For the gauntlet, I used all the doctors in the back row (giving them 1 armor for backrow) the armored blue bunnything, and the armored firebug and Esther in front. I reloaded the gauntlet until I had 4 enemies that hit 1~2 damage, dont kill those, just kill two in two spots over and over again until you reach 20. between the armor soak and the cures and the 4 weak enemies, it was pretty easy. [Good luck on lvl9:Very hard]
When you reach Pandora's Cave, there is a hidden warp to the NE of the terminal that will take you directly to the summoner. (I stumbled on it after taking the wrong stairs (the left one) that warps you back to the beginning)
How to win easy after level 20: Build your camp on a hill of height 2, keep building until you have enough Mana for the Water Storm effect which floods the island removing everything that has height 1, watch your enemies drown then spam whirpools to finish them off.