Gestures

Gestures, or Skills in Hylics, are abilities that are mainly used in battle. They are used by both the protagonists and foes. Each party member has a signature gesture. Additional gestures can be learned by watching Televisions, which are scattered about the world of Hylics. Gestures can damage enemies, apply status effects, and/or heal allies, at the cost of spending will. Each gesture features a unique animation and sound effect that appears during battle.

At the beginning of Hylics 2, Old Wayne mentions the use of "proscribed gestures" being used to bring back Gibby.

In Hylics[]

Crew's Gestures[]

Name	Description	Usage Message	Will Cost	Notes	Learned By	Location
Bubbles	Inflicts Queasy status on one enemy.	User utilized Bubbles!	20	Poisons the target.	Everyone	Somsnosa's House
Guard	Damage taken is reduced 75% for 1 turn.	User guards.	0	This skill will be used when you select the Guard command.	Everyone	Default
Health Chant	Restores 50% of all allies Flesh.	User used Health Chant!	35	50% Flesh recovery for all living allies.	Everyone	Graveyard
Dark Flame	Damages all enemies. Slightly stronger than normal attack.	User unleashed the Dark Flame!	60	Deals 1.4x damage on all enemies.	Everyone	Pongorma's chamber
Detonation	Inflicts 250% damage. Slow casting speed.	User triggered detonation!	60	Always moves last.	Everyone	Guard's TV in the Vault
Mystic Meat	Removes status ailments from all allies. Prevents status ailments for 3 turns.	User invoked Mystic Meat!	10	Lasts 3 turns.	Everyone	Top-left corner of the Computer Room
Space Shurikens	Strikes quickly, deals double damage.	User deployed Space Shurikens!	50	Always goes first.	Everyone	Walking TV in the Ancient Ruins
Calibration	Temporarily Increases Mightiness.	User performed Calibration!	20	Multiplies mightiness by 1.5 for 3 turns, cannot stack.	Everyone	The Afterlife, after using Dynamite on the cave wall
Ablative Holopleather	Guards and heals 30% of Flesh.	User manifested Ablative Holopleather!	25	Menu name is "Ab. Holopleather".	Everyone	Wayne's House
Dissect	Damages all enemies & removes positive statuses.	User performed dissection!	50	Removed Guard, Ailment Guard, and Counterattack statuses from all enemies.	Everyone	Band House TV
Legend of Melting	Ultimate magic. Randomly strikes 3 times. May briefly stun targets.	User invoked Legend of Melting!	200	Deals 3.5x damage per hit. Has a 15% chance to stun enemies.	Everyone	Sages' Altar, after collecting 3 Sage Tokens
Hypno Sigils	Probably causes enemies to fall asleep.	Wayne employed hypno-sigils!	30	70% chance of sleep on each enemy.	Wayne	Default
Panorama	May confuse enemies. Inflicts slight damage.	Dedusmuln wrought an engrossing panorama!	30	50% chance of confusion on each enemy.	Dedusmuln	Default
Mini Leech	Drains enemies' flesh points.	Somsnosa unleashed mini leech!	75	Deals .75x damage on all enemies.	Somsnosa	Default
Ancient Odor	Inflicts minor damage and poisons all enemies.	Pongorma wafted Ancient Odor!	50	Deals .25x damage and poisons enemies.	Pongorma	Default
Partial Destruct	Inflicts damage equal to 25% of target's current flesh points.	Pongorma wreaked partial havoc!	60	Calculated as target's current HP / 4.	Pongorma	Default
Illusion Form	Temporarily change appearance. Purely cosmetic.	None	0	Temporarily changes parties appearance in overworld.	Everyone	Coastal House TV

Enemy Gestures[]

Enemies can also perform gestures, and have no Will stats or other costs to invoke them. Although some gestures behave identically to those the party can learn, they are listed separately in the game's data.

The below gesture names are within the game data, and cannot be viewed in-game.

Name	Effect	Usage Message	Users
Flesh Leech	Deals 2.5x damage against one party member, and heals the user by that much.	User Leeched Flesh!	Horrid Projection, Creature, Gibby, Fathead
Ablative Holopleather	Applies Guard and heals 30% of total Flesh.	User manifested Ablative Holo-Pleather!	Vital Statue
Guard	Damage taken is reduced 75% for 1 turn.	User guards.	Guard
Damping	Gives Damped status to entire party.	User caused damping!	Despair Puff, Horrid Projection
Sulk	User does nothing.	User is Sulking!	Fleshtache, Horrid Projection, Cone Cultist
Idle Stare	User does nothing	User is staring into space!	Monoops, Fleshtache
Cone Poem	Raises all allies damage for 2 turns.	User recited a Cone Poem	Cone Statue
Rapid Assault	Deals normal damage to one target at top speed.	User attacks with great speed!	Gibby, Spiral Polycerate
Calibration	Applies 2-turn and 1-turn attack buffs to target.	User performed Calibration!	Malign Hologram
Chrome Flame	Deals 1.5x damage to entire party, 60% chance to Stun.	Clawman ignited Chrome Flame!	Clawman
Pincers	Deals 100 damage to target, Stuns target.	Clawman employed pincers!	Clawman
Cosmic Procession	Halves party's Flesh.	Gibby summoned cosmic procession!	Gibby
Gremlin Dance	Attacks entire party for normal damage and causes Confusion.	Gibby produced dancing gremlins!	Gibby
Cranial Appendage	Deals 0.5% damage to target, 25% chance to paralyze target, poisons target.	User lashes out with its toxic cranial appendage!	Horrid Projection, Slughead
Dark Flame	Deals 1.4x damage to entire party.	User unleashed the Dark Flame!	Guard, Pongorma, Ghost, Dread Meat
Bubbles	Inflicts Queasy status on one target.	User utilized Bubbles!	Vital Statue, Dread Meat
Flesh Rip	Deals normal damage to one target twice in one turn.	User ripped your flesh!	Mustelid
Weasel Dance	Evades any attack for one turn.	User used Weasel Dance! Its evasiveness rose!	Mustelid
Doom Spiral	Attacks entire party for normal damage, 50% chance to Stun.	User extruded a Doom Spiral!	Spiral Polycerate, Eerie Statue
Shine	80% chance of Blind on each party member.	User is shining!	Cone Statue, Ghost, Malign Hologram
Reconstitute	Heals 50% of Flesh to all allies.	User used Reconstitute!	Vital Statue
Ancient Odor	Inflicts minor damage and poisons entire party.	User wafted Ancient Odor!	Eerie Statue, Creature
Mystic Meat	Removes status ailments from all allies. Prevents status ailments for 3 turns.	User invoked Mystic Meat!	Vital Statue
Dead Language	Deals half damage, removes 30% of each party member's Will.	User described unnerving glyphs!	Ghost
Bio-Wave	Targets entire party. Deals .8x damage, debuffs party's Attack for 2 turns, and has a 10% chance to Stun each party member.	User unleashed Bio Wave!	Tomb Shrub
Steady Stare	Deals 1.5x damage and Paralyzes target.	User uses Steady Stare!	Monoops, Dread Meat
Fleche	Deals normal attack damage and end's user counterattacking status.	User executed a fleche attack!	Fleshtache

In Hylics 2[]

Crew's Gestures[]

Name	Description	Usage Message	Will Cost	Notes	Learned by	Location
Dissolution	Inflicts DISSOLUTE status on target, reducing its POWER by 20%, and damaging FLESH over time. Lasts 3 turns.	Wayne does DISSOLUTION	20	Charged Dissolution also causes one turn of DISCORPORATING on an enemy. Does extra damage to both Poolmen and Poolmagne.	Wayne	Integral
Lightning	Deals 175% as much damage as a basic attack. User is stunned for 1 turn.	Pongorma does LIGHTNING	30	Charged Lightning does more damage, inflicts BURNING on the target, and does not STUN Pongorma.	Pongorma	Integral
Foam Armor	Heals ally for 50 FLESH and applies FOAMED, which increases max FLESH and removes BURNING and LEAKING.	Dedusmuln does FOAM ARMOR	25	Charged Foam Armor applies FOAMED status to the entire party. However, a single target is still selected. Foamed not only removes Burning and Leaking statuses, but it also prevents them, including self-inflicted Leaking from Nematode Interface.	Dedusmuln	Integral
Wave Artifice	Deals 80% normal damage to all enemies. If CHARGED, two additional attacks are made against random enemies.	Somsnosa does WAVE ARTIFICE	50	The two additional attacks Charged Wave Artifice performs is named Wavelet. It cannot be used on its own.	Somsnosa	Integral
Poromer Bleb	Restores 1/3 of FLESH and grants DEFENDING status.	User does POROMER BLEB	10	Can be used on anyone in the party.	Everyone	Waynehouse
Soul Crisper	The target is afflicted with BURNING for 2 turns, causing recurring FLESH damage and reducing FLESH gain.	User does SOUL CRISPER	30	Prevents Poolmen and Poolmagnes from multiplying.	Everyone	New Muldul
Time Sigil	Damages and inflicts LAGGING on target for 3 turns, causing it to act last and SLEEP when the effect expires normally. Bosses can’t be SLEEP’d.	User does TIME SIGIL	30		Everyone	Viewax's Edifice
Fate Sandbox	Target ally becomes immune to negative statuses, for three turns. Ineffective against STUNNED status.	User does FATE SANDBOX	50	Applies INSULATED status.	Everyone	Juice Ranch
Link Mollusc	User’s negative statuses are applied to all enemies.	User does LINK MOLLUSC	60	Cannot transfer SQUEEZED status.	Everyone	Foglast
Nematode Interface	Inflicts LEAKING status on target and user.	User does NEMATODE INTERFACE	15	A user who is FOAMED or INSULATED will not suffer LEAKING status.	Everyone	Drill Site
Teledenudate	Removes negative statuses from ally, or removes positive statuses from enemy. No effect on "Fast" or "Angry" status.	User does TELEDENUNDATE	40	Using this on a Bomelaug will trigger ANGRY status.	Everyone	The Afterlife
Charge Up	Grants CHARGED status. Integral abilities, DISSOLUTION, FOAM ARMOR, et al, gain enhancements.	User used CHARGE UP	10	Applying more Antennas at the TV Island increases the effect of a Charge.	Everyone	TV Island
Bombo - Genesis	User must be CHARGED. Damages all enemies. Damage is multiplied by your crew’s current WILL/100. Crew’s WILL is depleted.		99	If this gesture is activated without being charged, then the full animation will not play out and the gesture itself will do a pathetically minuscule amount of damage.	Everyone	Disthlarn Moon
Perish	Proceed immediately to afterlife.		0	Was added in v33 update.	Everyone	Integral

Enemy Gestures[]

Name	Effect	Used By
Charge Up	Grants Charged status to user.	Most enemies
Call For Help	Summons an enemy into battle.	Tyro
Stab	Deals damage to one party member.	Tyro, Wandering Tyro, Carassius
Chomp	Deals damage to one party member. Only usable when user has ANGRY status. Has the chance to inflict POISON status.	Post Dog, Feral Hydrostat, Carassius, Carsoro
Glaive Arc	Damages entire party, with a chance to deal double damage.	Cave Cineast
Shatter	Deals minor damage and inflicts VULNERABLE status on one party member.	Silamvog, Coiffed Stalker
Accelerate	Grants Fast status to user, causing it to be able to attack twice in one turn.	Galliform, Noncomfornist, Fonthintrelpine
Whip Kick	Damages one party member twice.	Truculent, Limber Truculent
Disruption	Inflicts STUNNED on one party member.	Truculent, Limber Truculent
Four Slices	Deals damage four times against random party members.	Highway Fleam, Noncomfornist
Self Destruct	Deals 150 damage and inflicts Burning on one party member. User perishes.	Warpo
Lambaste	Deals 3 minor hits and one normal hit to one party member.	Poolman, Poolmagne, Courtier, Hand of Moodbleen
Multiply	User splits into two identical copies, each retaining its previous Flesh and statuses. Cannot be used if the user is BURNING.	Poolman, Poolmagne
Allotrope	Reflexive counterattack that damages and inflicts LEAKING on whoever struck the user.	Poolmagne
Whip	Deals damage and inflicts VULNERABLE and LEAKING on one party member.	Mycetic, Jaded Mycetic, Foliated, Carsoro
Sharp Fingers	Deals damage and inflicts LEAKING on one party member.	Viewax, Hand of Moodbleen, Viewaxian, Lord Gibby
Spiky Radius	Damages everyone except the user.	Viewax
Tube Steak Manifold	Heals all enemies.	Courtier
Temporal Wasting	Deals damage and inflicts LAGGING on one party member.	Coutured, Fierce Coutured, Odozeir
Reactive Shield	Grants INVIOLABLE to user, blocking all damage and status. If attacked in this state, INVIOLABLE ends and the party member who attacked takes severe damage.	Coutured, Fierce Coutured
Shield Circle	Grants DEFENDING to all enemies.	Progeny, Mycetic
Sleep Spores	Reflexive attack that puts everyone to SLEEP except the user after being attacked.	Ectrolan
Telescoping Lashes	Deals damage and inflicts POISONED on one party member.	Ectrolan, Lord Gibby
Graft	Heals one enemy. Removes VULNERABLE.	Silamvog, Courtier, Bomelaug
Cranial Glom	Deals damage and inflicts SQUEEZED on one party member.	Hand of Moodbleen, Progeny
Mandible	Deals damage and inflicts LEAKING on one party member.	Squid, Progeny
Volatile Product	Deals damage and inflicts BURNING on one party member.	Squid, Lord Gibby
Ether Gland	Damages and inflicts SLEEPING on all party members.	Fonthintrelpine
External Digestion	Deals damage and inflicts LEAKING and BURNING on one party member.	Fonthintrelpine
Tether Homunculus	Grants UMBILICAL status to user. After a few turns, Bomelaug can use Sacrifice Homunculus. Teledenundate triggers ANGRY status.	Bomelaug
Sacrifice Homunculus	UMBILICAL Status ends and all party members take massive damage and receive the VULNERABLE status.	Bomelaug
Gizzard Spume	Deals damage and inflicts DISSOLUTE on one party member.	Galliform, Carsoro, Lord Gibby
Thunderbolt	Deals damage to one party member. User is STUNNED.	Odozeir, Sauoplit
Rewrap	Grants WRAPPED status to Carsoro.	Odozeir
Kisses	Deals damage to all party members.	Odozeir, Motor Hunter
Specterant	Damages all party members and has a chance of inflicting DISSOLUTE.	Coiffed Stalker
Photon Grapeshot	Deals damage to all party members.	Noncomfornist
Solvent Vortex	Damages and inflicts DISSOLUTE on all party members. Removes any positive statuses from party members (including Foamed status) except for Charging and Clean statuses, also removes any negative statuses from all other enemies in battle.	Carassius
Arcane Indisposal	Deals damage and inflicts INDISPOSED on one party member.	Foliated
Awaken Lance	Sacrifices a Highway Fleam to deal major damage to all party members.	Motor Hunter
Run Over	Damages and inflicts VULNERABLE on all party members.	Motor Hunter
Teardown	Deals damage to one party member.	Lord Gibby
Summon Minions	Can be used as a reflexive counterattack or a normal attack, summoning one or two Progeny respectively.	Lord Gibby
Killer Trees	Either deals massive damage to all party members, or instantly reduces all party members to 1 Flesh. All Progeny perish after use.	Lord Gibby

Trivia[]

The gesture Link Mollusk was once called Dial Mollusk, and would inflict Poison to all enemies on screen before it was changed to a "share status" gesture. The Clicker for the TV to unlocking this gesture was also 60 Bones instead of the 300 Bones needed for it now.
The gesture Nematode Interface was once called Mystic Helminth and can be seen being used by Decres in the Hylics 2 Preview trailer, its not known if it would've acted differently from its final game counterpart.
Fonthintrelpine's gesture External Digestion was able to lower max Flesh at one point during Hylics 2's beta.