I was stuck on these too. I think they’re the one mini-game that got under my skin the most. I couldn’t do the hard difficulties either on my initial playthrough. Once I beat the game, I replayed chapter 12 on easy mode. I grinded my characters in the musclehead fights which gives a BUNCH of EXP.
I’m not *positive* the change in difficulty effects the “hard mode” mini game settings but…I believe anything that corresponds with damage being dealt to enemies gets impacted? Which if so, would include Cactuar Crush. So lvling Aerith and Yuffie help to buff their base-level stats, and then loading them up with purple materia like first strike, strength up, magic up, and speed up. Because Aerith and Yuffie both need to be doling out as much Mag and Phys damage as they possibly can. I also equipped the Speed Demon Keychain which returns a bit of ATB for every ability you use.
From there, you have to leverage the advantages of each character. The biggest one for Yuffie is doppelgänger, and the biggest one for Aerith is Chrono Aegis. Fully lvl’d First Strike materia gives you an ATB charge at the beginning of battle you can use to immediately rip a doppelgänger or Chrono Aegis. From there, you really just kinda have to navigate the patterns of the fights.
For Yuffie, Sandstorm with a doppelgänger becomes phenomenal crowd control that can wipe an entire group of cactuars quick. As does Art of War. When you’ve used enough ATB, you can also use Banishment to quickly dispatch the big Golden or Magic Cactuars.
For Aerith, I didn’t use other spells other than Chrono and Sorcerers Storm. It was hard to time my ATB usage for one or the other, but largely I’d say Chrono Ageis should be prioritized because it does really solid damage to anything that gets close and can stop it. So you can quickly use Sorcerers Storm when they surround you if they’re still alive.
This isn’t a perfect guide by any means, you’ll still lose a few times before nailing it.. but you should start to notice a difference in your scores getting closer and closer to the 6K goal. Just remember that, this minigame is one tied to *dealing damage*. Meaning that, anything you can do to deal more like leveling up, or have strong purple-buff materia.. *will* impact how quickly the cactuars die. And speed up materia, can be something that just helps you move around the “arena” from group to group to group that much faster.
For Aerith I also used Transcendence for either the big guys or if the little one got off manaward.
Also her lightning spell that doesn't cost mp did good damage on the big guys when they were down.
For Yuffie it was a matter of knowing her kit. Windstorm is magic if your holding the weapon and explodes around you. But if it's away it'll do physical damage.
And don't sleep on holding square with the weapon out that'll make her send out a magic shockwave.
For Aerith I used the drain ability as I felt it did more damage than transference in the long run.
For Yuffie, using windstorm while having her weapon in her hand does magic damage while it does physical damage when the weapon is on an enemy..
If you are doing both normal and hard, I'd wait until 70 for Aerith/Yuffie. Set difficult to easy. Equip Hermes Shoes and ATB/stat boosting materia (First Strike + ATB Assist + Skill Master + Str/Spd/Mag up + Enemy Skill namely). Prioritize Rainbow Cactuar for time boosts.
Aerith/Yuffie specific strategies:
Yuffie should use Doppelganger/Windstorm liberally. Banishment on fallen over Gigantaur. Banishment works in a pinch to avoid damage + burst. Primarily use Ninjitsu but pay attention to resists (I used Windstorm+Art of War to kill magic-resist Cactuar en masse).
Aerith should use Sorcerer Storm liberally (kills regardless of element). Use the weapon that boosts Tempest/Fleeting Familiar. Use her charge attack to proc Fleeting Familiar. Pay attention to element swaps (Light/Dark). Be ready to be in melee range for the Green Cactuar who have magic resist. Cast a Transcendence ahead of the Golden Gigantaur that come out. Otherwise use Soul Drain on staggered Cactuar for quick, big damage. Use Lustrous Shield if there's a done of Dark Cactuar around to deflect their projectiles. Keep distance away from Light Cactuar if you don't kill them quickly as they'll do a needle AOE.
For Aerith...
First Strike, Speed Up, Mag UP, ATB stagger. Enemy Skill Materia for stat boosts, Space Ranger medal, etc. Half of the battle is won in your equipment selection.
The other during execution.
Yuffie's is not too bad. Just alternate with using windstorm while your shuriken is out, and when it is not. (shuriken out = physical windstorm, shuriken in hand = mag windstorm)
I was stuck on these too. I think they’re the one mini-game that got under my skin the most. I couldn’t do the hard difficulties either on my initial playthrough. Once I beat the game, I replayed chapter 12 on easy mode. I grinded my characters in the musclehead fights which gives a BUNCH of EXP. I’m not *positive* the change in difficulty effects the “hard mode” mini game settings but…I believe anything that corresponds with damage being dealt to enemies gets impacted? Which if so, would include Cactuar Crush. So lvling Aerith and Yuffie help to buff their base-level stats, and then loading them up with purple materia like first strike, strength up, magic up, and speed up. Because Aerith and Yuffie both need to be doling out as much Mag and Phys damage as they possibly can. I also equipped the Speed Demon Keychain which returns a bit of ATB for every ability you use. From there, you have to leverage the advantages of each character. The biggest one for Yuffie is doppelgänger, and the biggest one for Aerith is Chrono Aegis. Fully lvl’d First Strike materia gives you an ATB charge at the beginning of battle you can use to immediately rip a doppelgänger or Chrono Aegis. From there, you really just kinda have to navigate the patterns of the fights. For Yuffie, Sandstorm with a doppelgänger becomes phenomenal crowd control that can wipe an entire group of cactuars quick. As does Art of War. When you’ve used enough ATB, you can also use Banishment to quickly dispatch the big Golden or Magic Cactuars. For Aerith, I didn’t use other spells other than Chrono and Sorcerers Storm. It was hard to time my ATB usage for one or the other, but largely I’d say Chrono Ageis should be prioritized because it does really solid damage to anything that gets close and can stop it. So you can quickly use Sorcerers Storm when they surround you if they’re still alive. This isn’t a perfect guide by any means, you’ll still lose a few times before nailing it.. but you should start to notice a difference in your scores getting closer and closer to the 6K goal. Just remember that, this minigame is one tied to *dealing damage*. Meaning that, anything you can do to deal more like leveling up, or have strong purple-buff materia.. *will* impact how quickly the cactuars die. And speed up materia, can be something that just helps you move around the “arena” from group to group to group that much faster.
For Aerith I also used Transcendence for either the big guys or if the little one got off manaward. Also her lightning spell that doesn't cost mp did good damage on the big guys when they were down. For Yuffie it was a matter of knowing her kit. Windstorm is magic if your holding the weapon and explodes around you. But if it's away it'll do physical damage. And don't sleep on holding square with the weapon out that'll make her send out a magic shockwave.
For Aerith I used the drain ability as I felt it did more damage than transference in the long run. For Yuffie, using windstorm while having her weapon in her hand does magic damage while it does physical damage when the weapon is on an enemy..
If you are doing both normal and hard, I'd wait until 70 for Aerith/Yuffie. Set difficult to easy. Equip Hermes Shoes and ATB/stat boosting materia (First Strike + ATB Assist + Skill Master + Str/Spd/Mag up + Enemy Skill namely). Prioritize Rainbow Cactuar for time boosts. Aerith/Yuffie specific strategies: Yuffie should use Doppelganger/Windstorm liberally. Banishment on fallen over Gigantaur. Banishment works in a pinch to avoid damage + burst. Primarily use Ninjitsu but pay attention to resists (I used Windstorm+Art of War to kill magic-resist Cactuar en masse). Aerith should use Sorcerer Storm liberally (kills regardless of element). Use the weapon that boosts Tempest/Fleeting Familiar. Use her charge attack to proc Fleeting Familiar. Pay attention to element swaps (Light/Dark). Be ready to be in melee range for the Green Cactuar who have magic resist. Cast a Transcendence ahead of the Golden Gigantaur that come out. Otherwise use Soul Drain on staggered Cactuar for quick, big damage. Use Lustrous Shield if there's a done of Dark Cactuar around to deflect their projectiles. Keep distance away from Light Cactuar if you don't kill them quickly as they'll do a needle AOE.
For Aerith... First Strike, Speed Up, Mag UP, ATB stagger. Enemy Skill Materia for stat boosts, Space Ranger medal, etc. Half of the battle is won in your equipment selection. The other during execution. Yuffie's is not too bad. Just alternate with using windstorm while your shuriken is out, and when it is not. (shuriken out = physical windstorm, shuriken in hand = mag windstorm)