Best Builds for Tifa in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Tifa is a single-target DPS beast with her strong and quick punches, but she may be a bit tough to build with the endless combinations of materia, accessories, and weapon choices. With this dilemma, I created some of the most optimized and best builds for Tifa in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

If you're interested in other characters, check out our other Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth builds:

• Best Builds for Cloud
• Best Builds for Aerith
• Best Builds for Barret
• Best Builds for Red XIII
• Best Builds for Yuffie
• Best Builds for Cait Sith

Best builds for Tifa in FF7 Rebirth

Tifa can deliver many types of serious punches. Here are some builds you can experiment for her in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Balanced Early-Game Build

Since you have limited options in the early game to properly scale Tifa for physical damage, you can instead opt to grant her a few spells and make her a mixed physical and spellcaster instead. Here's the equipment you'll need:

Since you're a hybrid magic and physical DPS, you'll need the following Folio nodes to further optimize this build:

• Leaping Strike
• Fiery Impulse
• Combo Damage Up
• Synchro Cyclone
• Icy Impulse
• Enhanced Techniques
• Slip and Slide
• ATB Charge Rate Up

This first build is very helpful in the early game if you don't want to use Barret or Red XIII, like me. Aside from Tifa's phenomenal single-target damage, she also excels in building up her ATB gauge quickly, faster than anyone in your party. For this reason, we'll be utilizing her ATB gauge to cast spells on enemies to either Pressure or Stagger them.

Ifrit raises Tifa's physical attack damage, so it's vital to this build. However, you'll also need an HP Up and MP Up materia to ensure she stays healthy and has plenty of energy to spare after every battle. Once you pressure an enemy, make sure to use her Focused Strike to massively increase the enemy's stagger bar.

Once you have staggered the enemy, make sure to unleash all your Unbridled Strength charges to increase the stagger multiplier and finish them off with a Divekick. This combo works specifically well against bosses like Quetzalcoatl and Titan.

Related: Where to find Quetzalcoatl Talon in FF7 Rebirth

Pure Physical Damage Build

This is similar to the Balanced build—however, we're going for purely physical damage. In the early game, this may seem underwhelming, but give this build a chance until it can mature to the mid to late game.

The Folio Nodes should look similar to the balanced build, with a few changes. Here are all my recommended nodes for this build:

• Leaping Strike
• Combo Damage Up
• Synchro Cyclone
• Enhanced Techniques
• Slip and Slide
• ATB Charge Rate Up
• Weapon Ability ATB Recovery

For this build, you're looking to take on the enemies head-on as Tifa. This means you'll need at least an HP Up so she can tank a few more hits before needing to heal. The trick with this build is to build stacks of Unbridled Strength, as this gives you an immediate attack buff with your weapon skill.

Since you'll mostly have your ATB Gauge up, you need to be on your toes with using Focused Strike to dodge enemy attacks. Tifa's dodge takes a bit of time to cast, especially when the enemy is already in the middle of an A.O.E. attack animation, so it's either you block or use Focused Strike to land a counterattack.

Similar to the balanced build, you need to exhaust all of your Unbridled Strength stacks once the enemy gets staggered and finish them off with a Divekick. The Reverse Gale is very useful for flying enemies or bosses with an elevated weak part like Migardsormr.

Related: Best Synergy Skills and Abilities in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Lightning Punch Build

If you've already seen our Cloud Build Guide, then you might be familiar with this build already. Here's everything you need:

Since Tifa builds up an ungodly amount of ATB so quickly, I figured this build might also work for her. Think of her as a glass canon character, very fragile yet packs a literal lightning punch. The recommended Folio Nodes are similar to the Pure Physical Damage Build, and here are all of them:

• Leaping Strike
• Combo Damage Up
• Synchro Cyclone
• Enhanced Techniques
• Slip and Slide
• ATB Charge Rate Up
• Weapon Ability ATB Recovery

Remember, Tifa builds up and extends her combo the higher her Unbridled Strength stacks, so make sure to utilize it during battle.

The cycle in using this build is to build up two ATB gauges (first proc of Plasma Discharge), use Rise & Fall, use Unbridled Strength again, normal combo string until the second ATB gauge fills (second proc of Plasma Discharge), and repeat. As I mentioned, this is a very risky build, but expect high rewards if you're able to master Tifa's kit, especially her Focused Strike dodge mechanic.

If you're looking for more Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth guides, check out How to upgrade Weapons in FF7 Rebirth right here at Pro Game Guides!