LV?Death

Lv? Death is a Blue Magic spell obtainable for Quistis in Final Fantasy VIII. Its success depends on the enemy being susceptible to Instant Death and being on a correct level for the ability to take effect, and the current Crisis Level, a hidden stat in the game. It is a potentially early Blue Magic Limit Break, learned from a Curse Spike. Blue Magic is available randomly when Quistis is on low health or under Aura.
The enemy version of this ability is Level 5 Death, used by Torama and Omega Weapon.
==Obtained==
LV?Death is learned from the item Curse Spike, which can be won (or in some cases mugged) from Malboro, Forbidden (LV20+), Imp, Creeps (LV30+), Grand Mantis, and Tri-Face. The player can also make the Tri-Face card into a Curse Spike using Quezacotl's Card Mod ability since the beginning of the game.
==Mechanics==
LV?Death casts the Death spell on all enemies based on Quistis's Crisis Level.
*Crisis Lv.1 - LV4 Death
*Crisis Lv.2 - LV3 Death
*Crisis Lv.3 - LV2 Death
*Crisis Lv.4 - LV1 Death
Level 4 Death would mean that enemies whose level is a multiple of 4 would die when the spell succeeds. Enemies in Final Fantasy VIII mostly have random levels based on the player party's average, though they can be manipulated with Tonberry Guardian Force's LV Down/Up commands.
Crisis Level is a hidden stat calculated based on how low the party's current HP is compared to their maximum, the number of dead allies, and the number of ailments the party members are afflicted with. The worse off the party is, the better Limit Break outcomes the player can expect. Crisis Level is also raised with the Aura status.
The spell uses the same animation and success calculation as the Death spell, but no magic is expended from the spell stock, the Blue Magic targets all enemies, and it cannot be reflected.
Status ailment spells' effectiveness is calculated by the following formula:
:If (Status Defense >= 200) Target does not get the status
:else: Infliction% = Magic Stat/4 - Target's Spirit/4
::Infliction% = Infliction% - Status Defense + 200
:Status Defense starts at 100 (0%) and the cap is 200 (100%).
LV?Death will not work on enemies who resist Instant Death, such as undead and all bosses.
==Use==
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LV?Death is generally only useful against random encounters, as bosses are immune to Instant Death. At the highest Crisis Level, it works like a group-cast Death spell. 
LV?Death is the most inconvenient way to attempt to inflict Instant Death. The player can attach the Instant Death effect to their Attack command by junctioning 100 Death spells to their ST-Atk-J, or even just use Death spells or Death Stones; the spells are fairly easily available via refining. The Death spell can even be multi-cast when under Double or Triple. Quistis's Bad Breath also has Instant Death against all enemies when used at the highest Crisis Level.
It is likely always better to use Quistis's Limit Break for something other than LV?Death. Though the spell can be obtained early from the card game, a Black Hole from a Gesper card is even more available as the player gets one in the starter deck and Gesper is a common Level 1 card. Black Hole teaches Degenerator, a far superior Instant Death Blue Magic spell that though only targets one enemy, will not fail unless when targeting a boss or the very few regular enemies that are immune. Though Grats in the Balamb Garden Training Center are immune to Degenerator, they are also immune to LV?Death, so even this use is not workable.
LV?Death could potentially be useful against a formation of Grendels on Island Closest to Hell to get a multi-target death before the enemy can act, and the player is not sure their Bad Breath is would reach the highest Crisis Level. On Island Closest to Hell, enemies spawn on LV100, which most LV?Death level ranges would hit. It could also potentially be worth using against Sorceresses during the time compression event.
==Citations==
Category:Blue Magic in Final Fantasy VIII
Category:Level-targeting spells