Cactuars

[Haledos]

How are you supposed to take on more than 3 Cactuars - because it's pretty much a guarantee that while taking on 3 of these solo, one of them is going to use 1000 needles on your, which with me at R18 Lancer and about 800HP is an instant kill.

Every time i've come up against this i've ended up dead, and they're a pretty regular occurence in Behests and some r20 leves.

Anybody got any tactics for cactuars?

[Lienn]

Cactuars have the 1000 neddles but are pretty weak...you actually might be able to get them down pretty fast. At this rank all i can suggest you , though, is to get TP at nearby mobs so you can enter fight with enough TP for at least 2 500TP WSs and take the first one down in instants.

But i do agree that lesser cactuars should have the 1k needles adjusted to players' HP...maybe making lesser ones actually use "500 needles" instead of 1k.

[Haledos]

I've decided to avoid the cactuar based R20 leves untill i'm around R21 and at least have over 1k HP as it is. Too many deaths, too much broken equipment :' (

[BlaiseLallaise]

One thing I've noticed is that they tend to do 1K needles when they are below 50% hp. So the tactic I use is to build TP until they are just below half life and hit em hard, and hope the WS takes them out. Usually I manage to succeed. This also leads to needing to avoid aoe around them, too.

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

One thing I've noticed is that they tend to do 1K needles when they are below 50% hp. So the tactic I use is to build TP until they are just below half life and hit em hard, and hope the WS takes them out. Usually I manage to succeed. This also leads to needing to avoid aoe around them, too.

Basically this ^

Cactuar don't use 1k needles until after 50% life. Just get em to 50% and then WS. Usually the WS will kill them at that point and 1k needles becomes a non-issue. I did "a leg up" today using this method and didn't get hit with needles once.

[Arondight]

When I was around that level, pretty simple: I avoided every single cactuar leve.
When you face 3 cactuars R18, you're simply too weak to deal with all of them before you get 1000 niddled.

R20+ it gets easier: you should somehow be around 1000hp and you're stronger. At even higher ranks, the cactuars will be dead before they can use their skill.

[Radiator]

Yes I discovered this horrible scenario as well trying "A leg Up" on my rank 18 gladiator.

[Deathgiver]

You could also find someone to do these leves with, as thousand needle damage is split amongst party members. So with 2 players in party each will only take 500 damage.

[Jinrya-Geki]

I didn't have a problem with this leve as Con or Thm. One aoe spell almost 1 shot them at rank 18. Of course it's way different now. I haven't done that leve in a while since like 6 months ago.

[Ninja-Ki]

Thats what stoneskin is for lol!!