first off :

its not a real "hardcore" mode as while you can die and lose your gear and skills for good you wont lose your bases or other world progress like boss kills. devs said this was due to multiplayer hardcore runs and deleteing the world because 1 guy died feeling not fair to them.

plus you can enable and disable this setting on demand at anytime when loading up the world.

also 2 star goblins do NOT oneshot you in mountain gear unless you wear fenris armor (in which case you shouldnt get hit to begin with as thats the entire point of fenris advantage) aslong as you have the standard melee food combo aka 2 hp 1 stamina food running. if you got oneshot in full wolf armor your food was simply either terrible or running out and you didnt reeat before going for combat.

also : there is no good reason ever to land at a new landmass at night. thats asking for trouble. as its alot easier to just fend off 1 single serpent then whatever can spawn at night on land. so you can just wait on the ship till daybreak offshore.