Automatically casts Life in battle.
Description
Auto-Life is a support ability in Final Fantasy IX that every permanent party member can learn. It bestows them with automatic Auto-Life status at the start of battle for the cost of 12 Magic Stones, allowing the wearer to come back to life at 1 HP should they be KO'd. It is one of the most valuable and expensive support abilities to both master and equip.
Obtained[]
Auto-Life is learned from the Rebirth Ring Add-on for variable amounts of AP; Vivi learns it the fastest at 70 AP, while Quina learns it the slowest at 165 AP. Rebirth Ring is obtained the earliest from the Treno Tetra Master tournament for winning against Cid. It is also synthesized in Daguerreo, found in the Forgotten Island chocograph treasure, and stolen from the penultimate boss past the point of no return.
Mechanics[]
The wearer starts battles with Auto-Life in effect. This bestows them no visual cue, but the status is visible when targeting with support spells. When the wearer is KO'd, they immediately come back to life at 1 HP, even if they started the battle in KO'd state, or even if they have Zombie. Auto-Life status is the only way to revive Zombified party members. Auto-Life cannot be dispelled, but wears off after initiating. If the party is defeated via Petrify or Stop rather than by KO, Auto-Life does not help.
Use[]
Auto-Life is one of the best support abilities in the game, but requires support and further steps to try to prevent the recently revived from immediately succumbing again. Auto-Regen is a great complement as the revived will begin to accumulate HP immediately, and would do so even faster if they had Auto-Haste, though a set-up with all three would be taxing on Magic Stones.
Auto-Life can be used to get Quina to 1 HP to ready their Limit Glove. If all of the party has Auto-Life, and they all succumb and then return to life in low health, Steiner could invoke Charge!.
Auto-Life's main drawback is that it may be a rarely needed ability with a steep Magic Stone requirement. An alternative would be to use Amarant's Aura or Quina's Auto-Life spell. Another "last chance" ability is Eiko's Phoenix, but it activates randomly.