Illusionary Defense

Grant protection to nearby allies when you use Shatter skill 2. — In-game description

Illusionary Defense

Specialization

Chaos (trait list)

Tier

Adept

Type

Major

Training cost

3 Hero points

Game link

API

API

“

Illusionary Defense

Grant protection to nearby allies when you use Shatter skill 2.

 Base Protection Duration (4s): -33% Incoming Damage

 Base Protection Duration (2s): -33% Incoming Damage

 Additional Protection Duration (2s): -33% Incoming Damage

 Additional Protection Duration (1s): -33% Incoming Damage

 Number of Targets: 5

 Radius: 360

— In-game description

Mechanics

Anomaly:

 Protection is not listed in the tool-tips for associated skills.

Bug:

Virtuoso — Does not grant increased duration greater than for a three-blade bladesong.

Related skills

Profession mechanic skills that are improved by this trait

•   Cry of Frustration — Shatter
•   Rewinder — Shatter
•   Bladesong Sorrow — Bladesong
•   Flustering Flute — Instrument

Version history

For a detailed trait history, see here.

Patch	Changes
April 15, 2025	Reduced the base protection duration from 4 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP only.
February 14, 2025	Fixed an issue that caused Bladesong Harmony to trigger this trait.
February 11, 2025	This trait now only applies protection when using the second shatter skill. Increased the base protection duration from 1 second to 4 seconds. Increased the protection per clone from 1 second to 2 seconds in PvE and WvW and from 0.5 seconds to 1 second in PvP.
November 28, 2023	This trait has been reworked. Grant protection to nearby allies when you use a shatter skill. Protection duration scales based on the number of shattered clones.
June 27, 2023	Reduced damage reduction per stack from 2% to 1.5% in PvP only.
November 30, 2021	Added clarifying text stating that for Virtuoso, this trait triggers when stocking a blade.
October 26, 2021	Multiplicative damage reduction enhancements have been updated to display how much damage was reduced by rather than displaying how much the damage is multiplied by. For example, protection now displays "-33% Damage" instead of "67% damage." This is not a change to functionality; it is only a change to display the bonus in a more intuitively understandable way.
October 05, 2021	All effects that provide a percentage reduction to incoming damage have been standardized to stack multiplicatively.
May 22, 2018	The damage reduction per stack this trait applies is now split between game modes and has been reduced from -5% per stack to -2% in PvP and WvW.
February 06, 2018	This trait now grants a stacking 5% damage-reduction enhancement (maximum of 5 stacks) for 5 seconds whenever you summon an illusion.
June 23, 2015	Specialization update: Updated this trait to reflect the introduction of the specialization mechanic.
October 15, 2013	Fixed this trait to properly decrease damage taken by 3% per illusion.
August 28, 2012	Game release: Illusionary Defense has been added to the game.