The protagonist’s improved arsenal of spells and abilities does much to expand the gameplay of Dragon Quest 1: HD-2D Remake over the original, but you know what’s better than having an expanded spell and ability list? Having an expanded spell and ability list with souped-up variants of some spells and abilities that can be triggered under certain conditions! It’s not quite the tension mechanic from Dragon Quest VIII or the Pep mechanic from Dragon Quest XI, but it does add another layer of tactical depth to Dragon Quest 1: HD-2D Remake, and this page will cover how souped-up skills work!
Page Breakdown¶
Midway through the game you’ll acquire the Soul Sigil, which unlocks the ability to use souped-up skills.
Unlocking Souped-Up Skills¶
In the early game you’ll have enough trouble finding the MP to use what few skills you have - and unless you’re playing on Draconian Quest difficulty, you’ll have little reason to bother using them. Once you reach the midgame, however, your resources expand - both in the number of skills you have access to and the MP to use them. This is a good thing, as enemies become increasingly more ferocious to the point where aptly using skills becomes a necessity even on Dragon Quest difficulty.
During the quest to craft the Magic Key you’ll be tasked with finding 
Wakerobin and 
Glimmergrass, and after you acquire them in the Field of Flowers, you’ll automatically acquire some seeds. Return to the Faerie Village and you’ll unlock your first Sigil, courtesy of the Craft-Master - the 
Soul Sigil (Dragon Quest I), in fact. This passively increases your maximum HP, but even more importantly it allows you to upgrade normal skills into souped-up variants under certain conditions.
(1 of 3) Under certain conditions, like having less than 50% of your maximum HP or being under the effect of Reheal or Focus Pocus, you’ll be able to use souped-up skills.
Triggering Souped-Up Skills¶
What conditions allow you to trigger these souped-up skills? Well, mostly being under 50% HP, and without either experimentation, luck, or completing the game, that might be the only way you figure out how to trigger souped-up skills, which is rather unfortunate, as you’re probably going to want to heal at that point to stay safe, which naturally prevents you from exploiting souped-up skills.
Fortunately there are more ways to trigger souped-up skills, and even more fortuitous, they’re less risky to trigger: You can use some souped-up skills when under the effects of the 
Reheal spell or the 
Focus Pocus (Dragon Quest I) ability. To use a souped-up skill, select a spell or ability that can be souped-up and hold down 
in the menu and a green pattern will appear under the named spell, activating the souped-up version if you persist. You can also select the spell or ability normally and just hold during the combat round to soup-up the skill on the fly!
Below you’ll find a list of all the spells and abilities you can soup-up, under what conditions they’re eligible to be souped-up, and their souped-up effects:
List of All Souped-Up Skills¶
| Skill | Souped-Up Skill | Conditions | Effect | MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cattle Prod | Beast Bopper | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Effective against beast-family monsters. | 22 MP |
 Defending Champion |
Pincushion | Reheal, HP <50% |
Counter-attack any attack for a turn. | 25 MP |
| Demon Demeaner | Quadraslash | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Damages all foes | 24 MP |
| Dragon Slash | Double Dragon Slash | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Effective against dragon-family monsters. | 22 MP |
| Falcon Slash | Gyrfalcon Slash | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Four attacks against a single enemy | 38 MP |
| Fizzle | Achilles’ Wheel | Reheal, HP <50% |
Lowers a group’s defence and magic resistance. | 16 MP |
| Gust Slash | Skysplitter | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Effective against undead, amorphous and material family monsters. | 34 MP |
| Kazap |  Lightning Storm |
Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Damages all enemies, can inflict paralysis. | 36 MP |
| Lightning Slash |
Lightning Thrust |
Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Low accuracy, but guaranteed critical hit if lands - effective against Metal Slimes | 30 MP |
| Magic Barrier | 0 Zone | Reheal, HP <50% |
Spells temporarily don’t cost MP | 55 MP |
| Muster Strength | Muster More Strength | Reheal, HP <50% |
Triples the damage of the next attack. | 12 MP |
| Undead Undoer | Pearly Gates | Focus Pocus, HP <50% | Damages all enemies, effective against undead. | 26 MP |
| Wild Side | Divide | Reheal, HP <50% |
Repeats the same action three times in a single round | 40 MP |
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