Transformation is the art of permanently becoming something else, or of making someone else something else. Both Death and Nature Mages can do both of these, but the transformations of death are far more permanent. Transformation resets the Age of the subject, and it may heal afflictions.

Only those with living, physical bodies may be transformed. This excludes the Undead (and Demons), the Inanimate, Spiritforms, and Illusions.

There are two Death rituals that transform the user. Twiceborn and Lichcraft. Neither can be used by Plants, nor by Pretender Gods or Prophets. The resulting form is Undead, so the user cannot transform again afterwards. Both of these spells have their own pages.

The only Nature ritual for transformation is Transformation. This one has a random result, though the result is almost always living.

The exact mechanics of Transformation are currently unknown. The Dominions 5 version of this illwiki page gives much more exact information on possible results; however, the spell seems to have recently changed in one or two ways.

• There's an (80 + Luck)% chance that you become something neat. If you're casting this Underwater, this form is guaranteed to have an Underwater Trait, typically Aquatic.
• If you fail that first chance, there's an (80 + Luck)% chance that you become an abomination of sorts. If and only if the new form is NOT mindless, the caster receives the Feebleminded affliction, losing all its paths. Mindless results, which cannot have the feebleminded affliction, instead lose all of their arcane (non-holy) magic levels.
• If you fail both of these chances, the abominable form you transform into is also dead. Extra Lives on the caster will save you, but you'll still be an abomination, and you'll still be Feebleminded (and/or level-capped).
• The "neat" result can be an odd humanoid (from a certain list), a monster (from a certain list), or an animal (presumably from a certain list). Some of these are aligned towards certain magic paths, so there is a percent chance per form that you get a level in that path. This chance in-turn has a multiplier, with a base of 1, and each point of Magic in the province adds 0.1 to the multiplier (while Drain subtracts 0.1). Every 100% on the chance is lobbed off and considered a guaranteed +1 in that path.

More testing needs to be done on the exact mechanics of the "level loss". The spell description indicates that a certain level of skill will allow one to preserve their magical abilities; judging by the numbers in the Dominions 5 iteration, having either 3 or higher, 3 or higher, or at least 4 levels in another non-holy path will preserve the Transformed unit's magic. In Dominions 5, these figures were the level caps for Mindless Transformations instead.

Pretender Gods are unable to cast Transformation, just as they are unable to cast Twiceborn and Lichcraft.

Two items, the Lycanthropos' Amulet and the Pebble Skin Suit, will eventually transform their wearers. The former has a 2% chance to make you a Werewolf each turn, while the latter has a 2% chance to make you a Troll. Getting either of these may happen involuntarily, since they're cursed items, so this might not happen willingly.

There is one Death ritual that transforms others, the Ritual of Rebirth, which turns a fella into a Mummy. It does work on the Undead, unlike other Transformations; however, the subject has to be already dead. You may also use this on someone more than once to resurrect them again, making it the only Transformation spell that also (technically) works on the Inanimate; more details are divulged below.

There are two combat spells that transform others: these are Curse of the Frog Prince and Polymorph. The former makes someone a Frog (one of those Mindless bad results mentioned under Transformation above), while the latter turns many people into Boars. It is unclear if making someone a Frog is as bad for them as becoming a Frog via Transformation.

Resummoning a specific unit (i.e. Recalling a Pretender God) transforms them back into their original form. The only exception is the Ritual of Rebirth, which summons the fellow back specifically as a Mummy.