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Non-elemental damage + make enemy Vit 0.
Description
Meltdown is an indirect magic spell in Final Fantasy VIII. The spell reduces an enemy's Vitality to 0, effectively removing their defense to physical attacks and making them much more vulnerable. It can also be be junctioned to boost stats, and provides the third-greatest boost to Vitality. Despite its effect, Meltdown is not associated with any status effect.
Obtained
Meltdown is a rare spell that can only be drawn from high-level enemies when the party is over level 30. It is more easily refined from Mystery Fluids using the Guardian Force Diablos' ability ST Mag-RF. These are easily obtained from Gaylas.
Stats
Use
Meltdown reduces a target's Vitality to 0 and deals a small amount of non-elemental damage. This effectively removes their physical defense, making enemies much easier to defeat. This is particularly useful against enemies such as the Adamantoise. Despite its effect being similar to a status effect, Meltdown does not actually inflict a status effect.
Meltdown is cast using the Magic command, Selphie's Slot Limit Break, or Rinoa's Angel Wing. It is one of the few spells that doesn't affect GF compatibility when cast in battle.
Meltdown can also be junctioned to boost stats, notably Vitality, for which it provides the third-greatest boost to the stat. However, as it is not associated with any status effect, it is not possible to junction it to ST-Atk-J, meaning it is impossible to inflict its effect without casting the spell. Therefore, the player may wish to cast it in certain situations rather than to junction it.