I need tips for hardcore

My friends and I have decided we want to play either hardcore or apocalypse difficulty in remnant 1 (I guess not both at the same time). But I think we will try hardcore first. What would be optimal for us to do in order to even make it past Earth lol. And would hard be too difficult for a first run or could we upscale it to nightmare even?

I feel like this will be a lot of pain and frustration, but a fun at the same time. Thanks :)