Tifa is one of the most popular characters in Final Fantasy history. She’s the martial arts expert in the party and is very reminiscent of the Monk class in the Final Fantasy universe. Her fighting style is similar to the character Sabin from Final Fantasy VI and Zell from Final Fantasy VIII.
She’s the fastest member of the group and is extremely effective in battle due to her ATB which regenerates very quickly allowing her to be effective as a healing support and for putting the pressure on enemies. Additionally, Tifa is physically very strong and is capable of staggering even the most powerful foes in the game. In the Final Fantasy VII remake, Tifa, like the other members of the group has a total of six weapons to collect, let’s rank them all by their effectiveness in battle.
6 Sonic Strikers
The Sonic Strikers can be obtained in Chapter 7 in a purple chest near the engineering labs that make use of the key cards. The Strikers are more geared towards making Tifa a mid-range offensive magic-user for the party.
However, they have a lower overall magic boost than Tifa’s starting weapon and can leave her vulnerable in close range fights. The Sonic Strikers’ stagger ability is worth learning, however, and will make her a force to be reckoned with as the game progresses.
5 Leather Gloves
Tifa’s starting weapons are the Leather Gloves and like Cloud’s trusty Buster Sword and Barret’s Gatling Gun, it’s a great starting weapon that is fantastically well-balanced. The Leather Gloves may not be as flashy as some of the other weapons in the remake but many players could potentially find themselves going back to them even after finding new equipment.
Tifa is fast, so making use of her speed by equipping Healing materia for HP support and adding the Time materia to further increase her ATB speed will definitely help keep other characters out of trouble.
4 Metal Knuckles
Tifa’s Metal Knuckles can be obtained after winning the Crab Warden boss fight in Chapter 5 – Dogged Pursuit. On a physical level, the Metal Knuckles are Tifa’s strongest weapon but the downside to that is they have the weakest magic stats too.
The Metal Knuckles are intended to make Tifa one of the main heavy hitting melee fighters in the game. However, she has naturally low defensive stats and the Knuckles won’t do anything to alleviate that, meaning it will, unfortunately, make her vulnerable to stronger enemies.
3 Mythril Claws
The Mythril Claws are obtainable in Chapter 13 after defeating the boss called The Failed Experiment. In total contrast to the Metal Knuckles, the Mythril Claws are Tifa’s best offensive magic weapons thanks to its elemental and magic power upgrades.
Tifa’s speed means that with the Mythril Claws she is a very formidable and fast magic caster capable of overwhelming enemies and exploiting their weaknesses. Furthermore, equipping Tifa with the HP Absorption materia together with an elemental keep her healthy at all times.
2 Feathered Gloves
The Feathered gloves can be obtained in Chapter 10 and are found in a chest under the first gate. In many ways, the Feathered Gloves are like a much more enhanced version of the Leather Gloves due to how balanced they are.
Even though they are balanced in terms of stats, the Feathered Gloves have a lot of attack damage and can land a great deal of offensive magic damage too. Additionally, they feature upgrades like reduced damage when Tifa blocks and her ATB is increased, making Tifa even faster.
1 Purple Pain
The Purple Pain gauntlets are Tifa’s final weapon in the game and are one of the best overall weapons in the game. The Purple Pain can be found in Chapter 16 when controlling Tifa, by going around the ladder and crossing the monkey bars to get to the chest.
Not only is the Purple Pain extremely well-balanced, but it makes Tifa a powerful melee and magic-user. All of her critical hits will receive a boost and she’s very capable of consistently staggering and destroying groups of enemies in quick succession.