Reduce one foe's HP to 0.
Description
Death is an Arcane Magicks spell in both the original PlayStation 2 version as well as the Zodiac re-releases of Final Fantasy XII. It is a single-target status spell that attempts to inflict instant death to the target. Undead enemies and enemies with the Safety augment are immune to it, meaning Death will never work on any of the toughest foes.
Death can be cast by Gespenst, Etém, Nightwalker, Reaper Mage, Reaper, Necrophobe, Dragon Lich, Oversoul, Oversoul, Piscodaemon, Zalera, Ishteen, Evil Spirit, Vorres, and Baknamy (Sword). There is no accessory that protects against instant death, and so the player's best protection is with Shell status or Shell Shield to halve the chance of it working.
Obtained[]
In the Zodiac versions its license costs 50 License Points. The spell is found in Paramina Rift's Karydine Glacier, in the tip of the top right dead end next to the river.
In the original version, Death's license costs 60 LP. It is bought for 5200 gil after defeating Judge Bergan from Rabanastre, Nalbina Fortress, and Phon Coast.
In the Zodiac versions, Death can be used by the Red Battlemage, a job class that specializes in Arcane Magicks. The Esper Zalera also knows it but has no default gambit for it.
Mechanics[]
Death attempts to inflict instant death to a target, defeating them instantly. Undead enemies and enemies with the Safety augment are immune; the enemies with Safety include bosses, marks, and Rare Game, among other tough enemies, like entites.
The base success rate of the spell against an enemy that is not immune is 35% in the original version, updated to 50% in the Zodiac versions.
The success rate is unaffected by the target's Magick Evade stat, as the spell instead checks against the target's Vitality.
The hit rate is improved by further 50% with the caster having Faith status, or doubled with Serenity license/Magick Gloves when on full health, or Spellbreaker license/Leather Gorget when in critical health. Target's Shell halves the accuracy of the spell. If the caster is wearing the Indigo Pendant, Death will succeed unless the enemy is immune to the status.
The accuracy underflow bug is a glitch in some versions of Final Fantasy XII where a low level character with extremely low Magick Power stat attempts to use a status move on a target with very high Vitality, and the accuracy of the spell becomes less than zero. In this case the accuracy will underflow to 100%, allowing certain status spells to always succeed.
Death costs 20 MP to cast without Channeling licenses in the Zodiac versions, and 30 MP in the original. The spell will bounce from Reflect unless the caster wears the Opal Ring.
Use[]
Death is a status affliction spell the player can easily set up via the gambit system (such as with Foe:Any→Death but with Foe:Undead above it with a different action). However, it is best used situationally as many enemies are immune to it, and with the Indigo Pendant equipped whenever possible to ensure it will not miss. As alternatives, the player can also use a Phoenix Down with the Nihopalaoa, Bonecrusher, the Warp spell, or Zalera's Kill, however, Warp and Kill do not yield EXP nor LP for enemies defeated with them. To inflict instant death onto undead, the player can instead use Raise.
Using weapons with a death effect may be more versatile and thus preferable: Deathbringer (12%), Assassin's Arrows (25%), Assassin's Dagger (5%), and Mina (70%). The player could also simply summon Zalera and use his Kill ability. Though Zalera also knows the Death spell in the Zodiac versions, he is likely better off using Kill instead.
Death can be good against diver types that tend to use kamikaze when they are about to be defeated. Flying enemies that are not bosses, marks, or rares are vulnerable to the spell, and so the player can easily take them out without a ranged weapon if they have access to Death. It could also be good against Tyranoroxes, Baknamies, and Shield Wyrms.