Clarification on static batching a shader-animated mesh

I’ve read that objects set to static will be static batched, but you should not do this to any objects that will move, rotate, or scale as it is very inefficient.

However, if a meshes vertices are being animated by a shader does that count as moving? Or can it be safely marked as static in the scene?

Yes, you can use vertex animated shaders on static objects! I ran some tests in editor and in builds, and it works.

Here is a demo form Double M Digital showing vertex animated and UV animated shaders on static geometry: DMD Shader animation on static objects demo