You are correct, Trevor.
AOE hits in Order of your hero Placement.
The AOE hit goes in below Order:
- Leader
- 2nd Slot
- 3rd Slot
- 4th Slot
If Seeker is in Lead Spot, The AOE will hit him First.
If Enemy Critical hits, His Passive will trigger putting Increase DEF Buff on rest of team.
The Increase DEF Buff will reduce incoming damage from 2nd Slot to 4th Slot.
Seeker will take full brunt of hit, but rest of team will take water down hit.
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In Regard to making Go 2nd Team, It is ok to use DEF Aura.
You just want to make sure you have Disrupted Champion on your team.
Tormin - Hegemon - Yoshi - Etc.
Kramaswamy sort of mention the issue.
You don't want to have DEF Aura & take an unobstructed Nuke from Speed Team.
DEF Aura helps with Damage Mitigration.
It doesn't stop their Debuffs.
The Debuffs they use will reduce your Damage Mitigation with stuff like (DEF Break)
The way to stop Debuffer with DEF Aura set up is with HERO PASSIVE PLAY.
- Tormin Freezing Enemy Debuffer
- Hegemon Locking out Enemy Debuffer
etc.
Alternatively, you could be a RESIST set up.
It is a different way of playing against enemy Debuffer.
It takes advantage of the ACC vs. RESIST Mechanic in the game.
Obviously, I don't know what hero's you have on your roster.
I just want you to know Seeker can play on either play style.
If you make DEF Aura set up, you want Seeker in first spot.
If you make RESIST Aura set up, you want Seeker in second spot.