Didn't read all your comments but considering the abysmal difference in difficulty between this encounter and other ones I think this is just Larian testing their own playerbase to see what % wants to suffer. How many people will keep fighting, how many will just reload and skip, how many will cheese their way to victory etc. Cool stats to have to begin with and gives you an idea about game balance and difficulty levels going forward I guess.
Personally I loved that encounter. Not because I've seen my party die twice in a row but precisely because I see this as a sign of Larian slowly testing the ground to appeal to players wanting higher difficulty for combat.
Like if you think this encounter should be nerfed etc : Don't worry, it probably will.
If you loved it and want the entire game to look like this : Hopefully it will be possible.
