I'll tell you from personal experience, raid gear (FT8, big armor and HP) makes doing the solo shit a heck of a lot easier....and I've done everything but the sweatiest of solo artist stuff.
I didn't quite get to Zarza levels but this is what you want:
https://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Zarza.
Int / Mana doesn't mean shit with FT8.