I'll find out tonight when I make my 3 attempts if that holds true. Because believe it or not...I did it Sunday (forgot about this) and carried my son through it with his lvl 28 on the NF and he pulled the Mk 44 greaves. First time I ever saw armor drop in a NF and I again did not die. but yes he did plenty of times so I'm thinking it doesn't matter who dies, so long as 1 person in the party does not the entire strike.