IMPORTANT: This level, along with the TEMPLE OF KARNAK and GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL, are like one big level made up of linked parts. You can move between them as many times as you need to, but twice through each level should be enough if you explore thoroughly. This walkthrough attempts to cover everything with minimal backtracking.
LEVEL 9A: SACRED LAKE (first visit)
Updated: 5/5/19(†)
Kills: 10 Items: 9, plus Canopic Jar Secrets: 0*
NOTE: The numbers of kills, items, and secrets listed above refer to the first visit only. The rest are covered in the Sacred Lake (second visit). There is one secret in this level, but it is not reachable until the second visit.
LAKESIDE RUINS: You enter this level from the GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL. Climb out of the shallow pit and go through the doorway on the left to an open area. There's a small medipack on a low block in plain sight—perfect Lara-bait to distract her from the hungry crocodile that crawls in from the left. If you hop up onto the sloping ledge just beyond the medipack, the croc can't reach you. Shoot it as it approaches. Then follow the ledge around toward the lake and shoot another crocodile swimming around below. If you want all the kills, approach the dark alcove to the north to awaken the 2 bats hiding inside. After killing them, head back to the south. (screenshots)
The raised crawlspace in the southeast corner leads to a SMALL POOL WITH TWO OBELISKS ON AN ISLAND in the center. There are a few pick-ups and scorpions there, but you're missing some necessary items. So ignore the crawlspace for now and continue around the corner to the right (west). (screenshots)
Follow the ramp down to the water, but don't start swimming around just yet. Stand at the bottom of the ramp and look across the water to the west. You should be able to spot a crocodile sunning itself on the far bank. Lara won't aim at it from this distance, but if you shoot in its general direction, you can get its attention and then kill it as it swims toward you. A second crocodile then comes to investigate. Kill it the same way. Now you can explore safely. (screenshots)
Swim across the lake to the sandy ledge where the crocodiles were. Note the closed gate on the building in the middle of the lake. You'll need to open it. Follow the outer wall around to the north side. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH SLOPES AND CLIMBING POLES: Go through the doorway of greenish stone. There are 2 bats lurking inside. Shoot them. Then drop through the opening in the floor below the lit torch, at the back (north) side of the room. (screenshots)
NOTE: The other openings will either drop Lara onto a series ramps and deposit her in a pool at the bottom or break her bones outright. If you end up in the pool, either reload an earlier save or follow the underwater passage back to the lake and try again. There are a few pick-ups in the pools below the side openings, but we'll get them on the way out.
Hop down to the lowest step and face the striped pole. Step off the edge and slide down the slope (don't jump) to land at the base of the longer pole. Hold Action to grab the pole. Climb up until Lara is roughly level with the heads of the Thoth carvings on the wall. Turn so the carvings are on Lara's right and her back is toward the base of the second pole. Then press Jump to backflip and land there. Climb the second pole almost to the top. Turn so the first pole is ahead and the square ledge is behind Lara. Then press Jump to backflip off the pole and land there. Climb into the raised crawlspace. Follow it to the end and drop down. Then continue to a small room with a hieroglyph-carved ledge and two golden windows. Pull the chain. (screenshots)
Cutscene: The gate back at the building in the middle of the SACRED LAKE opens, releasing a pair of crocodiles.
Return through the passageway then the crawlspace to the ledge overlooking the poles. Safety drop off the ledge to land at the base of the nearer pole. Turn around and walk to the outer left corner (so the pole is behind Lara). Take a standing jump onto the slope to the left of the second pole, slide back and grab the edge. Let go to drop into the water-filled opening below. Grab a small medipack from the bottom. Then swim out to the pool below the poles and pick up some flares in the far left corner. (screenshots)
Surface for air if necessary. Then follow the underwater passage in the far right corner to get back to the LAKE. This passage turns to the right then upward, but it doesn't have any forks or dead-ends, so you can't get lost. When you enter the vertical section, Lara is facing north. If you make a 180 turn on the way up the vertical shaft, she'll emerge facing south, which is the direction you want to go. Swim forward then turn left and swim through the gate you just opened using the pull chain. Head for the far right or far left corner ledge and climb out of the water. From there you can shoot the 2 crocodiles. If the second one doesn't immediately appear, jump back in the pool and swim around a bit to get its attention. Then climb back onto the ledge, where the crocs can't reach you. (screenshots)
BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE: Once you've taken care of both crocodiles, explore the ledges along the sides of the room to get a small medipack and 2 boxes of shotgun shells. Then look for an underwater lever beneath the overhang on the east side of the room. Position Lara below it and press Action to pull it. This opens the square trapdoor on the bottom of the pool. (screenshots)
UNDERWATER PASSAGEWAY AND MIRROR ROOM: Swim down through the trapdoor then forward (west) along the bottom to the square door. Face the gray tile the in the middle of the door and press Action to open it. Return to the surface to get air and save the game. The next sequence requires some skillful swimming, and it's easy to get disoriented and drown the first time (or three). (screenshots)
When you're ready, swim down through the trapdoor then straight on through the square door you just opened. Follow the underwater passage forward, left, forward, right, forward, then up and to the left. The floor and walls of these flooded passageways are uneven, but there are no splits or side passages yet. Continue forward up the next slope. Here the passage splits and you can go upward or right. Turn right, swim through the narrow, angled gap. Then continue forward and up into a small room with air and a large medipack. (screenshots)
After picking up the health pack, take a deep breath and save again if you like. Now swim down through hole in the floor (the same way you came in). Swim forward through the uneven opening. Then, when you reach the wall, head upward to the right. This short passageway leads to a flooded room with one wall made of mirror. There's an opening in the ceiling on the left side (when facing the mirror), but it is cleverly camouflaged. (Oh, those crafty Egyptian architects!) However, the mirror image of the room clearly reveals the opening. Get your bearings from the mirror, then roll and swim up to the opening. Climb out of the water and follow the dimly lit passage to a room with CANOPIC JAR 2 on a pedestal. (screenshots)
Cutscene: When you take the jar, a cutaway shows a gate opening back at the room in the middle of the SACRED LAKE.
Pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips, one on either side of the opening in the floor. Then hop down into the opening and follow the passageway back to the MIRROR ROOM. Drop into the water and swim through the doorway opposite the mirror. Then follow the underwater passageway, first down and forward (past the tunnel on the left that leads to the room where you found the large medipack earlier). After that, just follow the passageway's twists and turns, back to the square door and up into the the LAKE.
Get air and swim down through the larger opening in the bottom of the pool. (screenshot) Continue through the gate you just opened. The current will carry Lara along to the next level.
*NOTE ON SECRETS: There are no secrets in this section, but if you have found all of the secrets up to this point, you should have 29/70.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 3/4/00 - Previous edit, details not available.
5/5/19 - First major update since this walkthrough was created in 1999. This revision includes many new screenshots as well as various other corrections and clarifications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup and the old tombraiders.com forum, without whom parts of this walkthrough could not have been written. Thanks also to CMB1988, Dewo, and Ryan for their help on this level.
WAS THIS WALKTHROUGH HELPFUL? If not, I apologize and invite you to contact me with any questions. If you need help right away, I recommend the r/TombRaider subreddit. Other fan-run forums are listed at tombraiders.net/stella/community.html. If this site was useful, please consider supporting it financially or in other ways. For details, visit tombraiders.net/stella/support.html. As always, I welcome your corrections/suggestions. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999- Stellalune (). Feel free to copy or print this walkthrough for personal use. By all means, share it with friends, but please include this credit line so people can send me their feedback. No part of this walkthrough may be reproduced on another site without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Follow this link for details about this site's advertising and privacy policy.
Stella's Tomb Raider Site: tombraiders.net.