3 ultra-powerful Tifa builds in FF7 Remake to pummel your enemies

Everyone has a role in your Final Fantasy VII Remake party: Aerith is your caster, Barret is your distance fighter, Cloud is your vanguard, and Tifa is your DPS. With these roles in mind, how do you improve Tifa’s effectiveness? Here’s how to make Tifa your party’s powerhouse with 3 of her best builds.

What is Tifa’s specialty?

Tifa's a quick fighter, reliant on combo-ing basic moves into ATB-based abilities. Use her to deal a lot of damage quickly and to help lock an enemy in place. She can easily stagger enemies, making her perfect for setting up your allies to deal larger hits.

Whether you want Tifa to focus on magic or physical damage, her build should follow the same basic rules: Increase her Luck and Speed stats for her to excel in combat. She hits foes often, so an increased Luck stat means her hits will be more likely to deal critical damage. Increasing Tifa’s Speed stat will increase the rate at which her ATB meter charges. Together, these boosted stats make for a deadly combo. If you’d like a more specific build for her, we’ve crafted three set-ups that include the best weapon, accessory, and Materia to equip. Two options focus on dealing Physical damage, while the other leans more into her Magic capabilities.

The 2 best Physical Damage builds for Tifa in FF7 Remake

• Weapon: Metal Knuckles or Feathered Gloves
• Armor: Cog Bangle
• Accessory: Supernatural Wristguards or Transference Module
• Materia: Luck Up, HP Up (consider two), ATB Stagger, ATB Boost, Healing+Elemental, Steadfast Block, Refocus
• Summon: Ifrit

Tifa’s combat style focuses on Speed/Strength while setting up combos by alternating between her ATB bar-based abilities, basic attacks, and her triangle button attacks (Whirling Uppercut, Omnistrike, Rise and Fall). By using the Metal Knuckles in conjunction with the Supernatural Wristguards, the strength packed in a single hit grows exponentially, making most enemies melt from the pressure of your fists. This will also bolster the strength of your True Strike and other similar attacks. Your ATB abilities will be so strong that you won’t even need an offensive Limit Break, so instead use Refocus, which splits your ATB gauge into three bars and hastens the charge rate.

If you want to focus on Tifa’s speed over raw power, go for the Feathered Gloves. When maxed out, they add one less Speed point than her Sonic Strikers, but the Feathered Gloves have an exclusive 10 percent ATB charge rate boost. With the Transference Module equipped, Tifa will gain a bit of her Limit Break every time she uses an ATB ability, making it easy to reach her Level 2 technique, Dolphin Flurry over and over. Spam your ATB attacks to dominate the field.

The Materia listed can work with either setup. Luck Up gives Tifa a higher critical rate, while the others provide small boosts to her ATB by performing the simplest of attacks. When maxed out, ATB Boost will make sure she has a pocket of ATB ready every 100 seconds.

The best Magic Damage build for Tifa in FF7 Remake

• Weapon: Mythril Claws
• Armor: Chain Bangle
• Accessory: Circlet
• Materia: HP Up, MP Up, Magic Up, Healing attached to Magnify, Prayer, ATB Boost, MP Absorption, Any Elemental (Fire/Ice/Lightning/Wind) Materia
• Summon: Leviathan

Although Tifa’s naturally more of a physical fighter, she can be an excellent back-up mage, supporting either Barret or Aerith. Equip her with some items to still play up her speed, while letting her heal the party.

Mythril Claws will boost Tifa’s Magical Attack stat more than any other weapon at her disposal. When upgraded, the claws will further boost her spell effectiveness when she casts with a full MP bar. By equipping MP Absorption (which allows .01 percent of MP damage dealt to be restored to the user), Tifa will have a full MP bar more often than not. Magic Up and Circlet will further increase the damage, thus increasing your MP returns.

The Mythril Gloves include an MP cost-cutting effect as well, creating an easier time for MP management. Prayer will let you save a little MP by healing your party using Tifa’s ATB gauge. Alternatively, you can heal the whole party with Magnify+Healing, which would have a reduced cost due to her Claws. Either way, you’re a force to be reckoned with.

Before rebuilding Tifa from the ground up, try obtaining her most elusive weapon, Purple Pain. You can obtain the Purple Pain in Chapter 16 by using our guide.