"It's fine," Ilphyl said. "Though the cause and effect might be the other way around. I chose to focus on shapeshifting rather than casting spells better, because of prior experiences in my life that mean I need to be mindful about my body."

Maybe they would have still chosen to focus on wild shape for other reasons, like loving animals or just being sick of being a dark elf on the surface -- no way to know -- but Ilphyl does realize some of the appeal was that it put their form under their own control to a far greater extent, and turned 'sometimes feeling off in their own skin' into an asset.