IMPORTANT: This level, the TEMPLE OF KARNAK, and the 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 9B: SACRED LAKE (second visit)
Updated: 5/5/19(†)
Kills: 10 Items: 18 Secrets: 1*
NOTE: The numbers of kills, items, and secrets above are for this section only. The rest were included in the Sacred Lake (first visit). One of the regular pick-ups will be the UZIS if you didn't find them in an earlier level.
You re-enter this level from the GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL (second visit) after obtaining the SUN DISK artifact. The trapdoor through which you entered has disappeared, but that's OK. Just follow the passageway outdoors.
SMALL POOL WITH TWO OBELISKS ON AN ISLAND: There are 3 scorpions lurking about the pool, so stay alert and shoot them as they emerge. One comes at you from the left as you step into the open. So turn to get a lock on it and hop back shooting. (screenshot) The other two approach from the far side of the pool, usually along the right side. (screenshot) If you like, you can jump onto the platform in the middle of the pool to shoot the scorpions. They can't swim.
NOTE: If you cleared this area during your first time through this level, you'll encounter one scorpion.
There's a box of shotgun ammo on the bottom of the pool (screenshot) and a small medipack in an underwater alcove on the opposite side of the pool from the ammo. (screenshot)
BACK TO THE HYPOSTYLE HALL ENTRANCE (optional): If you don't care about every kill and pick-up, you can skip the rest of this paragraph. If you do want everything, drop into the hole in the northeast corner of this area and go through the crawlspace. On the other side, when Lara can stand again, pull up into a small room, immediately draw pistols, turn right, and shoot another scorpion. Pick up some flares in the corner ahead. (If the scorpion and flares are missing, you probably got them during your first visit to this level.) Now climb into the raised crawlspace. Turn around, back up to the opening, and drop down in the LAKESIDE area you explored earlier. Roll and run forward. When you reach the low stone ledge on the left, hop up onto it. Shoot the crocodile that approaches from the northeast corner, where you entered from the GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL the first time. When it's dead, head back to the raised crawlspace on the south wall and return to the SMALL POOL WITH TWO OBELISKS the way you came. (screenshots)
Open your inventory and combine the SUN DISK and SUN GODDESS to make the SUN TALISMAN. Use it at the short, pointy object between the obelisks. (screenshot)
NOTE: If you are missing either of these artifacts, check the footnote for suggestions.
Cutscene: When Lara uses the artifact, electricity crackles between the obelisks and the golden disks above each doorway. The Sun Talisman rises into the air between the obelisks, and the three doors around the pool open.
BUG NOTE: Some players have reported a game crash at the above cutscene. A list of possible fixes is included on a separate page.
SMALL POOL WITH TWO OBELISKS (after activation): The EAST DOOR, through which you entered this area, is now a dead end. The NORTH DOOR contains a crawlspace with a small medipack. (screenshot)
Go through the SOUTH DOOR next. It leads to a tall room with a vertical pole and a pool below. Run off the edge to land in the deeper part of the pool. Swim down to the right to get some shotgun shells. Then roll, return to the surface, climb up on the right, and pick up the Uzi clips sitting on the bottom. Move around to the other side of the pole and dive down to get some wideshot shotgun ammo. Swim into the flooded passageway and pick up a small medipack in the alcove on the right. Position Lara facing the gray tile in the middle of the square door and press Action to open it. (screenshots)
Return to the surface for air if necessary. Then swim through the door you just opened and on through the diagonal opening ahead. (If you stick to the upper/left side of the diagonal opening, Lara is less likely to get stuck.) Follow the passage forward then right, through another narrow opening. Continue onward and upward to a small room with air and a SECRET (30/70). Here you'll find three pedestals displaying wideshot shells, a large medipack, and a new type of crossbow ammo: explosive arrows. (Still no crossbow, but keep collecting those arrows!) (screenshots)
Return through the flooded passage the way you came. Surface, and climb up to the vertical pole. Stand close to the pole and hold Action to grab onto it. Climb up until Lara is hanging just above the greenish horizontal stripe on the wall. Pivot so the small ledge with the flares is behind her. Then press Jump to backflip onto the ledge. Pick up the flares. Then jump from the corner of the ledge to the doorway. Follow the corridor back to the POOL WITH THE TWO OBELISKS. (screenshots)
Last, go through the WEST DOOR (i.e., on the left as you exit the SOUTH DOOR) to a ROOM WITH HUGE PILLARS. About halfway along the left (east) wall is a raised alcove containing shotgun shells, Uzi clips, and a small medipack. (screenshot)
In the middle of the room is a square block with an angled top. Climb on top of it, position Lara on the highest corner of the block, and then jump up to grab the handholds on the ceiling. (screenshot) Monkey swing toward the opening high on the south wall. As you approach, 3 bats emerge. Continue traversing all the way to the wall. Then drop and grab the edge of the opening, hold Crouch + Forward to pull up. (screenshot) Crawl forward. Then, as soon as Lara can stand, roll, draw pistols, and shoot the bats.
NOTE: If you prefer, you can traverse toward the opening until you hear the bats. Drop down to the floor to shoot them, then climb back up. Lara will lose a bit of health in the fall, though, so this may or may not be worthwhile.
At the top of the ramp there are two elevated crawlspaces. (screenshot) First crawl into the one on the left to get some Uzi clips. Then go into the one on the right, crawl forward until Lara can stand, then turn around and pull up onto the ledge above.
Approach the opening ahead on the left. The ramp and crawlspaces are now directly below. Take a running jump across the wide gap to grab the ledge. (screenshot) Pull up, cross the ledge, and drop down onto the upper level of the ROOM WITH HUGE PILLARS, taking care to avoid the openings in the floor. Turn left and take another running jump to grab the edge of the opening with the sloping, pink ledge. (screenshot) Pull up and kill 2 more bats. Carefully hop down onto the ledge in the next room. Then move to the northeast corner and safety drop onto the block below. (screenshot)
ANTEROOM AND EXIT TO THE OUTDOORS: There are two exits from this room: a doorway framed in dark reddish stone and a brightly lit opening leading outside. (screenshot) First, go through the dark stone doorway and pick up flares and the UZIS (or Uzi ammo if you already have the guns) from the pedestals. Then return through the previous room and exit the building. Cross the bright, sandy area and approach the door between the two statues of Seth to end the level. (screenshot)
FMV Sequence: Having opened the door using the Amulet of Horus, Lara enters the tomb cautiously and is surprised to see two glowing reddish-yellow eyes glaring from the darkness. Her fingers move toward her pistol, but she hesitates. Then the eyes, apparently not interested in her, turn away. Before she can decide what to do, Von Croy calls out to her from the doorway and she turns to see his outstretched cane. There's a brief exchange of threats. Then Lara draws and fires at him, and he ducks back behind the doorway. He removes the amulet and the door begins to close. Lara runs for the opening but isn't able to reach it in time, and she is sealed inside the tomb. Outside, Von Croy raises the amulet to examine it, and all hell breaks loose, so to speak. The clouds above begin to churn, and we see the faint outline of the red-eyed creature—Seth himself?—overlaid upon one of the statues.
NOTES: Details and dialogue are included in the separate Cinematics section. This sequence is cut off a few seconds early in the PlayStation version. If you want to see the full version, check out GoldfishGam3r's HD cutscene video on YouTube.
*NOTE ON SECRETS: There are 70 secrets in the entire game. These are marked "(x/70)" in this walkthrough. To check your progress in-game, press Pause (P on keyboard, Start on PlayStation or Dreamcast controller) then choose Statistics. At the end of this level, you should have 30/70.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 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.
NOTE ON MISSING ARTIFACTS: You need both the SUN GODDESS and SUN DISK in order to complete the SACRED LAKE (second visit). You can either go back to get whichever item(s) you're missing, use the level-skip cheat to advance to the beginning of the Tomb of Semerkhet, or download a PC save file, in which Lara has just used the artifacts.
Missing Sun Disk: It's not possible to complete the second visit to the GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL without picking up the SUN DISK, so you've probably just skipped ahead in the walkthrough. Drop into the hole in the northeast corner of the area with the SMALL POOL AND TWO OBELISKS (screenshot) and follow the passageway back to the SACRED LAKE. Pick up the SACRED LAKE (first visit) walkthrough with the third paragraph, which begins, "Follow the ramp down to the water...."
Missing Sun Goddess: It's easy to overlook this artifact since it is a separate item sitting on the same pedestal as the HYPOSTYLE KEY, in the TEMPLE OF KARNAK (second visit). Many players don't even realize it is a usable item and not just a decoration. To return to that location, first drop into the hole in the northeast corner of the area with the SMALL POOL AND TWO OBELISKS (screenshot) and follow the passageway back to the SACRED LAKE. Jump in the water, swim around to the west side of the lake, and through the gate into the building in the middle of the lake. (screenshot) If you haven't opened this gate yet, follow the walkthrough for the SACRED LAKE (first visit). If the gate is already open, just swim through the underwater passage shown in this screenshot to re-enter the TEMPLE OF KARNAK. Now follow the walkthrough for TEMPLE OF KARNAK (second visit) to get the SUN GODDESS. When you have it, return through the GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL to the SACRED LAKE, following the HYPOSTYLE second visit walkthrough.
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