I have no idea how to get past this one. I drank the tea, found the bear, and died instantly. Literally, the second it reveals itself, I'm dead in about one second. Is there some round-about way for this quest?

I went into Honest Hearts at level 2 with my current character, I was on hardcoe, my Sorrows-lady companion died (R.I.P.) in the process of killing the She-monster.

I'm playing HC, too, though I ditched the companion. I don't want the liability.

You could not do the quest, thats certainly an option. With some prep before hand you could lay down some mines and C4 and lay a trap for She.

Unfortunately, the second it reveals itself, you have that wall of fire behind you. So, you can't backtrack through a minefield.

I figured it out, though. I loaded up on one of every drug. So Buffout, Slasher, Psycho, Med-X, etc. Hell, I even took some Mentats to be safe. I also used a Millsap Review and True Crime magazine. I was able to last long enough to go through all of the 9mm +P ammo that I've been hoarding since the beginning of the game (GOS has no DR and the 9mm SMG has a pretty high DPS). Then I switched to the CR to finish her clones and her off.

It was brutal. This was probably my hardest fight yet.

I dunno she went down pretty well for me. Tommy gun as I remember. hardcoe very hard.

You were probably respectably leveled though? I mean I punched them all to death, because a real man doesn't compromise with bears. Especially when those bears are dishonest.

I think it was about 14 at that time. So yes, not especially impressive.