The most irritating thing about this is after the Elf dies the counter still continues. It makes you wait until the very end before updating the journal. The 2nd most irritating thing about this quest are the darkness inducing Demons. I used track to subvert the purpose of them but it still annoyed the crap out of me.

The 3rd most annoying thing was knowing that from the start it was a futile attempt. There is no way for a fighter without massive room clearing spells or attacks to deal with the horde that comes through those gates enough so that the jeweler lives through it.

I managed it (barely) with my Archmage by making sure that I blasted everything in sight. Even so the purple and pink Us almost put an end to him. In terms of difficulty for melee types I would rate this about 10 points higher on a scale of 1 to 20 than the Crypt where the Crypt is at 19. I assume the berserker ability to swing around is probably equally ineffective because some of these demons have 2kish hp and most have over 400hp.

All in all a very upsetting side quest. The reward is certainly worth it but that makes it even more tantalizing and painful in the end since it is something that I just can't get. Even have the double diamond/pearl combo ready.