This makes going to them from Bukdek Byway impossible, as you have to go through a huge mob of Afflicted with a monk boss among them only like 5 feet away and they all die.
That mob actually disperses if you wait a while, it splits into 3 groups that go in different directions...
I didn't have any problems with this quest when I did it. Song and stone took me multiple tries though. Seems at least 3 singers went down is soon as I even entered the area. Heard they fixed this sometime since though.
I do all quests on my main character (everything on the wiki) but I only do the fun/skill/trade contract quests for my other characters though.