Thunder Pin

Lore & Background

In the soot-choked foundries of Automata, electricity is both the lifeblood of the city's clockwork infrastructure and a dangerous, untamed force. Puppets—those who have traded their flesh for gears and pistons—carry residual currents in their joints, and a well-timed discharge can spark a brief, violent arc. The Thunder Pin is a refined application of that principle: a small crystalline node, etched with conductive filigree, that channels the puppet's kinetic energy from a dodge into a focused bolt of static discharge. It is not a weapon in the traditional sense, but a trick of the trade, a way to make the very act of fleeing into an act of striking back.

The Pin's design reflects the broader aesthetic of Automata's technology—brass casings, exposed copper wiring, and a faint amber glow where the charge pools before release. Unlike the heavier, more deliberate tools of war that populate the city's armories, the Thunder Pin is a lightweight accessory, something a puppet threads onto their wrist or clips to their belt. It whispers rather than roars, a crackle and a snap that leaves your skin tingling and the air smelling of ozone.

Among the various Pins scattered across Automata's districts, the Thunder Pin occupies a middle ground: not the most devastating, not the most defensive, but a versatile nudge that makes your movement feel alive and your dodges feel purposeful. For a puppet who has forgotten the warmth of a living heartbeat, there is something almost poetic in the way a simple sidestep can become a small, bright storm.

In Their Own Story

The corridor behind the clocktower was narrow, reeking of grease and old blood. The Puppet pressed her back against the iron railing, watching the maintenance drone circle overhead, its single lens tracking her with patient, mechanical hunger. She had no stamina to spare for a full attack. What she had was a Pin, warm against her knuckle, humming with a charge she'd been saving.

The drone lunged. She rolled—just a half-turn, a sidestep, the most basic evasion in any puppet's vocabulary. But the Thunder Pin did its quiet work. A blue-white arc snapped from her trailing hand, licking the drone's undercarriage. It shrieked, its gears grinding, and for one long second it hung in the air, twitching, before it crashed into the floor with a spray of sparks.

She exhaled. The air tasted of copper and ozone. Somewhere above, a bell tolled the hour, and the city's ten thousand clocks ticked on, indifferent to the small storm that had just passed through their streets.

Reader's Guide

In Lies of P, Pins are equippable accessories that do two things simultaneously: they modify your dodge animation with a visual and mechanical effect, and they grant a passive stat bonus. You can only equip one Pin at a time, so choosing one is a small but meaningful build decision.

The Thunder Pin turns your dodge into a short-range lightning arc. When you perform a dodge roll, a crackling electric discharge trails off your movement, dealing a modest amount of damage to any enemy caught in the arc's path. It is not a high-damage move, but it is free—it costs no stamina beyond the dodge itself and no focus. This makes it excellent for chipping at enemies while you reposition, or for interrupting an attack you've just rolled away from.

Pairing tip: the Thunder Pin shines in builds that rely on frequent dodging and close-range pressure. If your playstyle is to weave in and out of an enemy's swings, the arc gives every evasive step a little teeth. It pairs well with weapons that have fast attack recovery, since you can dodge, spark, and immediately swing again. It is less impactful in long-range or purely defensive builds where you dodge less often.

Finding the Thunder Pin: it is obtainable through exploration of Automata's districts—check chests, vendor inventories, and optional side-quest rewards. It is not a rare or endgame-exclusive item, so you will likely encounter it during a mid-game exploration push. Keep an eye on your inventory and the Pin selection menu, which lets you preview the dodge animation before committing.

Did You Know?

• In Lies of P, the Pin system means you can only equip one Pin at a time, making each swap a deliberate trade-off between dodge flavor and passive stats.
• The Thunder Pin's lightning effect is purely a dodge modifier—it does not change your regular attack animations or add a new skill to your moveset.
• Pins in Lies of P are collected throughout Automata's districts via chests, vendor purchases, and side-quest rewards rather than being crafted, encouraging exploration over grinding.
• The game's pin-based dodge system lets players preview the modified animation in the menu before equipping, so you can 'try on' different movement feels before committing to a build.