I actually solo'd some of my first cataclysm maps recently, no mods. Not every map is created equally, of course. There's a lot of things to talk about like team dynamics, weapons to use, trinkets, etc. Most of all, it's an exercise in teamwork. How well can you stick with the bots? Even if they do stupid things, you can play to that rhythm and babysit them to victory.

I don't want to spoil it all for you, but start seeking out the answers to whatever you need. If the boss is killing your bots, that means you don't have a strong enough boss killer weapon. If patrols are wiping you, then use your noggin to find out a strategy that melts them (there are several). If your bots are dying to trash enemies, they probably need a different weapon. Shield weapons are very good for them. You'll learn pretty fast that gas can kill your bots, too, so you need the anti-gas trinket.

Hopefully that's enough of a spark for you to get started.

bots-https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1090355288
i give 2 of the bots- curse resistance(lichbone pendant), gas resistance(pouch of relaxing herbs) and star of the sisterhood (shared health pool)
1 bot is the healer- group heal(charm of the hedgewizard) heal dupe (rainbow fish), star of the sisterhood.
and myself has potion share(rack of masterbrew vials), no ff bomb trinket (gunnery school guide, expert) and the star of the sisterhood.

using the star of the sisterhood makes it so that when 1 person get hits, everyone gets hit, which means that now everyone is able to use bloodlust/regrowth to heal the damage, rather than just the 1 person.

this setups gotten me through most maps on cata with full books.