Quick answer: You awaken Lightning by visiting the Mysterious Scientist NPC in the Second Sea or Third Sea, opening the Admin Panel, selecting Lightning, and completing four sequential research tasks — each requiring a rising Mastery threshold, specific in-game challenges, Fragments, and rare crafting materials.
Lightning fruit overview
Lightning (formerly called Rumble before Update 27.0) is a Legendary Elemental-type Blox Fruit that costs $2,100,000 or 2,100 Robux from the Blox Fruit Dealer. It grants electric-based attacks with stun effects, large area-of-effect damage, and a fast teleport-style movement ability. Unlike many other fruits in the game, Lightning does not use the traditional raid-based awakening system. Instead, all four of its upgrades are handled through the Admin Panel, which functions as a research-and-unlock interface.
Finding the Mysterious Scientist
The Admin Panel is only accessible through the Mysterious Scientist NPC, and that NPC only appears in the Second Sea and Third Sea. First Sea players cannot begin the awakening process at all.
Second Sea location: Head to the laboratory inside the cold zone (the Hot and Cold island). You need to enter a color code on the door panel — Red, Blue, Green, Blue (which translates to 1 tap, 3 taps, 2 taps, 3 taps). Unequip all items before entering the code. A secret doorway opens to a tall ladder. Climb up, and you'll find the Mysterious Scientist standing between eight tubes.
Third Sea location: Go to Castle on the Sea. The Mysterious Scientist stands just to the left of the Set Home Point — much easier to reach than the Second Sea version.
How the Admin Panel upgrade system works
Interact with the Mysterious Scientist to open the Admin Panel. Select Lightning from the research menu. You'll see four upgrades listed in order, each locked behind a Mastery requirement, a research task you must complete in-game, and a material cost you pay upon completion. You must finish them sequentially — the second upgrade won't appear until the first is done, and so on.
One important note: players who had the old Rumble fruit fully awakened (V2) before Update 27.0 received the first three Admin Panel upgrades for free. If you're starting fresh, you'll need to complete all four.
All four Lightning upgrade requirements
| Upgrade | Mastery | Research task | Effect | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arc Discharge Protocol | 200 | Defeat 25 enemies with [TAP] Power Streak (M1 attack) | Lightning Orbs recharge faster (3 seconds instead of 5) | 1,500 Fragments + 3 Angel Wings |
| Predator Circuit Breaker | 300 | Defeat 30 Piranhas | [X] Thunderstorm's clouds can absorb Lightning Orbs to extend duration | 3,000 Fragments + 3 Electric Wing |
| Capacitor Overload Test | 400 | Use a total of 200 Charges | Fully charged [Z] Lightning Orb's third variant can grab players | 6,000 Fragments + 1 Volt Capsule + 5 Electric Wing |
| Conductor's Resonance | 500 | Eat a Lightning Fruit while Lightning is equipped | Sending a fully charged [Z] third variant into [X]'s clouds launches a bigger dragon toward your cursor | 11,000 Fragments + 3 Volt Capsule + 5 Electric Wing |
Total material cost for full awakening
Completing all four upgrades requires 500 Mastery on the Lightning fruit, 21,500 Fragments, 4 Volt Capsules, 13 Electric Wings, 3 Angel Wings, and one extra physical Lightning fruit (consumed during the final research task). That last requirement is the most unusual — you literally eat a second Lightning fruit while your current one is equipped. Chromatic Lightning skins (Yellow, Purple, Green, or Red) count for this task, and eating one also grants you the corresponding permanent Chromatic skin.
Breaking down each research task
Step 1: For Arc Discharge Protocol, you need 25 enemy kills using Power Streak, which is Lightning's M1 (tap/click) attack. Power Streak shoots short bursts of lightning that chain through multiple enemies. It deals low damage per hit, so target weaker mobs to speed this up. Hitting enemies with Power Streak also recharges your orbs faster, which is a nice bonus while grinding.
Step 2: Predator Circuit Breaker requires defeating 30 Piranhas. These are aquatic enemies found in specific sea areas. This task is straightforward but can be time-consuming if you aren't near a Piranha spawn.
Step 3: Capacitor Overload Test asks you to use 200 Charges total. Lightning's Orb Charge passive gives you four electric orbs that power your [Z], [V], and [F] moves. Every time one of those moves consumes an orb, that counts toward the 200 total. Spamming [Z] Lightning Orb (tap version) and [F] Electric Flash burns through charges quickly since both have very short cooldowns.
Step 4: Conductor's Resonance requires you to eat a Lightning fruit while you already have Lightning equipped. You'll need to obtain a second physical Lightning fruit — either by purchasing one, finding one in the world, or using a Chromatic variant. Once consumed, the task completes immediately.
Access requirements beyond Mastery
Fully upgrading Lightning demands access to the Third Sea and, specifically, Submerged Island. Reaching Submerged Island requires defeating the Tyrant of the Skies raid boss. Some of the crafting materials (Volt Capsules and Electric Wings) are tied to Third Sea content, so you cannot shortcut the progression by staying in the Second Sea alone.
What the upgrades actually change
The first upgrade (Arc Discharge Protocol) cuts orb recharge time from 5 seconds to 3 seconds. This has a massive impact on how often you can use [Z] Lightning Orb and [F] Electric Flash, both of which are charge-gated. Faster recharges mean more combo opportunities and better grinding uptime.
The second upgrade (Predator Circuit Breaker) lets you feed Z1 orbs into an active [X] Thunderstorm cloud to extend its duration by roughly 5 seconds per orb. Feeding 3–4 orbs into a single cloud can stun NPCs for over 10 seconds, which is extremely effective for grinding groups of enemies or killing Sea Beasts.
The third upgrade (Capacitor Overload Test) modifies the fully charged Z3 electric dragon so it grabs players on contact and performs a 5-strike combo before knocking them away. This turns Z3 from a ranged projectile into a devastating single-target engage tool in PvP.
The fourth upgrade (Conductor's Resonance) creates a synergy between Z3 and [X] Thunderstorm. Launching a fully charged Z3 dragon into the Thunderstorm cloud causes a much larger electric dragon to burst from the cloud and crash toward your cursor. This combo — [Z] Lightning Orb + [X] Thunderstorm — is the single longest-range attack in the entire game, capable of hitting across entire islands.
Confirming your upgrades worked
After completing each research task and paying the material cost, the Admin Panel will show the upgrade as complete, and the next one will unlock. In gameplay, the most visible confirmation is the orb recharge speed change after the first upgrade — your four passive orbs will visibly regenerate noticeably faster. For the later upgrades, test the Z3 + X cloud interaction to verify that the dragon behavior has changed.
Key limitations to keep in mind
Lightning's [X] Thunderstorm and [C] Sky Judgement cannot be used under low roofs or covered areas, which limits grinding in locations like Cursed Ship and Haunted Castle. The Rubber fruit is completely immune to Lightning's entire moveset, so awakened Lightning still has a hard counter in PvP. The upgrades themselves are expensive — 21,500 Fragments plus rare materials is a significant investment, and the 500 Mastery ceiling means you'll spend considerable time grinding before the final upgrade becomes available.
Lightning's awakening path through the Admin Panel is more structured and predictable than traditional raid-based awakenings. There are no RNG raid drops or fragment gambling — just clear tasks, fixed costs, and incremental power gains that meaningfully change how the fruit plays in both PvP and PvE.