I only play no death, dead is dead aka trial of iron.
Dying and reloading is stupid, there should be the following:
1. some kind of subtle way to know if a fight is too hard, keyword SUBTLE.
2. a way to disengage a battle with a penalty, in my case the penalty would of been a dead bear companion, my ranger should've felt like she lost her best friend, (it's called roleplaying)
3. add a basic challenge scale
I would of gladly used all my health potions and any food, anything I could muster had I not died in one cheap single blow.
So you weren't being sarcastic.
Trial of Iron should only be once you know the game well enough to not chump on bears. *shrug*
I'm sorry for your loss.