Polymorph

Polymorph is a mage spell that transforms the enemy into a critter, removing it from combat. It is the mage's primary crowd control spell, allowing him or his party to focus their efforts elsewhere while the polymorphed target wanders harmlessly for a period of time. Any damage will break the effect, including DoTs. The spell only works on beasts, humanoids (including enemy player characters) and critters. It's taught on lvl 14.

Polymorph will affect mobs up to the advertised duration (20 to 50 seconds depending on player level), but players will break out of the transformation after no more than 10 seconds. Polymorph is dispellable as a magic debuff. Certain trinkets also specifically dispel Polymorph effects, such as /.

The trainer-taught spell transforms the target into a sheep. At level 60, mages can learn other variations on the polymorph spell. They are functionally the same as Polymorph (Rank 4), with the only difference being the visual transformation. They can also replace the standard spell with yet another form with a glyph starting at level 15

A polymorphed target is often referred to as a "sheeped" target. Furthermore, "sheep" is often used as a verb; to sheep a target is to polymorph it. Even when using any of the Polymorph variations, the word sheep is still often used.

Talent improvement
Arcane Focus and Precision increase Polymorph's chance to hit by 1% per rank, up to a total of 6% (3% per talent). Arcane Subtlety will reduce the threat caused by Polymorph by 40% at max rank, though the threat caused by the spell is minimal. Improved Polymorph will stun the polymorphed target for 1.5/3 sec when damaged.

Tips and tactics
The careful use of Polymorph can be tremendously effective in combat against elites. Typically, a Mage will use Polymorph at the beginning of combat, allowing the group to focus on the remaining targets. Because Polymorph heals the target, it is much more effective to use it early in a combat rather than later when the target may have already suffered some damage. It is advised wait with your polymorph until the tank has started the combat, otherwise the mage will have initial aggro of all remaining enemies, which can lead to a quick death especially vs powerful raid elites if the tank does not draw aggro from these mobs fast enough.

Polymorph can be reapplied, refreshing the duration, at any time in combat, so it is helpful to always re-sheep before the effect expires. It is more difficult to re-sheep a mob that is running loose (and likely beating on you) than one that is already under control.

In group situations, the party leader can use a Raid Target Icon to designate which target to polymorph. This can allow the mage to keep track of where the sheep is during the fight, and can easily tell if the polymorph effect is broken. The most common marker for sheep is the Moon. It is also possible for higher-level groups with more that one mage to further coordinate by assigning a specific polymorph style to a specific mage.

Wandering sheep can aggro nearby groups when it breaks near them. Using Frostbolt to pull and slow the movement speed of the target to a more favourable location before sheeping will help minimize the chances of this happening. It is also helpful to use Frost Nova to freeze an enemy in place to prevent it from hitting you, then Polymorph it.

By using a simple macro you can stop casting a spell before it is finished and re-sheep as needed. This allows the mage to be much more responsive if a target breaks early.

/stopcasting /cast Polymorph

Focus Target & Polymorph Macro
Use the Focus target to keep track of your sheep while killing other targets. In the default Blizzard UI, the focus target shows as a seperate frame as of recent patches. The focus target can be set and regained with macros as well, which helps when it is necessary to resheep a target.

This macro combined with the Focus target will make your polymorph hotkey more responsive by allowing you to stop casting your current spell and sheep your focus target without switching your current target.

/stopcasting /cast [target=focus] Polymorph

A more complex focus macro will focus and polymorph your target until it dies, with additional clicks re-sheeping the target. When your polymorphed focus is dead, select a new target and click again to focus and polymorph it. Hold shift and click to change polymorph targets mid fight. (via spicytuna)

/clearfocus [modifier:shift] /focus [target=focus,noexists]; [target=focus,dead] /clearfocus [target=focus,help] /stopcasting /cast [target=focus,exists,harm] Polymorph; Polymorph
 * 1) showtooltip Polymorph

PvP
Polymorph can be a very useful tool in PvP, though it does have some limitations over PvE use. Specifically, the following limitations apply when Polymorphing a hostile player:
 * Polymorph will never last longer than 8 seconds.
 * Polymorph is subject to diminishing returns. Duration displayed on the debuff is capped at 8 seconds on the first cast, then 5 and 2.5 after subsequent casts. After the 4th cast, the target is immune. After 15 seconds of freedom from Polymorph, diminishing returns reset back to 8 seconds. Polymorph is not known to share its diminishing returns with any other crowd control ability.
 * Polymorph has a chance of a heartbeat resist.
 * Players flying on flying mounts are immune to polymorph.
 * Druids in shapeshifted forms are immune to polymorph completely, and druids in caster form can shapeshift to break the spell instantly.

While Polymorph does regenerate the target's health quickly, it doesn't affect mana in any way. In PvP situations mages can Polymorph then bandage and/or evocate, effectively restarting a fight.

Polymorphing a Warrior using a shield and Spell Reflection can also be extremely useful if timed correctly. Rather than have a damaging spell reflected back, you can essentially sheep yourself and benefit from the healing effect.

It is not particularly effective against druids, due to their immunity in shapeshifted forms and ability to shapeshift and break the spell instantly. The best it can do against a druid is interrupt his heal in progress or force him to spend mana to break it.