Tomb Raider: The last Revelation
Alexandria
LEVEL 17: THE LOST LIBRARY
Go through the next crawlspace and drop down into a hallway with a lantern. Continue in either direction to reach the MAIN HALL WITH TWO LEVELS AND MANY BLUE DOORS. This room is the hub for all of your explorations in this level. It is illustrated in the diagram lostlibrary.gif.
KEY TO DIAGRAM lostlibrary.gif: Lower level doors (A - F): A = Fire Circle Scroll room, B = Pole and blades, C = Fire Circle room (to upper level), D = Planetarium, E = Room below Pharos Pillar/Room with Pool (to upper level, if trapdoor is open), F = Room below wooden floor. Upper level doors (G - K): G = From Fire Circle room (via library), H = Harp room, I = Pharos Pillar/trapdoor (to lower level), J = Wooden floor room (to lower level), K = Room with lions' heads).
Some of the blue doors can be opened from this room; some open only from the other side. There's no set order for exploring the different side rooms. I've tried to set up the walkthrough to include the least amount of backtracking while still maintaining a sequence where you get the clues or puzzle pieces needed before you get to the puzzles. If you want to, you can now open the four lower-level doors that will open from this side. This may save you a bit of backtracking later on.
ROOM WITH MECHANICAL MEN AND FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL: Go to the first door on the left (marked "A" in the diagram) and press Action to push it open. Go through the hallway, break the jar to get the small med-pack and Uzi clips inside, and continue to a room with banners hanging from the ceiling and a golden circle inscribed on the floor.
Two mechanical men emerge from the alcoves. These guys can be challenging to defeat since their metal hides repel bullets. The blue gems in their chests are their vulnerable spots, so don't bother shooting when their backs are turned. You can hear them grunt every time you score a direct hit, and they'll let out a longer groan when they're about to fall. You don't get much maneuvering space in this small room, but you will meet more of these mechanical men throughout this level. In general, try to keep your distance and just continue plugging away at them until they fall down. It may help to back away from them while shooting.
Then, when they get close, jump over them, roll and start backing up and shooting again. Since a lot of your shots will miss, I'd recommend using the pistols rather than more powerful weapons to conserve ammo. Also, in this particular case, if you need to flee to safety for a moment, you can run back down the hallway where you entered. The mechanical men won't follow all the way back to the MAIN HALL.
There is a scroll on the pedestal here, but a bug seems to prevent you from picking it up. It will be possible to get it later in the game, but by then the clue it offers may come too late. This is the FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL. When examined, it reads: "For the serpents to live, all must first be stilled. Provoke each in turn, and the circle will burn complete." (This applies to the puzzle in the FIRE CIRCLE ROOM, described below.) Return to the MAIN HALL the way you came.
ROOM WITH POLE AND BLADES: Go to the second door on the left when facing the big double doors (marked "B" in the diagram) and press Action to push it open. Jump to grab the climbing pole and quickly slide all the way down to the bottom. Use a med-pack if necessary to repair the damage from the gear-like blades. Yes, there are some goodies on the middle levels, but you can get them more easily on the way back.
Alternately, you can use the "hole bug" to descend past the blades: Stand Lara at the edge of the opening with with her back to the pole. Press Back then Action as if you were performing a safety drop, but release Action before Lara actually grabs the ledge. She'll then drop to the ledge below. If you time each drop so the blade is on the opposite side of the passage, you can make it down one floor at a time without taking damage.
Follow the hallway to the second pole. There's no need to climb it. Just stand below one corner of the opening, wait for the blade to pass to the other side, then pull up through the opening.
ROOM WITH HUGE GEARS: Kill the mechanical man. (Refer to the tips above under ROOM WITH MECHANICAL MEN AND FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL if necessary.) Use the crowbar to pry the GOLDEN STAR out of the column.
Go to the back side of the gear on the right when facing the two gears (i.e., the southeast corner). Turn Lara so her back is toward the edge of the turning gear, drop back and grab the edge. Climb down the ladder into the pit to find secret #1 (50/70), a small med-pack, revolver ammo and Uzi clips. Climb back out the way you came.
Climb the ladder on the south side of the tall structure in the middle of the room. Go through the door on the T-shaped platform above to the an opening with a climbing pole. Slide down the pole.
ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND PIPES: Two mechanical men emerge as you explore. Destroy them. Take note of the locked gate with the receptacle next to it. You'll need to find something to put here. Enter the next room and climb down the ladder. Go through the crawlspace. Enter the room beyond.
Cut scene: A mechanical man runs into the room, mounts the bronze horse and begins riding around the room.
The mechanical horseman is quite hard to kill. Fortunately he won't do much damage as long as you move around a lot to stay clear of his axe and the horse's hooves. After you've shot him in the blue gem for a while, he'll get off the horse and come after Lara on foot. Keep firing and he'll soon fall. Take the HORSEMAN'S GEM.
(NOTE: You can climb into the secret area, as described in the next paragraph, before defeating the horseman and shoot him from above. However, this takes quite a bit longer than just toughing it out on the ground.)
In the room to the south of the main room, there's a gate with a pulley mechanism. Use the laser sight-equipped crossbow with normal arrows to target the dangling ball. Or, use the laser sight bug, described at the end of this document, to conserve ammo. (If that doesn't work, try explosive arrows, or use the grenade gun, jumping and shooting at the peak of the jump.) When you hit it, the gate opens. Climb in to get secret #2 (51/70), a large med-pack, shotgun shells and Uzi clips.
Return to the main room, exit through the door where you entered (east side), go through the crawlspace and climb the ladder back to the ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND PIPES. Use the HORSEMAN'S GEM in the receptacle near the small gate to open it. Enter and pull the chain.
Cut scene: A gate raises in an underwater room below. (You can see this area through the grate in the floor.)
Exit the alcove and make a U-turn to the right to return to the climbing pole. Climb up, back flip to the floor and go up the steps to the upper level of the ROOM WITH HUGE GEARS. Go to the right along the T-shaped ledge and climb back down the ladder to the floor.
Cross the room to the west side (opposite the gears). Go through either door. The rooms beyond have swinging chains. You can avoid these by standing at either side and running carefully past them, or crawling underneath them at either side. When you reach the room with the smaller turning gear, stand at the edge of the metal trapdoor in the floor, facing the low ramp but with the trapdoor between Lara and the ramp, and press Action to open the trapdoor.
Jump into the water and swim down through the gate on the west side (now open if you pulled the chain in the ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND PIPES). Use the crowbar to pry 2 GOLDEN STARS from the wall. There's an air pocket below the grate in the ceiling if you need to breathe.
Swim back through whichever passage (north or east) you came through, climb out through the open trapdoor, and return past the swinging chains to the ROOM WITH HUGE GEARS. Go through the east door to the climbing pole where you entered this room. Drop down into the hole at the base of the pole when the blade moves to the other side. Follow the hall to the other pole. Climb the pole as quickly as you can to get past the first blade. Position Lara's feet just a hair above the blade and back flip to land on the ledge. Or, grab the pole, climb as far up as you can without Lara taking damage then, when the blade moves to the other side, climb up until Lara's waist is about level with the opening and back flip. (This is a bit tricky. You may need to let Lara's feet get cut a little in order to make the jump.)
If you didn't do it on the way down, shoot the jars to get a large med-pack and shotgun shells. Take a standing jump to grab the pole. Slide down a little to avoid the second blade, then repeat the steps above to get to the next ledge. Shoot the jar for a small med-pack. When climbing up through the last blade, position Lara so she's facing west or south (i.e., there's no wall behind her on the upper level), wait until the blade begins to move toward the opposite side of the opening, then jump to grab the pole and immediately back flip onto the ledge above. Continue to the MAIN HALL.
The next door on the left (marked "C" in the diagram) won't open from this side. Cross the room and push open the door to the right of the big double doors (marked "D" in the diagram).
PLANETARIUM: Shoot the jar in the hall to get a small med-pack. Follow the hall to a big room with celestial patterns on the ceiling. Slide the globe with the blue band at the equator onto the thick, gold circle at the center of the floor diagram. A glowing white orb appears above the globe, showing that it's in the correct position.
Use the three GOLDEN STARS you collected in the previous area to open the small, square gates. Now you need to move the rest of the globes onto the correct circles within the diagram: gray = inner circle, green = second circle, pink = third circle, yellow = outer circle. When all of the globes are positioned properly, blue lightning crackles between the globes and the gold circle on the north wall, and a door opens below the gold circle.
Go through the door and continue, shooting the jar at the bend in the hallway to get a large med-pack. At the next bend, shoot the jar to get a box of wideshot shells.
IMPORTANT: If you've got the PlayStation version of the game, you should take a small detour here: Push open the blue doors that lead back to the MAIN HALL (marked "C" in the diagram). Cross the MAIN HALL and push open the lower middle doors on the other side (marked "E"). Players using the PC version don't need to do this, but but it may be convenient to have door C open later. Now return through door C and continue along the hallway to the next room.
FIRE CIRCLE ROOM: This large room has a seven-pointed star inscribed on the floor and a serpent statue fitted with a lever at each point of the star.
(NOTE: If you like, after entering this room, you can return to the first room off the MAIN HALL to get the FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL. It should now be accessible. To get there, follow the hall back the way you came, enter the MAIN HALL, turn right and go through the second door on the right, marked "A" in the diagram. However, this isn't necessary.)
To solve the fire circle puzzle, note that pulling any lever affects the burner on that lever, as well as the two other burners at the opposite points of the star. If a burner is off, the lever will turn it on and vice-versa. Begin at the serpent lever nearest the entrance. Pull the lever, then move counter-clockwise around the circle, pulling each lever in turn. When you pull the seventh lever, all the burners should be lit, and blocks will rise from the floor in the middle of the room. If you make a mistake and want to start over, walk over the low step with the star on the east side of the room to extinguish all the burners.
In the PlayStation version, solving the puzzle also triggers the appearance of a fire elemental. You'll need to find some water quickly to extinguish it. Run through the hallway behind the first snake lever (where you came in) to the MAIN HALL. (You'll have to open the blue doors at the bend in the hall, marked "C" in the diagram, if you didn't do this earlier.) Then run across the MAIN HALL and in through the lower middle doors on the other side (marked "E"). Run down the stairs to a room with a hanging lantern, where you'll pick up 2 more fire elementals. Run through either door out of this room. Follow the hallway to a room with benches and a small pool. Jump into the pool and wait there for the fire elementals to extinguish themselves in the water. Climb out of the pool. Whew!
LIBRARY: Now return to the fire circle room if you left previously to deal with the fire elemental. Climb up the blocks through the opening in the ceiling. Follow the stairs past the small pool and fountain to a room with scrolls scattered around the floor and a ladder leading to the upper level. Climb the ladder, go around the balcony and shoot the jar to get a small med-pack. Climb back down the ladder.
Follow the hall to a ROOM WITH BENCHES AND SCROLLS, breaking the jar in the hall on the way to get some Uzi clips. Go down the stairs and push open the blue doors (marked "G" in the diagram) to emerge on the UPPER LEVEL OF THE MAIN HALL. Turn right and cross the balcony to the other side.
You can save yourself some time later by opening all of the doors on the south side of the upper level now. These only open from the MAIN HALL side. Be careful at door "I". If you follow the hallway, a fire elemental will appear. In order to extinguish it, you'll need to open the trapdoor and descend to the room with a pool below. (For details, see the section ROOM WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS, below.) I recommend avoiding this room for now and instead going through the rightmost door on the upper level, south side (marked "K" in the diagram). This leads to the ROOM WITH LIONS' HEADS.
ROOM WITH LIONS' HEADS: Save your game before sliding down the ramp. As you slide, jump to grab the ladder (above and in front of you just before the end of the ramp). Climb up to the top of a huge statue of a lion's head. You'll hear a huge metal globe roll down from a chute on the other side of the room. Take a running jump from the top of the lion's head to the long ledge on the right (west) wall. This is secret #3 (52/70), a large med-pack and normal arrows. Safety drop to the ground.
(NOTE: If you miss the concealed ladder reload your saved game and try again. I found it impossible to grab the ladder after exiting this room and returning at a later time. If you miss the ladder and choose to forego the secret, walk up the ramp and jump to the side to avoid being flattened by the rolling globe.)
When you explore near the ramp, a mechanical man approaches from the east side of the room. The top of the ramp and the low stone block are safe spots to stand, but it takes longer to destroy the robot from here because it's harder to hit his blue diamond. Also, note that standing at the top of the ramp triggers a second rolling globe, so jump to the side to avoid it. After destroying the mechanical man, take a standing jump from the top of the ramp to grab the switch high on the wall to the left of the ramp. This raises large stone blocks near the middle of the room.
Climb to the top of the blocks and take a running jump to grab the ledge ahead (on the south wall). Pull up and follow the hall around to an opening facing the second lion's head. Take a running jump to the top of the head. Parts of the head are slippery, so aim for the flat triangular area just to the right of the chain. Pull the chain. This widens the opening in the lion's mouth so you can crawl through. Slide down the front of the lion's snout facing uphill so you can grab the edge as you slide. Let go and immediately grab again to catch onto the lower jaw. Crawl into the open mouth. If Lara stands up, she'll slip. If she falls, you can climb up the blocks and jump to grab the nose without having to go all the way to the top of the head again.
Climb the pole to the small room above and back flip to the floor. The two gates open automatically as you approach. Go through the gate on the right.
ROOM WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS: Enter the room and take the PHAROS PILLAR from the pedestal. Stand facing the trapdoor in the floor next to the pedestal, with the pedestal ahead on Lara's right, and press Action to open the trapdoor. Note the ladder on the left side of the trapdoor leading down to the room below. If you like, you can enter the hallway opposite the pedestal to draw out a fire elemental. If you avoid this side of the room and the hallway, the elemental won't appear.
(NOTE: This hall leads to one of the doors on the upper level of the main hall, marked "I" in the diagram. However, it can only be opened from the outside.)
Run back to the trapdoor, drop back to grab the ladder and descend. Press and release Action repeatedly to climb down rapidly. Once at the bottom of the ladder, roll and run through either door out of this room. Follow the hallway to a room with benches and a small pool. Jump into the pool and wait there for the fire elemental to extinguish itself in the water. Climb out of the pool.
(NOTE: If you stand on the tile with the gold orbital patterns, Lara looks intently at the chute high on the wall. If you select the binoculars and look into the opening, pressing Action to activate the light, you'll see the solution to the puzzle in the PLANETARIUM, which you won't need if you have used this walkthrough.)
Follow the hallway on the west side back to the room with the ladder, shooting the vase and picking up a small med-pack on the way. Entering the stairway to the right of the ladder causes 2 more fire elementals to emerge from the lamp in the ladder room. Lure them back to the pool to destroy them. Alternately, when you first climb down the ladder, you can duck into the hallway to get all of the fire elementals after Lara at once. Then you'll only need to make one mad dash to the pool. Or, you can avoid this stairway altogether and the two elementals won't appear.
(NOTE: PlayStation players won't have to worry about these two fire elementals, as they should have taken care of them along with the elemental they encountered in the FIRE CIRCLE ROOM. The hall to the right of the ladder leads to one of the doors on the lower level of the main hall, marked "F" in the diagram. However, it can only be opened from the outside.)
Climb back up the ladder to the room where you got the PHAROS PILLAR. Go through the open gate back to the small room with the pole. Go through the gate on the right.
ROOM WITH WOODEN PLANK FLOOR: A little way down the hall is an alcove. Pick up the wooden TORCH from the floor. Step on either round grate to light one of the burners. Carefully approach the burner with torch in hand. Press Action to light the torch on the burner. Continue down the hallway to a room with a wooden floor. Press the draw-weapons key to toss the torch onto the wooden floor and watch it burn away. If the torch slides off the wooden area of the floor, pick it up and try tossing it again.
(NOTE: The other hallway out of this room leads to one of the doors on the upper level of the main hall, marked "J" in the diagram. However, it can only be opened from the outside.)
(BUG NOTE: A few PlayStation users have found a bug here. After burning away the floor, they left the area, saved their game, then returned later only to find an invisible barrier preventing them from dropping through the floor. I recommend dropping through immediately after burning the floor.)
Drop down through the opening in the floor and pick up the MUSIC SCROLL. (It's the one in the circle on the floor that Lara stares at intently when you walk past it.) Shoot the jar to get some shotgun shells. Climb through the doorway, follow the hall and push open the blue doors (marked "F" in the diagram) to emerge back at the MAIN HALL.
If you've already opened the doors on the south side, upper level, go through the middle door on the south side, lower level, which leads to the room below the ROOM WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS. Climb the ladder to the PHAROS PILLAR ROOM, go through the hallway opposite the pedestal and exit through the blue doors (marked "I" in the diagram) to emerge back at the MAIN HALL, UPPER LEVEL.
If you haven't opened the upper level doors, go through the right door on the north side, lower level of the MAIN HALL (marked "C" in the diagram). This leads to the FIRE CIRCLE ROOM. Climb the blocks, go through the opening in the ceiling, follow the hallway through the LIBRARY, through the ROOM WITH BENCHES AND SCROLLS, and finally through the blue doors (marked "G" in the diagram) to emerge back at the MAIN HALL, UPPER LEVEL.
HARP ROOM: Go through the door on the right, north side (marked "H" in the diagram). Shoot the vase to get the Uzi clips inside. Then continue to the room at the end of the hall. Face the music stand near the harp and press Action twice to place the MUSIC SCROLL on the stand.
Cut scene: Lara plays a tune on the harp and a nearby door opens.
Go through this door to the small balcony above the big double doors in the MAIN HALL. Pull the chain to open the big double doors. Take a standing jump over the railing to the floor below. Go through the doors you just opened to the next level.
(IMPORTANT: Make sure you have the PHAROS PILLAR before exiting.)
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