Fi seeks to clarify feelings in much the same way that Ti seeks to clarify thoughts. However, Fi can't use empathy in the same way that Ti uses logic. Fi also doesn't have external "scripts" to follow like Fe does. Fi does have a unique tool at its disposal though. Humans often mirror the emotions that they see in others without even realizing it. An Fi user is usually keenly aware of how one person's mood is affecting their mood. The Fi user can determine how they would feel in a similar situation and then compare it to what they are seeing in another person and see what the discrepancy is. That gives them an important piece of information because they can determine for themselves what the "appropriate" primary emotion is and the secondary emotion that the other individual is feeling. While that won't tell them what the need of an individual is, it will tell them the pattern by which a person deals with their emotions. Understanding that pattern is important because that tells an Fi user what a person's motivations are.
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Understanding the motivator is often more important than understanding the need because we all have the same basic needs but the ways we motivate ourselves can differ considerably. Unfortunately, this clarity of feelings seems to be as frustrating to an Fi user as the clarity of reason can be for a Ti user. I've watched some Fi users in social work struggle desperately to get people to substitute negative motivators like anxiety and apathy for positive ones like self affirmation, self appreciation, and self encouragement. The results are usually about as dismal as when I try to get a fundamentalist Christian to reasonably consider their interpretation of the Bible.
