Many changes were made to Dragon Quest 2: HD-2D Remake, almost all of which we’d dare call… improvements? At the risk of offending purists, however, let’s just say that this version of the game was made to be more palatable for modern audiences and, in one important instance, made to be more uniform with the rest of the Dragon Quest series. In this case, this was done by adding a fourth party member, a staple of the series (save for the first game, but you could hardly turn a solo adventure into a party-based game without destroying the original’s flavor - for better or worse!). In any event, this new character, Matilda, is one of the selling points of this remake, and this page will discuss how to recruit her in Dragon Quest 2: HD-2D Remake!

Page Breakdown¶

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During your visit to Beran, Caradoc will be forced to leave your party.

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Return to Cannock and you’ll be given a quest to find an Yggdrasil Leaf.

Recruiting Matilda¶

You’ll run across Matilda early in the game, during your first visit to Cannock, and she’ll even join your party as an uncontrollable guest character twice during the main questline before making the union permanent.

It’ll actually be quite a while until you can recruit Matilda, as you need to acquire the ship in Rippleport, after which you’ll gain the freedom to sail around. If you want to recruit Matilda as soon as possible, sail south from Rippleport to reach Beran, where you can start a questline that ultimately ends up with Caradoc (the Prince of Midenhall) temporarily removed from your party. After this, travel to Cannock and meet with the king and queen for a scene, then head back to Beran for more scenes.

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(1 of 5) Sail east from Beran with just Gawain and Peronel to reach Yggdrasil’s Arbour,

The end result of all this chatter is you being tasked with sailing east to Yggdrasil’s Arbour with your remaining two characters. This is a very perilous journey, as you’re now quite under-strength and the enemies are relatively powerful. It’s highly recommended you go through Alefgard before you travel to Beran and continue the main questline up through the Dragonlord’s Castle and perhaps the [Lighthouse], if you’re feeling frisky. The extra gear and levels you get from this will make journeying with Gawain (Prince of Midenhall) and Peronel (Princess of Moonbrooke) much, much easier. Still not easy, but easier.

Persevere and make it into the Yggdrasil’s Arbour dungeon to trigger a scene, after which Matilda will join your party as a guest for the second time, which makes the going much easier… if for no better reason than that Matilda can’t be felled and yet still draws enemy aggro. She’ll also contribute with healing (as the situation demands), Crackle and normal attacks, so she’s not just a cheap damage sponge. Just don’t expect her to carry you to victory. Make it to the end of the dungeon, return to Beran, and after some more scenes Caradoc will rejoin your party… along with Matilda.

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When you first recruit her, Matilda’s immaturity will hinder her effectiveness - wasting turns or even damaging the party! She’ll goof around less as she levels up, however.

Using Matilda in Combat¶

The game was already balanced around three characters, with the Prince of Midenhall being the warrior, the Prince of Cannock being the cleric and the Princess of Moonbrooke being the mage - a nigh classic Dungeons and Dragons party! If one thing was missing, it’s the thief… and that’s not quite the role Matilda plays, instead being sort of a jack of all trades who can fight, heal, deal magical damage, buff and debuff. She can’t do much better than the other characters, but she can do some things well enough to allow the other three to focus on what they’re best at.

Equipped with boomerangs and whips, Matilda can eventually become a decent mob-slayer. Thin Air is a series-staple ability that hits all enemies, although it’s nigh obsolete by the time Matilda learns it. More enduring is Kacrackle, which deals heavy damage to all enemies. Twin Dragon Lash is also capable of dealing decent single-target damage.Hustle Dance is another familiar Dragon Quest ability that functionally works like Multiheal, although Peronel will probably be a better healer due to her high Wisdom, but if you need to heal the whole party a lot and don’t want to use Caradoc’s Omniheal, having Matilda use Hustle Dance while Peronel casts Multiheal works well.

All that said, against late-game bosses we typically restricted Matilda to buffing and debuff with Buff, Kabuff, Insulatle and Sap. If you teach her Egg On, she can also buff Gawain (our main damage dealer) so he doesn’t have to bother using Muster Strength on himself. It’s also worth noting that Matilda learns or can be taught the super useful spells Peep (get more info about items) and Snoop (highlight loot).

Finally, it should be noted that Matilda… well, there’s a reason she wasn’t allowed to join you at the beginning of the game. She’s rather immature and prone to goofing off in combat, ignoring your commands. This annoying quirk will become less common as Matilda levels up, becoming very rare when Matilda’s around Lv40+. Character development!