Shockingly, Dragon Quest 2: HD-2D Remake is an RPG. An honest to goodness, old-school RPG before half the industry decided to reinvent the wheel, turn every RPG into an action game, and remove the soul from the gameplay in the process! It’s a simple (one may opine, perfect) formula: defeat monsters, earn EXP, and level up, upon which you’ll gain (semi-randomized) stat bonuses and learn new (not randomized) spells and/or abilities. The more you fight, the more you learn, the stronger you are - perfect. This page will cover what spells and abilities each characters earns as they level up, and at what level they learn them in Dragon Quest 2: HD-2D Remake!

Page Breakdown¶

Gawain, Prince of Midenhall Abilities by Level¶

Gawain brings shame upon his lineage as a Scion of Erdrick by having a head full of rocks. Incapable of conjuring even the simplest of spells, that unusually thick skull of his does come in handy in melee combat, where he excels. The Prince of Midenhall learns no spells, but his abilities make up for it - especially if his companions consent to buff him with their own spells and abilities, in which case Gawain is arguably the most obvious choice for the party’s dedicated damage-dealer!

To make up for his lack of spells (and hence, elemental damage), Gawain has numerous attacks that deal extra damage against specific types of enemies - Cattle Prod for beasts, Dragon Slash for draconids, Flying Knee for flyers, etc. He doesn’t naturally learn any AoEs until Multifists at Lv36, but he’s more of a single-target DPS, anyways. In this, Cutting Edge is probably the most potent attack you can land, and spamming it against late-game bosses (after being buffed with Egg On and Oomph) can allow Gawain to regularly deal 1,000+ damage.

Forbearance is also a great skill, as Gawain uses it quickly (usually pre-empting all other characters) and take damage for the entire party, giving them a turn to apply buffs - just make sure Gawain is sturdy enough to tank! In some fights, Forbearance is a tremendous boon that allows the rest of the party to act unimpeded, but obviously Gawain can’t attack and use Forbearance in the same turn, and different fights will call for different tactics.

Caradoc, Prince of Cannock Spells and Abilities by Level¶

Caradoc splits the difference between Gawain and Peronel, being capable of casting spells while also standing his ground in melee combat. He’s often cast as the party’s “cleric”, due to his defensive-focused buffs and… well, the fact that he’s got the best healing spells in the game, including both Fullheal and Omniheal. He also has some potent offensive spells, including the signature Dragon Quest protagonist’s mastery of lightning with spells like Zap, Zapple and Kazap and he gets a variety of melee abilities like Flame Slash, Miracle Slash and Gigaslash.

One might even do Caradoc the honor of casting him as the “paladin” archetype, and while he has the requisite fondness for eating crayons, he tends to be forced into the role of the dedicated party healer, especially against late-game bosses. Targeting Gawain with Fullheal following a round of Forbearance is often necessary, and Caradoc’s ability to spam Omniheal to fully heal the entire party allows everybody else to focus on offense, buffing and debuffing.

Caradoc also learns the ever useful Safe Passage, which will negate damage from poisonous swamps, electrified floors and fiery floors. Very handy at the worst of times, near essential for locations like the Volcanic Grotto!

Peronel, Princess of Moonbrooke Spells and Abilities by Level¶

Peronel is… an odd duck. At a glance she’s the party mage, having more in the way of debilitations, damage-dealing spells and debuffs than her companions, with a passable complement of healing spells to keep her well-rounded. In fact, she will temporarily become the party’s best healing mid-game thanks to Multiheal, but eventually healing the entire party for 75~ HP just stops keeping up with the enemy’s damage output. Fortunately by this time Caradoc is gaining access to Omniheal (not to mention the gear and stats to use it regularly), so Peronel’s stint as primary healer is ultimately a short-lived one. She does, however, eventually learn Kazing, which is nice to have on another character so you’re not in deep trouble should Caradoc falter.

She’s the only character who learns Wild Side naturally, allowing her to act twice in a single turn, copying the same action, for better or worse. Not only does she have the MP pool to make use of this regularly, but it’s also one of the triggers for her Souped Up Skills, meaning she can be tossing out Big Bangas and Cleaner Sweeps by turn two… if you can keep her alive (Gawain’s Forbearance is very useful for this!). In fact, late-game she’s one of the best physical attackers in the game, and honestly a good place to invest Seeds of Strength! Even used more mundanely, double-casting Sap, Magic Barrier or Multiheal can also help you in fights.

Oh, and she’s also the only character who learns Zoom, which is necessary for getting around at a reasonable clip. Functionally this just means if Peronel is sliding around behind the party in a coffin, you’re hoofin’ it back to town. Bummer. Like we said, a very odd character, but one with a kit that can excel in many - sometimes surprising - circumstances.

Matilda, Princess of Cannock Spells and Abilities by Level¶

During pre-release footage we assumed that Matilda would be the rogue of the group - Gawain is the warrior, Caradoc is the cleric, Peronel is the mage - to our Dungeons and Dragons addled brain, this made sense. She’s not. Not really. She, like her brother, is competent both with the blade and spell, but she’s got a more varied kit - including buffs, debuffs, unarmed staples (like Thin Air) and a few whip and dagger abilities (Hypnowhip, Twin Dragon Lash, Persecutter) at the expense of not being much of a healer. At a glance, she’s a jack-of-all-trades, good enough at a few that your more capable companions might not need to waste turns buffing and debuffing, instead focusing on their areas of expertise. A good example of this is using Matilda to cast Egg On on, say, Gawain, so he can focus on using Cutting Edge instead of having to self-buff with Muster Strength.

This doesn’t mean Matilda is entirely a support character - her Kacrackle is a great all-enemy damage-dealer midgame, Hustle Dance (usually found on the game’s “sex appeal” characters - a niche Peronel has mostly monopolized) functions much like Midheal and Twin Dragon Lash is genuinely potent enough to compete with some of the better physical skills in the game. Okay, fine, she’s mostly a support character, but somebody’s gotta toss the Oomph Powder, and with scrolls she can learn staples like Buff, Kabuff, Sap, Kasap, and Insulatle, allowing everybody else to do what they do best.

Matilda also starts out with the ever-useful Peep spell, which can reveal the true nature of items (and weed out treasure chests from Mimics) and she’s the only character who can learn Snoop, which makes finding hidden items much, much easier. Oddly enough, she’s also the only character who can not learn Wild Side. Her high Luck stat means she’ll land critical hits and inflict debuffs more often, and her high Agility stat means she’ll often go first in combat, barring the contrivance of a Meteorite Bracer.