Auto-Life (Final Fantasy IX Blu Mag)

Auto-Life is a Blu Mag spell for Quina in Final Fantasy IX that bestows a status that revives the affected if they fall in that battle for the cost of 14 MP. Auto-Life cannot be reflected and would not work with Return Magic, though no enemy uses it against the player party anyway.
==Obtain==
Quina learns Auto-Life by eating a Carrion Worm (Cleyra's Trunk), Gimme Cat (world map in south-western archipelago), Cerberus (Ipsen's Castle), Yan (Vile Island), and Stilva (final dungeon). The earliest the player can get it is by recruiting Quina before going to Cleyra, and eating a Carrion Worm on the trunk on the way to the town. Quina will leave the party after the events at Cleyra, and Cleyra's Trunk is an unrevisitable location, meaning the next chance to learn Auto-Life is after the party has the Blue Narciss from the Gimme Cats on the grasslands terrain near Chocobo's Lagoon or the Lanar Island Qu's Marsh.
==Mechanics==
Auto-Life grants the status of the same name to an ally, reviving them at 1 HP should they be KO'd in that battle. Though the spell's description says that it "casts Life" on the KO'd, it does not cast the normal Life spell Dagger and Eiko use, but simply brings the ally back with 1 HP. Auto-Life is removed by Dispel or petrification.
==Use==
Auto-Life can be used in tough battles to protect the player party: should the enemy kill them, they can be brought back without a different ally needing to revive them. It safeguards the party against total annihilation, such as against an unlucky outcome of Ozma's Meteor. Though the affected is revived at 1 HP, leaving them vulnerable to any follow-up attack, Auto-Regen mitigates the risk.
Battles where Auto-Life comes to use are the aforementioned Ozma, Quale since Quina will always be present, Hades, and the final bosses. It could also be useful against enemies that use Instant Death, as there is no other kind of death-protection in Final Fantasy IX.
Other methods to bestow Auto-Life are the Auto-Life support ability and Amarant's Aura. The Auto-Life support ability takes numerous Magic Stones and activates the effect as the character enters battle (auto-reviving them if they entered the battle KO'd even), wearing off from Dispel, petrification, or after activating once. It is more useful against random encounters so the player does not need to cast Auto-Life at the start of every encounter, such as when level grinding against tough opponents like Yans, or for going through tougher dungeons like the final dungeons. For boss battles, the Magic Stones Auto-Life takes up may be better used elsewhere, whereas Quina could be brought in for a pure support role, able to also reapply the status after the affected has been KO'd once.
Amarant in Trance trumps Quina in Auto-Life bestowal, able to give it to the entire ally party at once with Aura. Even without Trance his version could be seen as superior, as it also gives Regen, making the ability useful even if the affected does not die during battle. However, by late game the party is likely always using Auto-Regen, as it is simply the best way to heal.
As Auto-Life revives at 1 HP, it can be used strategically to set Quina up for Limit Glove. Quina can learn Auto-Life before even the regular Life spell is available, and Limit Glove is also one of the early spells, meaning this strategy can be used against Antlion and Lani. However, Quina spends a lot of time away from the main party during the early portions and does not face many bosses until joining permanently when the party gets the Blue Narciss.
Auto-Life is not too expensive to use at 14 MP, and is a useful safeguard as it does not expire over time. The only downsides are that it will not rescue the affected from being ejected, diminishing its usefulness against Yans, or from petrification.
Category:Blue Magic in Final Fantasy IX