Dissidia 012 PvP Digest - Tifa Lockhart

Overview

Tifa is a close range character with fast movement speed and the ability to feint attacks. Ground combat is bolstered by mid priority projectiles and an HP link, while aerial combat is supported by moves with vertical tracking. Decent EX gain and one of the highest damaging EX Bursts in the game the more EX meter she has remaining. Damage potential is high with HP attacks thanks to high base bravery and Aerith assist specifically. Low average bravery damage, limited utility on feints and below average vertical prowess while airborne limit her overall effectiveness, however.

Tifa’s tournament viability is low.

Build styles

Hybrid
High base BRV Side by Side
EX Core
Dodge BRV Boost

Key moves

Waterkick (BRV) + Somersault (HP)
Blizzara or Blizzaga (BRV)
Beat Rush (BRV)
Elbow Smash (BRV)
Moonsault Kick (BRV)
Falcon Dive (BRV)
Meteor Strike (HP)
Burning Arrow (HP)
Rolling Blaze ground + air (HP)
Meteor Crusher (HP)

Strategy

Tifa is arguably stronger on the ground.

On the ground, utilise her fast ground dash to close distances and fast innate running speed to maneuver around opponent’s attacks. This can be used to create whiffs and apply pressure against dodges. Once up close, use Waterkick to represent the threat of Somersault HP link. To get around blocking, mix it up with jumps, a Blizzard projectile, one of her ground HPs or Beat Rush feints. The damage on Beat Rush is not particularly high, but it is relatively safe on whiff, teleports behind the opponent when close and it can be easily hit confirmed.

To play defensively, whiff Waterkick to generate assist meter, feint Beat Rush early to cover her ground dodge recovery and throw a Blizzard projectile from afar. Feints can stop her HP attack early, but allow her to repeat the attack while she is stationary after a feint.

In the air, the strategies remain similiar with the absence of Blizzards and HP links. Get close with Free Air Dash and test waters with Elbow Smash. While airborne, Moonsault Kick fulfills the role of Beat Rush as a higher damaging brv with a feint that can move behind a guarding opponent. Air jumps can work when delaying your own approaches, just remember to refresh them through quickmoves. If you’re approaching a grounded opponent while airborne, exercise caution when using Falcon Dive, it’s relatively predictable in those instances. Charge up Meteor Crusher to catch air dodge attempts and feint Rolling Blaze to catch dodges below you.

When defending, use Elbow Smash and Falcon Dive to safely build assist meter on whiff. Similiarly, Elbow Smash remains your lowest commitment move when fending off the opponent. Feint Moonsault Kick early to cover her dodge recovery against punish attempts.

Assists

- Kuja (poke / wall rush confirms, high damage, high risk of being locked when active)
- Tidus (poke / wall rush confirms, lower damage, faster start-up and shorter animation on air BRV assist)
- Aerith (earlier call timing, but allows triple HP combos and conversions off of Moonsault Kick without a wall)

Assist combos

General notes

- Waterkick + Somersault HP link lets all of the above assists follow up. Aerith must be called soon after the HP hit. Tidus and Kuja must be called much later when the opponent is at the apex of the knockback trajectory.
- Moonsault Kick / Elbow Smash 1st hit into Kuja or Tidus BRV are staple confirms

Kuja

- Falcon Dive wall rush -> Kuja -> Falcon Dive dodge cancel x2 -> assist teleport -> Meteor Crusher (one of Tifa’s highest damaging brv combos)
- Blizzara and Blizzaga wall rush are ok as well. Depending on your position, two Falcon Dives may not be possible.

Tidus

- Moonsault Kick / Elbow Smash 1st hit -> Tidus BRV -> air dodge towards opponent -> Rolling Blaze
- Blizzara / Blizzaga wall rush -> Tidus BRV -> your followup

Aerith

- Rolling Blaze wall rush -> Aerith BRV -> Rolling Blaze -> call Aerith BRV before Rolling Blaze hits again -> your followup
- Moonsault Kick all hits -> call Aerith BRV before chase prompt -> chase -> chase HP -> if dodged, opponent is trapped -> your followup
- Blizzara / Blizzaga wall rush -> Aerith BRV (while midair!) -> your followup

Tips

About Feints

Feints are better used sparingly early in the match to see how the opponent reacts to them. Once you get a good idea of how they respond, you make adjustments. A feint allows Tifa to delay her attack for about one (1) full second before being locked into unactionable recovery frames.

Tifa can be hit after the feint teleport as well as the recovery period, which make her susceptible to interruptions. One way to cover this is to have assist meter ready to respond to opponent’s interactions. Escaping damage or intercepting the opponent’s approach can work out well, but there will inevitably be a little bit of guessing involved when facing a different player.

Common counter motions to feints include;

- Running or jumping out of range
- Fast bravery or HP attacks (e.g. Squall’s Beat Fang, Yuna’s Diamond Dust or Cloud’s Braver)
 Reacting with assist call or using assists in tandem with their own attack to pincer her.

Other tips

- Staggers caused by LV2 Assist Change won’t net much reward beyond Elbow Smash or Falcon Dive. However, Tifa can free air dash and then try charging up Meteor Crusher to enforce a mindgame situation with air dodges and interruptions.
- More on LV2 Assist Change; feints can be used to lock opponent’s assist with all of Tifa’s feint maneuvers. A similiar strategy can be applied with delayed Waterkick hp links.
- While Feints can leave Tifa vulnerable, they can also be used to go through attacks. Useful for snatching an assist charge!
- Do not rely on Rolling Blaze feints. The move has diagonal tracking upwards if done on the ground and diagonally downwards if done in the air. Players can move around this with dashes and jumps or by air dodging above Tifa.
- Some of Tifa’s disadvantegous match-ups include Sephiroth, Ultimecia, The Emperor and Squall.
- Tifa has no easy way to bypass Garland’s Cyclone HP. Aerith’s Seal Evil BRV assist gets around it with ease.
- Blizzara becomes Ranged Mid priority at the end of it’s traversal, and if it hits an opponent, Tifa can charge up Meteor Strike during that period and have it’s followup punch activated for free.
- Both Blizzara and Blizzaga can be whiff punished with an assist on reaction, so the move can be a liability to you depending on the match-up. It may be a good idea to free up CP in such cases.
- Three of Tifa’s ground HPs cover a different niche. Meteor Strike for brv damage + wall rush and as a pseudo-poke for relatively short end lag and minor evasion against nearby aerial opponents. Burning Arrow for catching neutral / side ground dodges. Rolling Blaze for opponents above her who may commit to an attack.

Gameplay data on Tifa – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nwrYCYCy9WDcC1gPsy-d8_4bOQL3kPJR/view?usp=sharing