FFVII Tifa – weapons, stats, materia, and limit breaks

It would be fair to say that one of the reasons for Final Fantasy VII’s popularity is the characters found within, one of which is Tifa Lockhart. In our FFVII Tifa guide, we discuss her abilities, weapons, armour, and general stats to give you a better idea of what her strengths and weaknesses are – strength being the operative word here as the girl hits like a freight train. Not even Mike Tyson could keep up with Tifa’s punches.

Since you’re here, we assume you’re a Final Fantasy fan. In which case, why not check out our FFX Auron and FFX Lulu guides to get some advice on the best weapons and armour for them. We also have a Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier release date guide to keep you up to date on the latest news surrounding the mobile title.

FFVII Tifa’s weapons

As with any Final Fantasy title, each character has a weapon type that’s unique to them, and in the case of Final Fantasy 7’s Tifa, it’s knuckles. There are various knuckles available, more of which show up as the game goes on. Naturally, each weapon choice has different benefits, so consider these when choosing which to use.

The majority of knuckles provide good physical damage, though there are two that sacrifice this to offer different benefits. One of those is the powersoul, which increases damage should your health be at critical levels.

Also, each knuckle has a different amount of materia slots available, and FF7 is going to be harder than necessary if you don’t equip these weird and wonderful orbs.

Weapon	Attack value	Magic	Where to get it	Bonuses
Leather glove	13	0	Starting weapon	Plus two critical Element: hit
Metal knuckle	18	1	Wall market	Plus two critical Element: hit
Mythril claw	24	3	Kalm, Junon	Plus two critical Element: punch
Grand glove	31	6	Gongaga, Junon	Plus two critical Element: hit
Tiger fang	38	8	Cosmo canyon	Plus two critical Element: punch
Diamond knuckle	51	10	Wutai village	Plus two critical Element: hit
Dragon claw	62	13	Icicle inn	Plus two critical Element: punch
Crystal glove	75	16	Mideel	Plus two critical Element: hit
Motor drive	27	6	Costa del Sol	Element: hit
Platinum fist	30	7	Junon, Nibelheim	Element: hit
Kaiser knuckle	44	13	Junon, whirlwind maze	Plus one critical Element: hit
Work glove	68	0	Junon, Temple of the Ancients	Plus four critical Element: hit
Powersoul	28	7	Junon, Mt Nibel	If Tifa’s HP is low, the attack value of the weapon doubles, if she’s near-death it quadruples
Master fist	38	0	Shinra building	If Tifa suffers from low health or a status effect damage is doubled
God’s hand	86	34	It’s a drop in the Junon underwater reactor	Plus two critical Element: hit
Premium heart	99	32	Get past Mideel and check the machine in the item store	Tifa’s limit gauge determines damage output, and it multiplies by her limit level

When it comes to armour, Tifa can wear any of the female-exclusive pieces. However, we suggest equipping her with the Minerva band as it removes incoming damage from magical elements such as fire, ice, and lightning, as well as nullifying holy and gravity effects.

FFVII Tifa’s stats

It’s clear to see from Tifa’s stats that she packs a punch, literally. Her strength stat is good and proves useful as the game goes on due to the physical nature of her attacks.

Below is a chart of the maximum stats Tifa can reach across each attribute at certain levels.

Level	HP	MP	Dexterity	Strength	Vitality	Spirit	Luck	Magic
1	219	16	7	11	11	10	14	11
10	391	70	19	24	23	23	21	24
20	762	140	29	37	34	35	22	35
30	1408	223	38	51	46	47	23	47
40	2326	319	48	64	57	60	24	57
50	3535	423	57	72	67	70	26	67
60	4861	527	63	80	73	79	28	75
70	6045	620	65	85	77	85	29	79
80	7215	712	68	90	80	91	30	83
90	8205	786	69	93	83	92	30	87
99	9033	850	71	96	85	96	30	89

FFVII Tifa’s limit breaks

Unlike other characters, Tifa’s limit breaks land consecutively, stacking damage upon each hit. As you might expect from a happy go punching girl, Tifa deals great physical damage with these moves. However, to get to a point where she can unleash a world of pain through a series of limit break attacks, you must unlock them.

Limit break name	How to obtain it	Effect
Beat rush	Tifa’s default move	Punches the same enemy multiple times causing 1.25 times more damage
Somersault	Use beat rush nine times	Tifa performs a somersault while kicking her opponent dealing more than one times more damage
Waterkick	Defeat 96 enemies	Tifa performs a sweeping kick with water effects dealing one and a half times more damage
Meteodrive	Use waterkick seven times	Tifa suplexes the enemy for increased damage
Dolphin blow	Defeat 96 enemies after unlocking waterkick	Tifa uppercuts the enemy with the help of water and a dolphin causing 1.75 times more damage
Meteor strike	Use Dolphin blow six times	Tifa picks up the enemy then spins around before leaping into the air and slamming them into the ground, dealing nearly two times more damage
Final heaven	Use the final heaven manual after collecting all of Tifa’s other limit breaks	Tifa deals more than 2.5 times more damage through the use of an energy blast while punching the opponent

The best materia for FFVII’s Tifa

It’s important to bear in mind that Tifa is a purely physical character to begin with, and she has no materia, so we recommend equipping her with magic materia at the beginning of the game, be it fire, lightning, or any other element.

However, after progressing in the game and levelling her up, magic materia will be more of a detriment than a help. At this point, you want to lean into her physical prowess by equipping materia that gives a boost to her strength – command materia is perfect for this. You might also want to consider options that involve counterattacks.

And that’s everything you need to know about Final Fantasy’s Tifa. Make sure you check out our FFVII Aerith, FFVII Sephiroth, and FFVII Cloud guides to learn all about the leading characters. If you’re after more great games to play, check out our picks for the best Switch RPGs – there’s an adventure around every corner.