How do I beat the Tasmanian Dervish?
Solution 1:
I expect you've beaten him at this point, but for posterity:
Buffing your defense stat (moxie, or, with Hero of the Half-Shell and a shield, muscle) should help.
As for damage, most classes have a damaging ability that doesn't count as a physical attack and can therefore hurt him.
Seal Clubbers are so specialized on hitting things that they may be an exception. (Northern Explosion may work, if not, they're probably stuck with Clobber.)
Mysticality classes have their obvious spells.
Disco Bandits can dance and then use their knife skills + Disco Inferno.
Accordeon Thieves have a few combat skills as well.
For a turtle tamer, your best bet should be combat skills enhanced by Blessing of the Storm Tortoise, particularly Spirit Snap and the usually overpriced Spectral Snapper.
The fallback option are combat items. At that point of a run, everyone probably has a few good ones left from the island battlefield, as well as random stuff like adders and brass gears.
If you're out of that stuff, the best option for farming that I can think of is the cigarette lighter. Doesn't do much damage,but it's a pretty frequent drop AFAIK.
Another option is a coal shovel, but that requires you to buff both Muscle and Moxie because it's 2-handed and doesn't work with Hero of the Half-Shell.
Solution 2:
Since the Dervish attacks are unavoidable, I would highly suggest getting buffs that boost your HP and your attack. You'll ideally want to avoid going for melee weapons and instead get either ranged weapons or throwable weapons.
The key buffs you'll want:
- Moxie Buffs: They increase your ranged damage
- Muscle Buffs: They increase your HP pool, allowing you to stay in battle with the devil longer
Some items you might want:
- Gas Balloon: Stuns enemies for a few rounds, can give you an extra edge in getting attacks in on the Devil.