I had no issues hitting dead-on focus with an 80'lux WO on my 1Ds2 (clean screen, focus confirm chip - 1 series needs chip to enable FC system), so I can't see the 85/1.4 and a D3/700 with a clean VF and it's dot & arrows FC system being that much worse/better. The more edge contrast the lens has WO, the more the image tends to 'pop' into focus.
MF with my 85/1.4 AIS on my D1H & D1X some years with the same arrows and dot focus system worked fine as well.
I've used a borrowed M8 and M7 with a 50/2 and I wouldn't call the manual focus that much better or worse in low-light vs what you're thinking of.
The wider lenses, w/o focus confirm are more of challenge due to the lack of magnification. In those cases, I often use a Nikon 17M magnifier modified to fit the 1Ds2 and it does help.