Question about Hardcore difficulty.

[michel000]

Hi,
I've been playing Dark Messiah on hardcore for a bit now, but now I'm stuck.

When I get to the part where I power up the spider temple, and am challenged to a duel by the orcish leader.
He walks up to me, does his speach, and immediately attacks me, before I get my controlls back.
Which, on hardcore, insta-gibs me.

Now, I've tried to kill him before he reaches me, with fire traps and oil.
But since orcs, as demonic are resistant to fire, this did not really work out well.

What should I do to get past this?
Even my phoenix ring didn't revive me.

Seems to me that while developing this mode, they didn't even test it for playability...
Should I just use a cheat to kill him?

Regards,
Michel.

[Blín D'ñero]

Hello Michel.
Have a powerful weapon (Orc sword, for instance) in your hand.

Save (new save) during the speech (just before the end) to make replay quicker, if you didn't already.

After speech,
Immediately run to the right and jump forward, turn around to him. Hack on him (jump and slash). Timing is crucial! He is trying the same on you, so watch his momentum. Hit at his weakest (that is just before him trying the same on you), you must start a millionth of a second before him. When you do it right, one slash hits him to the ground, then you walk towards him and finish him off.
Or: 2 or 3 well-timed slashes in a row kill him. You can kick him in between, it will hurt him.

But make sure you are well-armoured and powered (in the inventory). And using a Sword of Fire (however powerful it is) isn't helpful, because it's too slow.