需要、必須 they have same usage sometimes, but not always.
for example:
there are some letters you must reply
這裡有些信件你必須要回復
or 這裡有些信件需要你回復
both sentences here are correct, but use them in this sentence:
I need your love
我需要你的愛 ≠ 我必須你得愛
which you can find out, in first sentence they both mean "must" or "need to", in the second sentence, 需要 have a meaning of need, but 必須 here still mean "must" or "need to"
it will make whole sentence really confusing.
必需 mean something you need as an adjective
water are indispensable in desert.
水在沙漠是必需的(不可或缺)
or 水在沙漠是需要的
需要 can also be an adjective when you put a 的 behind it
and at this sentence 必需的 is stronger than 需要的
basically 需要、必須 have same usage in certain sentence,
and 需要的、必需的 are similar, but 必需的 are stronger than 需要的.
必須 and 必需 can not be replaced by each other
let me make a conclusion:
use 需要 and 必須 to modify verb will have same meaning
use 需要的 and 必需的 as an adjective will have similar meaning
because 必須 is used to modify verb, 必需 is as an adjective, so they are different.
this is a good question, even native Chinese will get confused sometimes: )
it's a disaster when I put the answer in comment column..
it become unreadable and I can't not delete it : (