Here are the best builds for Tifa Lockhart in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake transports us once again to the gritty, cold, hard city of Midgar. This fleshed-out dystopian metropolis is now chalked full of new and familiar enemies, most of them related to the evil Shinra Corporation and their shady associates.

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On a world as aggressive as this, properly equipping your party members is key to success throughout the game. The lovely bartender of Seventh Heaven, Tifa Lockhart, is anything but cute when she’s in battle, using nothing but her fists and feet to pummel enemies into dust. We’ll analyze the best builds for Tifa to maximize her martial arts skills in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Tifa's up-close playstyle favors a swift Attack build to unleash high damage at a fast pace. This build maximizes her ability to keep up the pain, while also maintaining high ratings in Magic Defense and Physical Defense.

The second pair of gloves you find in Final Fantasy 7 Remake are the cream of the crop for Tifa’s Attack build. The Metal Knuckles give Tifa the biggest boost in Attack and a moderate increase in her Physical Defense, along with one connecting Materia slot and three separate slots. Her ability, Overdrive, improves Tifa’s basic attacks to apply more pressure on enemies in battle. You receive the gloves after defeating Crab Warden in Chapter 5.

To maximize Tifa’s Magic Defense and Physical Defense equally, equip the Chain Bangle. Tifa has a higher Physical Defense rating than Magic Rating and the bangle gives each of those categories a slight boost. The bangle offers two connecting Materia slots to also maximize Tifa’s Materia usage. You can find the Chain Bangle in a chest in Chapter 17.

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Equipping the Supernatural Wristguards will significantly increase Tifa’s Attack rating, but will drop her Magic Defense down just a tad. However, this choice for her accessory will make her a force to be reckoned with. We recommend purchasing a few Supernatural Wristguards from Wall Market during Chapter 9.

With this build, Tifa has a whopping nine Materia slots. Start by equipping First Strike to get an initial boost in Tifa’s ATB at the start of a battle. Equip a couple of HP Ups to increase her base health and Chakra to allow her to restore her own HP. Although Deadly Dodge might be considered more of a defensive Materia, it works perfectly with Tifa’s up-close fighting style, allowing her to cause damage in the area after she dodges. Fill out the remaining Materia slots with your choices of elemental Materia, ATB Stagger to increase her ATB when she staggers enemies, and Assess to identify the enemies you’re facing. For her Summon, the optimal pick is Ifrit but Fat Chocobo is a solid alternative.

Constructing a Tank build for Tifa will maximize her already high rating in Speed while providing moderate increases in her Magic Defense and Health. Because of her fighting style, Tifa will spend much of her time in the face of enemies, so having high Health is important.

Tifa’s starting weapon, Leather Gloves, is the best choice in creating a Tank build. Although her Physical Defense decreases slightly compared to her Metal Knuckles, she gets a higher boost in Magic Defense and an increase in her Health and Speed. Her Divekick ability allows Tifa to unleash a massive kick from the air. On the Materia side, the Leather Gloves offer two connecting Materia slots and one separate slot.

Which armor you equip is highly dependent on the type of enemy you’re facing. If you’re up against a Magic-focused enemy, you’d want to equip the Astral Cuff or Sorcerer’s Armlet; a Physical-focused enemy will have you wanting to equip the Heavy-Duty Bracer or Supreme Bracer. For a more balanced Tank build, stick with the Chain Bangle; this armor choice also offers four Materia slots compared to three with the other options.

To cap off Tifa’s Tank build, equip the Talisman for her accessory. You’ll receive a slight drop in Tifa’s Attack and Strength ratings, but get a small bump in her Magic Defense and Spirit. Alternatively, you can choose to equip the Supernatural Wristguards to retain a higher Attack rating. You can purchase the Talisman in Wall Market or steal it from Specimen H0512 in Chapter 16.

Even with a defensive-focused build, Tifa has nine Materia slots at her disposal. Equip two Hp Ups to maximize her Health, Deadly Dodge, Chakra, Steadfast Block to further decrease enemy damage while guarding, Provoke to temporarily draw enemy fire when your other party members are injured, and two elemental Materia. Increase Tifa’s Physical Defense a bit more by selecting Ifrit as her Summon.

Trying to build a Mage class for Tifa might prove disastrous because her bread and butter are efficient physical attacks and moving quickly around the battlefield. Unless you're against an enemy that's extremely weak against magic attacks, it's best to build Tifa as a Tank or Attack.

Before we dive into Tifa’s Mage build, it’s recommended to avoid this build because it severely hinders her overall play style. However, if you’re against a magically weak opponent, equip the Mythril Claws. Obtained near the end of Chapter 13, this weapon drastically increases Tifa’s Magic Attack and offers two connecting Materia slots and one separate slot. By using the ability Chi Trap, Tifa can summon an orb to deal additional damage to enemies.

For the third time, we’re going to stick with the Chain Bangle. Although there are other options to heavily favor a higher Magic Defense (Astral Cuff, Sorcerer’s Armlet) or Physical Defense (Supreme Bracer, Heavy-Duty Bracer), the Chain Bangle provides Tifa with one more Materia slot. If we’re building a Mage class for the heavy-hitting bartender, we want as many Materia slots as possible.

The two mage-focused accessories are the Platinum Earrings and Circlet. The earrings will boost Tifa’s Magic Attack and Magic two times as much as the Circlet, but the Circlet also increases her MP. Depending on how you sort out Tifa’s Materia, you can sacrifice the MP increase for stronger magic attacks. You can purchase the Platinum Earrings in Wall Market and find the Circlet in Chapter 14.

Similar to the Attack and Tank builds, Tifa will have nine Materia slots to use in this Mage build. Load up with a couple of MP Ups and one HP Up to boost her Magic and Health Points. Add Healing, Time, Revival, and Barrier for quality support Materia and to further boost her stats. Fill in the remaining slots with two of your strongest elemental Materia and Shiva for a slight bump in her Magic and Magic Attack.

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Avery Feyrer earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He experienced working as a Web Content Editor at the local sports radio station in Arizona, before realizing his true passions were in games. Avery began writing game reviews for his website (coffeescorner.com) before becoming a regular contributor to MP1st, and now, a Staff Writer for TheGamer. You can find Avery on Twitter @CoffeeBlack_910.