How to Find and Upgrade the Lightning Staff in Black Ops 2 Zombies: Origins
The Lightning Staff and its upgrade, Kimat’s Bite, are rewards you can chase in Call of Duty: Black Ops II and in Black Ops III Zombies. In Origins, this is one of the more straightforward questlines—as long as you know where to go and what sequence matters. If you want a full rundown of where every Lightning Staff part is located, or you’re wondering whether this Wonder Weapon is actually worth building, here’s a complete Origins guide.
Before you start collecting pieces, you’ll need to complete the “Little Lost Girl” easter egg in Origins. You can do it whether you’re playing solo or coordinating with co-op partners, and the walkthrough below focuses on the Lightning Staff route that follows.
How to Build the Lightning Staff in Origins
Step #1: Collect the Purple Disc
- Found inside a wagon by a tree outside of Generator 4.
- Found on a table by Der Wunderfizz at Generator 4.
- Found by a lantern at the bottom of the Wind Tunnel by Generator 4.
Step #2: Obtain All Three Lightning Staff Parts
Go into the Church and use the tank. Keep your gaze on the right side of your approach, because once the tank is about to pass the trenches, you’ll need to jump up onto the wooden scaffolding to grab the first part—exactly as shown in the reference image from the original walkthrough.
Next, head to the Tank Station at Generator 2. When you pass the MP-40 Wall-Buy, look left to spot scaffolding that leads into the Pack-a-Punch Excavation Site. Grab the part there, then move quickly back toward the tank so you don’t get left behind.
For the last component, watch the right side again. Just before the tank enters the Church, jump off to the right to find a dirt path. Follow it to the back of the Church, where the final Lightning Staff part is waiting inside.
Step #3: Get the Lightning Staff Crystal & Build the Staff
Now go to the Lightning Tunnel at Generator 5. Place the gramophone and the purple disc on the table to enter the Crazy Place. Inside, look toward the purple pillar—when you’re in position, it opens and reveals the crystal so you can collect it.
Once you’ve grabbed the crystal, leave the Crazy Place and return to the Excavation Site. In the area with the staff statues, interact with the statue positioned toward the middle-right to assemble the Lightning Staff. With the weapon built, the next phase is the upgrade.
How to Upgrade the Lightning Staff in Origins
Step #1: Solve the Piano Puzzle in the Crazy Place
Pick up the Lightning Staff and head back to the Crazy Place. In the lightning chamber portion—marked by a purple platform—you’ll see 5 up-arrow symbols and 7 down-arrow symbols. The upgrade requires firing the Lightning Staff at these symbols in a specific pattern. The order you need is:
- 1, 3, 6.
- 3, 5, 7.
- 2, 4, 6.
You can ignore the top row of symbols entirely, since they don’t belong to any valid combination for this puzzle.
Step #2: Turn the Electric Panel Dials
After the piano sequence, you’ll need to interact with 7 separate electrical panels around the map, turning each one a set number of times or until the dial shows the required direction:
- Spawn/Labratory: Turn 2 times, or stop when the dial faces left.
- Generator 2’s Tank Station: Turn 3 times, or stop when the dial faces down.
- Generator 4: Turn 2 times, or stop when the dial faces up.
- Excavation Site wall: Turn 3 times, or stop when the dial faces up.
- Generator 5: Turn 3 times, or stop when the dial faces down.
- Church (Downstairs): Turn 2 times, or stop when the dial faces right.
- Church (Upstairs): Turn 1 time, or stop when the dial faces up.
If you’ve completed this correctly, you’ll see a beam of light traveling into the Excavation Site.
And if you stumble on a dial you weren’t instructed to use, don’t worry—those are red herrings designed to waste your time.
Step #3: Shoot the Purple Orb
With the dials set, go back into the Excavation Site and face the statues. You’ll notice four dials above you. Jump across the room’s scaffolding to reach lever points and rotate the dials until every one of them displays purple. Once they’re aligned, use the Lightning Staff to shoot the purple orb underneath the dials, sending it to the Crazy Place.
Step #4: Feed the Lightning Staff Zombie Souls
The last task takes you back into the Crazy Place. Inside, go to the purple podium where you originally obtained the crystal, and place the Lightning Staff there. From there, you must secure 20 zombie kills around the staff. When all required souls have been fed, you can pick the staff back up to receive Kimat’s Bite.
Is the Lightning Staff the Best Staff in Origins?
For low rounds, the Lightning Staff is perfectly serviceable. However, when you push into higher rounds, it starts to fall behind. Using it can even feel like a burden: charging the weapon can stun zombies, but those stunned enemies don’t die, and instead they keep moving around in a disabled state that disrupts your training rhythm. The damage output isn’t impressive either, and the stun effect can quickly become more annoying than helpful—especially if you’re playing solo or with only two players.
Origins includes four staff builds across Black Ops II and Black Ops III, covering Fire, Ice, Wind, and Lightning. Full build guides exist for each one, including the Lightning Staff you’re working on right now.
- How to Build the Fire Staff
- How to Build the Ice Staff
- How to Build the Wind Staff
- How to Build the Lightning Staff (You are here!)
