Break (Final Fantasy IX)

Break is a Blk Mag spell in Final Fantasy IX, obtained halfway through the game from the Cypress Pile staff. It attempts to inflict Petrify to one target, and the chances improve the more Level and Magic Vivi has. Petrified targets are instantly defeated.
Break can be used as an enemy ability by Gargoyle, which can be reflected and works with the ability Return Magic.
==Obtained==
Cypress Pile is bought for 3,200 gil from Lindblum (second storyline visit), Oeilvert Mogshop, Desert Palace Mogshop, and Esto Gaza (after Desert Palace).
==Mechanics==
The chance of Break inflicting Petrify on a non-immune, non-Heavy target, is as follows.
:Chance = 40 + Level + [Magic / 4] - Target's Level
After which two randomly generated numbers determine if the spell will hit.
:A random number 0...99 >= Chance, the spell misses
:A random number 0...99 < Target's Magic Evade, the enemy evades 
Vivi can boost his Magic during battle with Focus to improve the spell's success odds.
When Vivi is in Trance, he can use Break with Dbl Blk as long as he has the MP and Trance gauge left.
==Use==
Break is crucial for Level 1 runs of the game, as enemies that are inflicted with Petrify give no EXP (or gil), but still yield AP. Other instant defeat skills Vivi has are Stop and Death, which could be used instead of Break. Notably, Stop is nigh identical to Break in that enemies defeated with it also yield no EXP or gil. Zidane's Sargatanas with his Soul Blade is a superior way of inflicting Petrify over using Vivi's Break, as it will not miss unless the target is immune.
Because Break fails on Heavy targets, it will never work on bosses. Outside of Heavy enemies, it works on almost all normal enemy encounters. However, since Break has a chance of missing, using Vivi's turn on a damaging spell is likely more worthwhile most of the time unless the player is specifically avoiding gaining EXP from normal enemies.
Category:Black Magic in Final Fantasy IX