Best Tifa Build in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Of all the characters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, none can rival the punching queen, Tifa Lockhart. Here’s the best build and combat guide for Tifa in FF7 Rebirth.

The Best Build for Tifa in FF7 Rebirth

Tifa is a speed demon in FF7 Rebirth, and the best builds for her are ones that take advantage of her naturally fast ATB charge rate and ability to stagger enemies quickly. Here’s the loadout that I used to great effect when playing Tifa:

This is an endgame build for Tifa, and it uses late-game armor to maximize the amount of Materia you can slot onto her. If you’re early in the game, I highly recommend equipping the Chakra and Enemy Skill Materia, then prioritizing ATB-focused Materia. As you progress through FF7 Rebirth, you’ll gain access to more Materia slots, abilities, and skills to improve Tifa’s ATB recovery, ability to stagger enemies, and output of high-damaging attacks.

The Enemy Skill Materia is obtained by completing Biological Intel: Know Thine Enemy in Chadly’s Combat Simulator, and it’s an extremely powerful Materia that can be used to great effect on many characters (especially Cloud and Yuffie) to turn them into nigh-unstoppable killing machines. But out of all the characters, I feel like Tifa best takes advantage of Enemy Skill and its various abilities thanks to her combination of high speed and close-range combat. The enemy skill Plasma Discharge will set off an electrical pulse every time Tifa fully charges an ATB bar, and with the above setup, this will happen constantly. And the default skill, Sonic Boom, will increase her attack by granting her Bravery and Faith. Attach HP Absorption to Enemy Skill, and Tifa will recover a marginal amount of health whenever these abilities are set off, keeping her nice and healthy with the help of her Chakra ability.

Tifa Combat Guide

Tifa’s role as a fighter in FF7 Rebirth is to whip around the battlefield while unleashing a flurry of blows to quickly Stagger enemies. When a battle starts, you’ll want to first set her up with the third tier of Unbridled Strength: Rise and Fall. This will extend her basic attack combos and increase her damage output. You’ll then want to have Tifa use Plasma Discharge, which should stay active for the duration of most battles. Next use Sonic Boom to gain a free Bravery attack boost. The Hermes Shoes (gained as a reward for winning the Titan Slam chocobo race at the Gold Saucer) will automatically grant Haste on Tifa at the start of battle. If you don’t have this accessory, you can use the Time Materia to cast Haste to increase her ATB charge rate instead.

Once you’re fully set up, you’ll want to make sure you’re consistently using Tifa’s ATB charges and not sitting on them. The constant ATB build-up will allow Plasma Discharge to set off regularly, and most of her various abilities will help increase an enemy’s Stagger bar. Use Sonic Boom whenever Bravery wears off so that the attack buff remains up, and otherwise simply unload on enemies. Make sure you’re dashing regularly to both avoid enemy attacks and close gaps, keeping Tifa’s flurry of attacks going. If you’re facing a flying enemy and they’re out of reach, you can use the Leaping Strikes synergy skill to have another party member launch Tifa into the air and continue her assault.

And that’s about it for how to use Tifa in FF7 Rebirth. Now if you’re looking to romance Tifa, we have a guide on that too.