What gear should I be searching for?

Dagger or axe? Type of armor? Type of charms?

Solo climbing

Axe/dagger sets together cover all melee classes
Sword/staff cover all thru ninja cheaper than axe/dag

Charm should be high stat for the weapon you use, but if you pick axe/dag sets you only need to buy dex charms

Armor for solo melee, I prefer stat/life armors til like lvl 30, then I use ee armors, because low-mid end ee tank armors are more effective than low stat armors at kills per town trip