Can't solo R38 quest (Lord Errant)?

I was under the impression that the original series of story quests could even be completed by crafters and gatherers, yet I cannot seem to handle this one as a thaumaturge. Three amalj'aa come rushing at me with no time to prepare and they all have tons of HP and hit me for 100-150. My Path companion (gladiator) is completely useless. I tried searching the forums and looking around other places and didn't see anything about what's recommended for it.

Do I need a party or more ranks? Is there something I'm missing here?

I was finally able to handle it after several tries. Managed to finally stick most of my debuffs for long enough to eke out a victory.

I'm still curious if there's something I'm missing though, or if it's really intended for people to have to join a party for.

You can parley with some NPCs instead of fighting, for the crafter/gatherer route. A look on some quest guides for that also mentions that the more enemies you kill in the first phase, the less amaljaa appear in the 2nd stage.