If you’ve already played through Dragon Quest I HD-2D, then you might know about the Souped-Up Skills that you can unlock and use during combat. Those are also here in Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake, and function in a similar manner. While you will have a plethora of abilities and spells at your disposal, some of the souped-up variants can be quite powerful, so it’s a good idea to know about them. Also, the in-game tip only mentions one way of activating them, but there is another way to do so that you’d have to find out on your own. Continue reading to find out how the Souped-Up Skills work in Dragon Quest II!

View Full-size

You’ll unlock Souped-Up Skills once you get the Soul Sigil.

Unlocking Souped-Up Skills - Dragon Quest II¶

You won’t be able to unlock the Souped-Up Skills in Dragon Quest II until a decent ways into the game. In fact, you will need to unlock the Soul Sigil in order to do so, which is the last one you will unlock of the five. These Sigils are needed as part of the main story, so you can’t miss them. You will unlock the Soul Sigil after clearing the Den of Iniquity dungeon, which is underwater. Defeat the boss at the end of this dungeon and you will unlock the extra skills.

Triggering Souped-Up Skills¶

When you first unlock the Soul Sigil, you will receive a short tutorial about how to trigger the Souped-Up Skills. The in-game help mentions that you can perform them whenever a character is under 50% HP. However, what it neglects to inform you about is that there is another way to trigger them, which involves using specific skills on a character. For example, using Focus Pocus on the Hero will allow him to use a number of Souped-Up Skills.

You’ll know you can use one of the skills whenever you highlight the skill in question and hold down the Square button. If the conditions have been met, there will be a little flourish on the name of that skill that extends from left to right. This will allow that skill to activate the souped-up version, although you won’t get the effect it does, nor how much MP it consumes. You can also use the basic skill and before it’s used in combat, hold the same button to get the souped-up version. Note that if you’re using the skill while under 50% HP and get healed prior to it being performed, then you will lose access to the souped-up skill.

View Full-size

123

(1 of 3) Using specific skills is one way to trigger the Souped-Up Skills.

All Prince of Midenhall Souped-Up Skills¶

For the Souped-Up Skills that say Buff, it’s important to note that a single cast of Kabuff will not trigger them. Buff increases defense by two levels, while Kabuff only increases it by one level, so you’d need two castings of Kabuff to work for those skills. You could also keep a Gold Bracer in Gawain’s inventory and equip it before casting Kabuff to ensure that this meets the threshold (in fact, spending the time to get a Gold Bracer for everybody so a single round of Kabuff vastly reduces incoming physical damage isn’t the worst idea…)

Skill	Souped-Up Skill	Conditions	Effect	MP
Helm Splitter	Scrap Mettle	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Strong attack on 1 foe, lowering defense significantly	16
Cattle Prod	Beast Bopper	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Effective against beast-family monsters	22
Undead Undoer	Pearly Gates	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Damages all foes; Strong against Undead	26
Demon Demeaner	Quadraslash	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Damages all foes	24
Dragon Slash	Double Dragon Slash	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Effective against dragon-family monsters	22
Double Up	Martyr’s Barter	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Damages one foe; Reduces user’s HP to 1	0
Helichopter	Backhander	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Wind-elemental attack to one foe	38
Cutting Edge	Unbridled Blade	Focus Pocus, HP <50%	Very strong attack to one foe	32
Muster Strength	Muster More Strength	Buff, HP <50%	Triples damage of next attack	12
Egg On	Gritty Ditty	Buff, HP <50%	Increases party’s attack and defense	30
Forbearance	Soul Asylum	Buff, HP <50%	Renders the entire party practically invincible	70
Meditation	Transcendental Meditation	Buff, HP <50%	Significantly recovers the caster’s MP	0
Focus Pocus	Blood of the Berserker	Buff, HP <50%	Raises caster’s attack/defense/agility two levels	12

All Caradoc Souped-Up Skills¶

Skill	Souped-Up Skill	Conditions	Effect	MP
Flame Slash	Tempered Tantrum	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Strong fire-elemental attack on 1 foe	25
Kacrackle Slash	Ice and a Slice	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Strong ice damage to group of enemies	38
Lightning Slash	Lightning Thrust	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Chance to deliver a critical hit	30
Gust Slash	Skysplitter	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Hits all enemies; Strong against Undead/Amorphous/Material enemies	34
Dragon Slash	Double Dragon Slash	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Effective against dragon-family monsters	22
Miracle Slash	Sword of Succor	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Strong attack on 1 foe that steals both HP and MP	20
Falcon Slash	Gyrfalcon Slash	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Delivers four attacks on a single enemy	38
Metal Slash	Blade of Ultimate Power	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Devastating damage to one enemy	45
Kazap	Lightning Storm	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Damages all foes with lightning damage; Chance to Paralyze	36
Kamikazee	Magic Burst	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Huge damage on all enemies (dependent on MP spent)	All MP
Kabuff	Brownie Boost	Reheal, HP <50%	Increases allies’ resistances and automatically restores their HP and MP each turn	18
Fizzle	Achilles’ Wheel	Reheal, HP <50%	Forms a magic circle that lowers a group of enemies’ defence and magical resistance	16
Wild Side	Divide	Reheal, HP <50%	Makes three clones of the caster which can carry out the same action three times per turn	40

View Full-size

Under 50% HP means the character name will be in yellow.

View Full-size

This will allow you to use any Souped-Up Skill, since the ones tied to an ability are specific uses.

All Peronel Souped-Up Skills¶

Skill	Souped-Up Skill	Conditions	Effect	MP
Blow Kiss	Last Hurrah	Wild Side, HP <50%	Deals damage to all enemies dependent on party’s HP	15
Lashings of Love	Pink Tornado	Wild Side, HP <50%	Attacks all enemies; Chance to confuse	14
Hypnowhip	Cleaner Sweep	Wild Side, HP <50%	Heavy damage to group of enemies	56
Lightning	Gloomstorm	Wild Side, HP <50%	Heavy lightning damage to all enemies	22
Kaboom	Big Banga	Wild Side, HP <50%	Heavy damage to all enemies	33
Sobering Slap	The Fight Fantastic	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	A daring dance that significantly increases the party’s attack	22
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo	Twocus Pocus	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Causes all spells cast to echo for a while, activating twice in a single turn	15
Spooky Aura	Weakening Wave	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Casts a lunar light on all enemies which lowers their attack	14
Reheal	Remidheal	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Automatically restores an ally’s HP for a while	18
Kazing	Zingslinger	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Revives all party members with a clean bill of health	50
Magic Barrier	0 Zone	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Allows a character to cast spells and abilities without using MP for a while	55
Snub	Wave of Relief	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Divine forces remove all status ailments affecting the party	15
Insulatle	Brake Wind	Snap Crackle Poof, HP <50%	Deflects breath attacks back at the enemy	15

All Matilda Souped-Up Skills¶

Skill	Souped-Up Skill	Conditions	Effect	MP
Hawkeye Claw	Blind Rage	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	An unbridled assault that randomly targets enemies with five blows	18
Shocking Slash	Whipcrackle	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	An electric whip-flick that eviscerates a group of enemies	16
Thin Air	Tooth and Claw	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Send an enemy’s fur flying with a swift and savage strike	20
Harvest Moon	Miracle Moon	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Deals damage to all enemies while also healing the caster’s wounds	15
Twin Dragon Lash	Thunderdragon Dance	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Unleashes lightning infused lashes on a single foe	60
Lightning	Thunder Sunderer	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Electrocutes all enemies foolish enough to stand in your way	20
Frizz	Frizzwhizz	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Hits an enemy with a whirlwind of fire	16
Kacrackle	Cold Feet	Dodgy Dance, HP <50%	Unleashes a blizzrd of bashings on a group of enemies, lowering their resistance to all kinds of icy attacks	38
Muster Strength	Chant of Champions	Absorb Magic, HP <50%	Increases the caster’s attack, defence, and chances of landing critical hits	20
Dodgy Dance	Rough ‘n’ Tumble	Absorb Magic, HP <50%	Raises the caster’s rate of evasion and likelihood of counter-attacking	13
Serenity	Caster Sugar	Absorb Magic, HP <50%	Increases the magical might of offensive spells and the effectiveness of status-changing spells	15
Spooky Aura	Give Magic	Absorb Magic, HP <50%	Divides half the caster’s MP amongst their allies	50% of MP
Bazoom	Switcheroo	Absorb Magic, HP <50%	A super-special spell that swaps the caster’s HP and MP	0