There are needles now designed for batiks, such as Schmetz's Microtex. A high quality needle for the correct long arm should be fine, but I think making do with an "ok for homespuns and thick thread" needle is not what is I would want to use on batiks. I believe that needles are comparatively cheap and change mine all the time, that helps too. One top = one needle and no more, and maybe a second one for the border.