Completed the last leg of this quest several days ago for the same reason. Both of the alchemist drops were the first I obtained early on and yeah, agreed, the alchemist in beholder's maze is a pain.
In regards to the reward itself, it seems more monks just opt for gem inlaid gaunts, but treant fist stats are practically the same at a glance and of course they have their own unique look.
I'd suggest, if you keep running into snags, to just return to the quest later on at which point you can absolutely clean house in Runnyeye and deck out a newb alt in full bi. But either way, the quest is well worth doing if you really just want to visit old stomping grounds.
By the way, the captain in runnyeye is a bit of a fickle spawn. Have seen consecutive respawns and then nothing for quite a while. Just a heads up.
GL
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