Moonlight a third time.

Improving Wild Shape with Character Options

Wild Shape specifies that you retain your class features and feats while in Wild Shape. This leaves a ton of room for optimization.

Unarmored Defense and Wild Shape

Unarmored Defense was a favorite for Druids in the 2014 rules because beasts have terrible AC, but a ton of hit points. In the 2024 rules, it’s much less important. Moon Druids get 13 + Wisdom modifier for their AC, which will beat any beast’s AC with either version of Unarmored Defense. Non-Moon Druids would get better AC, but they shouldn’t be building to use Wild Shape as a combat option in a way that justifies multiclassing to get Unarmored Defense.

Feats for Wild Shape

Origin Feats

Savage Attacker: Thematically, I think a feat named Savage Attacker should work with Wild Shape. But, as written, it only works with weapons.
Tough: Wild Shape doesn’t end when you run out Temporary Hit Points; you’re free to keep fighting and take damage to your regular hit points. Druids only have d8 hit dice, so Tough can be very helpful.

General Feats

Athlete ^(PHB): The climb speed matches your current land speed. This creates a hilarious edge case where you can turn into a fish and climb a wall. It also means that things like horses are faster climbers than monkeys. This is all very amusing, but rarely useful.
Charger ^(PHB): Not a great feat, but it will work in Wild Shape.
Crusher ^(PHB): A great feat, but very few Beasts deal bludgeoning damage.
Grappler ^(PHB): Very few beasts rely on grappling, and the ones that do typically also make the target Restrained when they do so, which makes much of this feat unhelpful. The ability to move at full speed is still nice, but beasts that rely on grappling typically aren’t very fast.
Inspiring Leader ^(PHB): You could remain in Wild Shape through your Short Rest to get a fresh pool of Temporary Hit Points. Remember that THP doesn’t stack, but you could use this to get fresh THP without spending another use of Wild Shape if you find that you’re consistently running out of your daily uses.
Piercer ^(PHB): The vast majority of beasts rely on Piercing and/or Slashing damage, so Piercer can be a good way to boost your damage output.
Poisoner ^(PHB): Poisoner lets you ignore resistance to poison damage, which includes things like the Giant Scorpion’s Stinger, but you don’t have enough of those options to justify the feat.
Sentinel ^(PHB): Works great while in Wild Shape, especially if your form has good reach.
Slasher ^(PHB): The vast majority of beasts rely on Piercing and/or Slashing damage, so Slasher will see consistent use. The speed debuff is comparable to Weapon Mastery, and can be a good way to force enemies to stay nearby.
Speedy ^(PHB): A consistent speed boost and extra mobility. This is especially valuable if you like forms that deal extra damage from charging, such as the Elk, as you can move away and charge again with reduced risk.
Telekinetic ^(PHB): Telekinetic Shove is great since so few Beasts have a use for their Bonus Action.
Telepathic ^(PHB): You can still speak in Wild Shape, so there’s no need to look for telepathy.
War Caster ^(PHB): Advantage on Concentration saves is fantastic, especially if you don’t have proficiency in Con saves (Druids don’t get it). Reactive Spell isn’t fantastic in Wild Shape, but Moon Druids can cast Starry Whisp if it’s somehow better than your beasts form attacks.

Epic Boons

Boon of Combat Prowess ^(PHB): As useful for you as for any martial character.
Boon of Dimensional Travel ^(PHB): Circle of the Moon already gets Twilight Step, so this feels redundant.
Boon of Energy Resistance ^(PHB): A powerful defense on any character, and it keeps working while you’re in Wild Shape.
Boon of Fate ^(PHB): Fantastic on anyone.
Boon of Fortitude ^(PHB): 40 more hp seems nice, but you can use Wild Shape to give yourself 20 or 60 Temporary Hit Points as a Bonus Action several times per day.
Boon of Irresistible Offense ^(PHB): By this level, Circle of the Moon lets you deal Radiant damage instead of your form’s normal damage type if you’re worried about resistances.
Boon of Recovery ^(PHB): Fine, but not amazing.
Boon of Speed ^(PHB): Beasts almost never have ranged attacks, so extra speed to rush into melee can be very impactful.
Boon of the Night Spirit ^(PHB): Potentially useful, but you can also us e the Tiger form to hide when necessary.
Boon of Truesight ^(PHB): Great, especially for forms that lack Darkvision.

Multiclassing

Wild Shape, especially for Moon Druids, is much more self-sufficient than it was in the 2014 rules, so Multiclassing isn’t nearly as crucial as it once was. However, there is still a lot to be gained from Multiclassing.

Artificer: Starting with 1 level gets you proficiency in Concentration saves without giving up spell slot progression.
Barbarian: Starting with one level of Barbarian gets you proficiency in Constitution saves to help maintain Concentration, but you’re here for Rage and for Reckless Attack. Rage’s damage resistance will help keep your Wild Shape running, and the Rage damage bonus will work for most Wild Shape forms. Since most Beasts rely on Strength to attack, they’ll have enough Strength to make using Strength for skill checks effective for many forms. Imagine a very angry, sneaky bear. However, Rage prevents Concentration, which locks you out of Fount of Moonlight, which is a huge damage boost.
Fighter: Starting with one level of Fighter gets you proficiency in Constitution saves to help maintain Concentration, Second Wind, and a Fighting Style. You’re not going to use weapons and Wild Shape at the same time, but Fighting Style (Defense) still works in Wild Shape.
Monk: Most beasts don’t have a way to use their Bonus Action, which makes Martial Arts an easy boost to your damage output. Unarmored Defense can be helpful for non-Moon Druids, but, if you’re building for Wild Shape, you need to be a Moon Druid. Two levels for Monk’s Focus will let you Dash and Disengage as a Bonus Action without spending Focus Points similar to Cunning Action. 2 Focus Points won’t get you much, but a well-timed Flurry of Blows will always feel impactful.
Paladin: You can’t use Divine Smite with Beast attacks because they’re not Unarmed Strikes.
Ranger: If you cast Hunter’s Mark before you enter Wild Shape, you can continue to reassign it without issue. However, Hunter’s Mark won’t compete with Fount of Moonlight. Two levels can get you Fighting Style (Defense), but you’re giving up two levels compared to 1 if you go for Fighter instead.
Rogue: Beasts generally don’t have a use for their Bonus Action, though exceptions like the Tiger do exist. Cunning Action could be very useful, but you won’t get any benefit from Sneak Attack. Expertise is always nice, but probably isn’t why you’re here. If you don’t care about the ability to Hide with Cunning Action, the Monk is a better choice.
Sorcerer: Starting with 1 level gets you proficiency in Concentration saves without giving up spell slot progression.

Spells for Wild Shape

You can maintain Concentration on spells which you cast prior to activating Wild Shape. This makes spells like Conjure Animals very powerful, as you can cast them, turn into something sneaky, then watch from safety as your magical ball of imaginary friends rolls around soloing encounters.

You can also get a lot of use out of long-duration buff spells which don’t require Concentration:

Darkvision: An 8-hour duration and no beasts have 150-foot Darkvision.
Fount of Moonlight: Talor-made for the Moon Druid, Fount of Moonlight provides a critical on-hit damage boost. Because Moon Druids can cast this while in Wild Shape, it’s largely assumed that you will be running this in combat unless you’re surprised and can’t pre-cast it. Once you’re in combat, the Action casting time is too costly to justify, and the damage bonus isn’t big enough to make up for losing a turn.
Longstrider: A staple buff, Longstrider boosts all of your speeds, which is a huge improvement for many forms. It’s especially essential for forms which rely on charging so that you can more easily back away and charge the same target again on multiple turns. Basically every beast also has a 5-foot land speed, including aquatic creatures, so between Longstrider and Speedy you can get to 25-foot land speed with a shark or a giant octopus. As long as you can hold your breath, that might make them viable on land (at least temporarily).
Mage Armor: Useless for Circle of the Moon, but it’s a good AC boost for other Druids, especially since many druids will be stuck in light armor.
See Invisibility: You can’t cast spells that handle invisible enemies while you’re in Wild Shape. Some forms have Blindsight, which will handle the issue, but many of those forms are weak in combat. This isn’t essential, but make sure that you have a good way to face invisible enemies in a fight.
Water Breathing: A ritual with a 24-hour duration. You should always have this running just in case of weird surprises. Crucially, this makes forms that rely on Hold Breath viable because you can adventure underwater for extended periods of time. It also means that non-aquatic forms with swim speeds (ex: polar bear) suddenly work when fully underwater.

Magic Items for Wild Shape

Because your magic items don’t reshape to suit your new form, it’s not always obvious if a magic item will continue to function in Wild Shape. Items built for humanoids should work fine on beasts like Apes and Monkeys, but may not work on other beasts.

You’ll need to work with your DM to figure out what items will or won’t fit your new form since they don’t resize. Amulets and necklaces work on many animals unless their neck is especially thick (elephants, for example). Hats probably work on most creatures of appropriate size, though helmets are much harder since they’re typically designed to wrap around a humanoid’s head. Gloves and rings are likely out for anything except primates. Bracers might work on quadrupeds, but discuss it with your DM. Cloaks may work on a wide variety of creatures, and I love the idea of a Mammoth wearing a tiny Cloak of Protection.

Magic items That Change Your Stats

Items which improve your stats are objectively fantastic, but it presents the horrifying need to recalculate the attacks, damage, and other stats for every one of your Wild Shape forms. For example: Gauntlets of Ogre Power would give you better Strength than most Beast forms, potentially requiring you recalculate your attack and damage bonuses when you use Wild Shape.

It’s not clear to me how these items work with Wild Shape. The “specific beats general” guidance is unhelpful here. DMs could easily use anatomy as an excuse to avoid Gauntlets of Ogre Power and Belts of Giant Strength, but Ioun Stones care very little about anatomy except that they probably require a head.

If you DM does allow your magic items to later your Beast forms’ stats, be sure to calculate those modified stats ahead of time in order to avoid doing it mid-combat. If you want a nicely-formatted stat block, use The Monsterizer.

Uncommon Magic items

Cloak of Protection ^(DMG): Fantastic, and it should work on nearly any beast form.
Gauntlets of Ogre Power ^(DMG): Conceptually great, but too few Beasts can wear gauntlets. It’s basically just apes and baboons. (Giant Apes are too high CR for Wild Shape.)
Goggles of Night ^(DMG): Darkvision without a spell, and most Beasts will have a head that can wear goggles.
Saddle of the Cavalier ^(DMG): If you are in a form that could feasibly wear a saddle, have an ally put this on and climb onto your back. All attacks against you now have Disadvantage. It’s as good as a Cloak of Displacement, but no Attunement an it doesn’t shut off if you’re hit. It’s arguably an abuse case since this is intended to protect horses, but RAW it works.

Rare Magic Items

Amulet of Health ^(DMG): Guarantees a consistently high Constitution score in any form so that your Constitution save modifier doesn’t dip when you change forms. Unfortunately, high-CR forms tend to be very large and may not be able to wear an amuet size for a human.
Belt of Giant Strength ^(DMG):
Bracers of Defense ^(DMG): A fantastic AC boost, but few forms have human-like wrists which would allow you to wear these.
Cloak of Displacement ^(DMG): Fantastic, and it should work on nearly any beast form.
Ioun Stone (Protection) ^(DMG): +1 AC is fantastic. A Cloak of Protection is better, but and Ioun Stone could float around the head of absolutely any beats you could imagine.
Wings of Flying ^(DMG): While you do have access to flying forms, much of their CR is attached to their ability to fly. A non-flying Beast of the same CR will likely be much more powerful. For example: you could turn into a flying Giant Squid, pull enemies off the ground with your tentacles, and drop them.

Very Rare Magic items

Animated Shield ^(DMG): +2 AC at the cost a Bonus Action every minute. You don’t need to don the shield, so anatomy shouldn’t be an issue.
Carpet of Flying ^(DMG): Conceptually fantastic, but high-CR Beasts tend to be very large and will outweigh even the largest carpet.
Ioun Stone (Agility, Fortitude, or Strength) ^(DMG): Increasing Constitution or Strength would be fantastic, but, by this level, increasing Dexterity won’t be helpful since high-CR forms all rely on Strength.

Legendary Magic Items

Ioun Stone (Mastery) ^(DMG): Always fantastic. Remember that you’ll use your own PB in many cases while in Wild Shape, so this will remain impactful.
Scarab of Protection ^(DMG): A fantastic defensive option. Don’t spend the last charge under any circumstance. You’re high enough level to be raised from the dead.