Lower monster level
Description
LV Down is a command ability in Final Fantasy VIII used to lower an enemy's level during battle. It is counterpart to the LV Up ability. Bosses and certain other enemies are immune to level-change abilities.
Obtained[]
LV Down is known by the Guardian Force Tonberry, obtained by defeating Tonberry King after felling enough Tonberries at Centra Ruins.
If the player removes LV Down with Amnesia Greens, there is no need to get it back.
Mechanics[]
LV Down allows the player to manipulate regular enemies' levels, halving the target's level per use to change what type of items can be mugged or won, as well as the type of spells that can be drawn from them, all while making the enemy much weaker by reducing their stats and affecting what abilities they will use in battle. If the enemy has different elemental resistance on different levels, using LV Down/Up will not affect it, and the enemy keeps the elemental resistance/weakness it had at the start of the battle. LV Down can be used repeatedly and the effect will not wear off. The minimum level an enemy can have is 1.
If the character equipped with LV Down gets confused, they will never use LV Down in this state.
Use[]
LV Down can be used to make tougher enemies easier to defeat, but is generally a niche ability. It could be used to bring Grendels and T-Rexaurs to the level ranges where they yield Dragon Fangs, items needed for weapon remodeling. It could be used to lower Ruby Dragon levels so they do not use Meteor. It could be used to bring Adamantoises level down so that their only mug item is Whisper if the player wanted to farm 100 Whispers to make a Healing Ring. It could be used to lower Cactuar levels to make them drop Lightweights for making an Accelerator, however, the player usually only gets one action against a Cactuar at best before they flee. LV Down works on Propagators even if they are pseudo-bosses.
The player can use Scan to check the target's current level, but enemies generally spawn on levels that are the average of the active party levels, though few areas in the game have enemies on fixed levels, such as enemies in Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell always spawning on level 100.
Elnoyle is immune to LV Up/Down