ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Is there some obvious thing that I am missing, but I have never even come close to finishing this even at the easiest level. Not even close.

Void blasts are slow, you must play the matrix: dodge!
Also your phase door spell costs nearly nothing and is targetable with a very low cooldown while in the expanse, use it!

I'll also just point out that you don't have to clear the levels; just activate the portals and go. Of course this doesn't help too much on the last level, but if you listen to DG's advice you should be able to make it out alive. Also: avoid mana worms at all cost!

I definitely find it one of the harder start zones that I've tried. Sometimes there's not much you can do if you are getting swarmed and don't have any place to escape. But yeah, blast and move...

I finished it first try with no deaths. I echo the advice about phase door. Run, run, run. When you can, stop and kill a coupe of enemies, then run, run, run again. I was able to clear all the levels that way.

Am I missing something here? Is the final wormhole the boss w/ 300 hit points? I make it to the 3rd level and get wasted every time. If I say no to the quest can you get it back after leveling up? Seems impossible to me at this point as I get gang banged by swarms of monsters.

Yeah, the boss is your final wormhole. It's less than obvious, especially if he's in some remote corner .