Tomb Raider, Gold, Unfinished Business, II and III Frequently Asked Solutions (of me anyways) - version 0.95 --------------------------------------------------------- Maintained by Ivans Chou ichou(at) It is also avilable online at the following sites: http://ivanschou.com/tomb/misc/questions.html Special thanks to snark^. I've vagrantly stolen the format of this FAQ from him. Contents. --------- New or changed sections are marked with an asterisk (*). 1.0 General Tomb Raiding 1.1 What about questions that don't pertain to game play? 1.2 What do I do if you don't list my question here? 1.2.1 What do I do if I still can't figure it out? 1.3 Why are there missing section numbers? Am I missing parts of this file? 2.0 Tomb Raider / Tomb Raider Gold 2.3 The Lost Valley 2.3.1 How do I get across the broken bridge? 2.3.2 Where is the third cog? 2.4 St. Francis' Folly 2.4.1 How do I jump from the grey block to the first column? 2.6 Colosseum 2.6.1 How do I get past the timed gates? 2.7 The Palace Midas 2.7.1 How do the five switches to open the doors? 2.7.2 How do I cross the torch room? 2.7.3 How do I get across the broken pillar in the sand room? 2.12 Sanctuary of Scion 2.12.1 How do I pull the underwater lever on giant statues? 2.14 Atlantis 2.14.1 What happened to the flesh creature/doppleganger/Lara's Mirror creature? It disappeared/stopped moving. 3.0 Tomb Raider Gold / Unfinished Business 3.2 Temple of the Cat 3.2.1 Where's the 5th key in Temple of the Cat? 4.0 Tomb Raider II 4.1 The Great Wall 4.1.1 How do I get past the cave in the very beginning after I kill the tiger? 4.2 Venice 4.2.1 How do I open the door to get the first speedboat? 4.2.2 How do I get to the timed door at the end? 4.7 40 Fathoms 4.7.1 How do I get inside the ship? Where is the anchor? 4.7.2 How do I get past the burners? 4.10 The Deck 4.10.1 How do I get to the cave behind the propeller? 4.17 The Dragon's Lair 4.17.1 How do I kill the dragon? 4.17.2 How do I pull the dagger out of the dragon? 5.0 Tomb Raider III 5.2 Temple Ruins 5.2.1 I'm in the room with the first Shiva statue. How do I get out? 5.2.2 I can see the key behind the gate, but why can't I pull the lever? 5.2.3 Why doesn't the lever work to open the underwater gate to Secret #2? The FAS's --------- 1.0 General Tomb Raiding This document is dedicated to dealing with common points in the Tomb Raider games in which people commonly get stuck. It does not deal with any technical problems or issues other than those that pertain to questions about specific sticky areas of game play. For answers to frequently asked questions, please read the next section (section 1.1). 1.1 What about questions that don't pertain to game play? For answers to those questions, I kindly direct your attention to the alt.games.tombraider FAQ that is posted regularly to the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup. That file can also be found at the following web sites: http://ivanschou.com/tomb/misc/questions.html http://home.att.net/~jenne-theresa/faq.htm 1.2 What do I do if you don't list my question here? (also titled "Frequently Asking your Questions") If you can't find your question/answer in this document, should you do? There are many different walkthroughs and hints sites that are available to you that you can check first. Since I'm the author of this document, I'll make a shameless plug for my web site, which has a general strategy guide, hints, and also a complete walkthrough. http://ivanschou.com/tomb/ If my walkthrough doesn't do the trick for you, then you can check out the FAQ file in the previous section (section 1.1) and check out the links listed there. 1.2.1 What do I do if I still can't figure it out? At this point I would recommend that you take one of two courses of action. The first line of action might be to post your question to the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup. There are lots of helpful people, like myself, who are ready, able, and willing to help you. If you do not often read the newsgroup, then include in your message a statement such as, "An email reply would be preferred." Be aware that if people don't also post a copy of their reply to alt.games.tombraider, then it is highly likely you will be inundated with helpful emails from helpful people so be ready for the results. What if your local Internet Service Provider doesn't carry the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup? You can post your question using the DejaNews service. It's not the best interface to the USENET, but it's free. The URL is: http://www.dejanews.com/ If you prefer more personal service, you could also e-mail me. My e-mail address is listed in a spam resistant form on the title page of this document. Please be aware that, though I have a lot of experience with the Tomb Raider games, I can't read your mind. Please provide me with as much information as possible, including: what level you're on, what you've just accomplished, what you're having trouble with, and what your valid e-mail address is. I would also prefer it if you could include your first name so I can refer to you by somthing more personal than an alias or a "handle". 1.3 Why are there missing section numbers? Am I missing parts of this file? No, I intentionally left unused numbers because the section numbers are based on the level numbers so that if a new solution is added to this file for a level not previously listed, I won't have to renumber everything beyond what I insert. You aren't missing anything. 2.0 Tomb Raider / Tomb Raider Gold 2.3 The Lost Valley 2.3.1 How do I get across the broken bridge? The real problem: "I try to take a running jump across the broken section of the bridge but I aways fall down." You have to perform a running jump and grab to cross the broken bridge. Most people haven't really learned their running jumps by this point, but it's important to WALK to the very end of the bridge, take a hop back which will give Lara the exact run-up she needs, and the performing a running jump. In midair, press the action key and Lara will grab onto the opposite side. 2.3.2 Where is the third cog? This question depends on whether or not they needed to ask the above question. Anyhow, if you're having trouble finding the "elevated" tunnel that leads to the third cog, dive into the tiny pool at the base of the big waterfall and swim through the underwater tunnel. Lara will surface in a cavern with another water fall. Climb the rocks to the right of the waterfall to find the cog. Watch out for the raptor. 2.4 St. Francis' Folly 2.4.1 How do I jump from the grey block to the first column? This is sometimes a problem for people. First you have to push the grey block all the way to the end of the little trench so that it is lined up directly with the shortest yellow stone column. Then you have to walk to the very edge of the grey block and take a standing jump and grab. The only trick to this is that the distance between the block and the column is so short that you have very little time to press the action key to grab the column. You must press all the keys in quick succession for it you be successful. 2.6 Colosseum 2.6.1 How do I get past the timed gates? There's no trick. Just do it faster. Use the reverse roll maneuver in every instance instead of turning around. It is necessary to figure out which switch you need to pull next and get there quickly. Expect to take a few iterations to figure it all out. Don't bump into anything as you run around. 2.7 The Palace Midas 2.7.1 How do the five switches to open the doors? Pay attention grasshopper. There are runes above each door that ought to plainly reveal to you how to set the switches. 2.7.2 How do I cross the torch room? There really isn't any trick to crossing the torch room. Start on the very right edge of the first torch. Lara can clear the first four torches with non-stop running jumps. Lara will need to grab the fifth torch, pull up and and run forward. That method is generally too hard for most people. The torches remain extinguished for approximately ten seconds. Generally people can get to the fourth torch, but no further. A solution that fits most people is to get Lara to the fourth torch, and then hang off the edge of the forth torch. The torch will re-light. Shimmy to one of the corners and pull up. Take a running jump along the edge of the forth torch and grab the fifth torch. Shimmy to the corner again, and pull up and run forward along the edge. Lara will take damage from the heat, but will not be set on fire. 2.7.3 How do I get across the broken pillar in the sand room? Very carefully. Just kidding... From the window, take a look at the sandy area to the right. There is a dark patch of flat sand that Lara can jump to. From there, it's another jump to the broken pillar. From there you should be well on your way. 2.12 Sanctuary of Scion 2.12.1 I'm underwater with the two giant statues. How do I pull the lever? There could be one of two problems here. The first is that you're trying to pull the wrong lever. It's the 12th level. Surely you must be able to tell the difference between a switch and an underwater lever? If Lara is facing the switch on the right statues elbow, take a close look at it. You'll notice that there is a horizontal lever that can only be pulled down if Lara is standing in front of it on dry land. Swim deeper between the statues feet and you ought to find a lever in the tunnel that is a vertical lever. Maneuver Lara in front of the lever and press the action key. She should put her feet against the wall and give the lever a heave. Once in a while you may find that Lara lines herself up with underwater levers but refuses to pull them. This happens very rarely and appears to be some kind of game engine bug. Just swim to the surface, recharge the air meter, and swim down and try again from a different angle. If it's an underwater lever, Lara will eventually pull it down. 2.14 Atlantis 2.14.1 What happened to the flesh creature/doppleganger/Lara's Mirror creature? It disappeared/stopped moving. This is a common problem when you spent too much time square dancing with the doppleganger. It will stop responding to your actions, and if it disappears, you can usually look around and find that it has "died" and is lying in some corner somewhere. This is clearly a bug, but the workaround is to go to the ramp that Lara initially slid down from, and take a standing jump back up the ramp and allow Lara to slide back down the ramp into the room. This should reset or reactivate the doppleganger and you can continue. 3.0 Tomb Raider Gold / Unfinished Business 3.2 Temple of the Cat 3.2.1 Where's the 5th key in Temple of the Cat? If you've got the other four keys in the main room with the running cats, and you've found that you're missing one last key. Guess what? It's not in that room. But you probably know that because you probably scoured that room looking for it. Dive back into the pool and swim back towards the underwater door that closed behind you when you came in. Before you get to the door, look up. 4.0 Tomb Raider II 4.1 The Great Wall 4.1.1 How do I get past the cave in the very beginning after I kill the tiger? After killing the tiger, jump into the water. Swim towards the back corner of the cave and step out of the water. There is a little alcove back there where you can climb up onto a block. You should be able to head toward that first guard tower from there. 4.2 Venice 4.2.1 How do I open the door to get the first speedboat? The key to the boathouse is on the first guard up on the balcony that you shot. 4.2.2 How do I get to the timed door at the end? There's really no "trick" to finishing. You just have to drive faster and steer without hitting anything. There is, however, a trick that you can employ, which was meant for the case you don't have the boat at all. Take the boat and leave it outside of the room with the button that opens the double doors. Swim into that room and push the button, which closes the door and opens the door in the clock tower. Stay away from the little ramp, which would start the counter, but rather swim underneath the door and now you can take your sweet time to finish the level. 4.7 40 Fathoms 4.7.1 How do I get inside the ship? Where is the anchor? You don't think they'd drop you off in the middle of the ocean without leaving you a few bread crumbs to follow, would they? Turn around when the level starts and follow the debris on the ocean floor until you come to the hull of the ship. You'll find the anchor and the port that it protrudes from there. 4.7.2 How do I get past the burners? There's no trick. Just do it faster. Take running jumps over the pipes on the ground. Avoid running into walls. Just keep at it. This is puzzle is the frustration equivalent to the "Torch Jump" (section 2.7.2) from the first game. 4.10 The Deck 4.10.1 How do I get to the cave behind the propeller? Don't try so hard. Move on with where you can go. You'll get back there soon enough. Be aware that there is a bug in some releases of the Sony Playstation version in which the tunnel that leads to the cave behind the propellor has a second block within it. Lara can pull it once but then it's stuck. There is no way beyond this bug than to use the skip level cheat. 4.17 The Dragon's Lair 4.17.1 How do I kill the dragon? You can't simply kill the dragon with weapons alone. With enough ammunition, you can bring the dragon down, but it will get up again after a short recovery. You need to pull out the dagger. 4.17.2 How do I pull the dagger out of the dragon? Some people have no problems at all with the dagger, while some people can try endlessly and never manage to pull the dagger out. For some reason Lara's placement has to be very precise, and the dagger's "wound" can be misleading for some people. If you run up to the wound to where you think you should be able to pull it out. Press and hold the action key and side step towards the dragon's head. Lara should be able to pull it out within four or five steps. 5.0 Tomb Raider III 5.2 Temple Ruins 5.2.1 I'm in the room with the first Shiva statue. How do I get out? There's a movable block in the corner to the right of the statue that Lara needs to pull out to proceed. 5.2.2 I can see the key behind the gate, but why can't I pull the lever? That little vertical stick is an underwater lever and can only be pulled when the lever is submerged. Yup, you guessed it, you need to flood that pool. The hows and whys are simple. Just move on and come back when you've managed to flood this pool 5.2.3 Why doesn't the lever work to open the underwater gate to Secret #2? Because you've missed a secret. This is actually Secret #3. In Secret #2, there is a lever that activates this lever and if you didn't pull that one, this one won't work.