IMPORTANT: Levels 13 through 20, set in Alexandria, are interconnected. Some backtracking among them is needed to find all the necessary items. This walkthrough covers what I hope is the shortest possible route (without cheating) that includes all kills, pick-ups, and secrets. I have also included an ALEXANDRIA CHART outlining the basic path through the levels. This chart contains minor spoilers, such as keys and puzzle items, so you may want to avoid it unless you get lost/confused. The walkthrough also contains notes on what to do if you missed any crucial items.
LEVEL 15: CATACOMBS (First Visit)
Updated: 5/5/19(†)
Kills: 26 (28) Items: 29, plus 4 Tridents Secrets: 4*
NOTE: There are 26 enemies in this level. The 2 additional enemies are actually encountered when you briefly re-enter the COASTAL RUINS level, near the end of the CATACOMBS. This section is short and optional, but I have included it below rather than on a separate page. Two of the items in the room with the first Trident may or may not appear. Check the notes for that section for details. Also, one of the regular pick-ups in this level will be the SHOTGUN if you didn't find it earlier.
NOTE: The first brief visits to the CATACOMBS are covered in the COASTAL RUINS level.
ROOM WITH BROKEN PILLARS AND SUNBEAMS (again): Once again, follow the passageway to the right. Now that you have stabilized the sinking floor, as described near the end of the COASTAL RUINS walkthrough, you can grab the carved pillar and pull/push it all the way through the room with broken pillars onto the tile with the carved face. When you do this, an air wraith emerges from the pillar, and the small, square door to the right opens. The wraith does a little bit of damage each time it touches Lara, but it won't set her on fire like its cousin in the TOMB OF SEMERKHET. So don't panic, but don't stand still too long either. (screenshots)
SMALL ROOMS WITH POLE AND GOLDEN BIRD STATUE: Hop up onto the ledge near the door and run into the next room. Stay to the right to avoid the hole in the floor surrounding the climbing pole ; it's a long way down. Run up the stairs on the right to a room with many ceramic jars. Once inside this room, head to the right where you'll find a golden bird statue. Wait near the statue and the wraith will smash into it and extinguish itself. Some of the jars can be broken, but there is nothing useful inside. (screenshots)
Return through either door to the room with the pole. Note the square door on the south wall, which isn't open yet. (screenshot) We'll return here later. For now, slide down the pole and continue to the end of the hall. As you approach, the wall rises then closes behind you. The room then appears to descend like an elevator. Use the lever to raise the walls, revealing a new room. (screenshot)
Cutscene: As you step forward, the camera zooms out for a wider view of the high platform where Lara is now standing.
HUGE ROOM WITH HIGH PLATFORM, ROPES, AND SMALL POOL: Take a running jump to grab the first rope. Slide to the bottom, rotate a bit to the left, then swing and jump to grab the second rope. Slide to the bottom, rotate left to face the small opening high on the south wall. Then swing, jump, and grab the edge of the opening. Crawl in and drop down to find SECRET #1 (45/70), the SHOTGUN (or regular shotgun ammo if you already have the weapon), flares, and a large medipack. Safety drop into the hall below. (screenshots)
NOTES: If you need a refresher on rope swinging, there are notes at the end of the TOMB OF SEMERKHET walkthrough. If you missed the secret and saved the game after the rope-swinging sequence, you can still get it by using the crawling corner bug, as detailed in one of the footnotes.
In the passageway below secret #1, the HUGE ROOM WITH THE HIGH PLATFORM is directly ahead and stairs lead up to the right. For now, head up the stairs. (screenshot) At the top, turn right and continue to a gap in the floor. Crouch and shoot the ceramic jars. (screenshot) Walk to the edge, take a standing jump-grab, and pull up on the other side of the hole. Pick up a box of wideshot ammo for the shotgun. Drop through the hole and slide down the ramp into the pool below.
FLOODED ROOM WITH LEDGES AND COLUMNS: Climb out of the water at the base of the stairs near where you splashed down. Climb the stairs to the first landing and pull up onto the L-shaped ledge directly ahead. A skeleton emerges from the center platform. You can destroy it now if you like (there are skeleton-killing tips in a footnote) or just ignore it and continue exploring. A second skeleton will appear later, and you can probably get both with one explosive arrow. (screenshots)
Note the lever in the southwest corner of the room. Below and to the left of it is an underwater passage leading to one of those golden bird statues that is so useful for extinguishing wraiths. So get a fix on its location before you proceed. Take a running jump from the L-shaped ledge to grab the small, square ledge between there and the lever. Pull up and take another running jump to the lever. Use it. (screenshots)
Cutscene: Block ledges extend along the south side of the room.
Take a running jump to the first block ledge, another running jump to the second, then a standing jump up to the ledge with the breakable urn. Crouch and shoot it to get the wideshot shells inside. Walk to the other side of the ledge and a second skeleton appears on the small platform in the middle of the room. If you wait for it to jump over to the larger platform, you can destroy both skeletons with one explosive arrow. (screenshots)
Now jump up to grab the grates on the ceiling. Monkey swing toward the alcove with the carved face and second lever. When you're nearly there, an air wraith emerges from the alcove. Continue traversing forward, drop into the alcove, and use the lever. (screenshots)
Cutscene: Block ledges extend along the east side of the room.
Run off the right side of the ledge with the lever to land in the pool. Swim forward and a little to the right, toward the underwater opening on the far side of the room. Swim in and wait near the golden bird statue for the wraith to put itself out. (screenshots)
Roll and swim back out to the big room. Head for the northwest corner of the pool and climb out on the stairs like you did before. Pull up onto the L-shaped ledge and move to the outer corner. Take a running jump over to the large, central platform. Cross over to the far left corner and take a running jump to the small platform supported by the column. From there, take another running jump to grab the block on the left. (This is one of the blocks you just extended with the second lever.) Pull up, turn right, and take running jump to grab the next block. Pull up and take another running jump to the ledge in the doorway. (screenshots)
Move to the left corner and run off the ledge to land in a small alcove. Drop back and grab the edge. Traverse to the right around the corner. (You're now above the water-filled hallway leading from the southeast corner of the big room.) When you reach the end of the crevice, drop to the ledge below. Follow the passageway to the next area. (screenshots)
TALL ROOM WITH ROPE AND PEDESTAL – TRIDENT #1: Carefully hop down onto the ledge below the doorway. Break the ceramic jar on the right to get a box of wideshot shells. Meanwhile, 2 skeletons emerge from alcoves on the left and right sides of the room. If you shoot the one on the right with an explosive arrow before it reaches the edge, you can simultaneously destroy a third skeleton before it animates. Then blow up the skeleton on the left. (screenshots)
BUG NOTE: Just be careful you do not destroy any of the breakable jars in the right (east) alcove, since this can prevent you from obtaining some items. If you wait until you've dealt with all the skeletons in this room and then shoot the jars, you should get two items, a small medipack and shotgun ammo. See the footnote for details.
Jump and grab the dangling rope. Slide to the bottom. Then swing toward the pedestal and let go (don't jump) to land there. (Alternatively, you can swing and jump to the ledge on the right, then take a running jump to the platform with the pedestal.) Take the TRIDENT (1/4). If you didn't destroy that third skeleton, it will animate now. Wait for it to jump toward you and knock it out of the air with a shotgun blast. (screenshots)
Jump over to the ledge on the west side of the room. The jars here are empty, but you can pull up onto the ledge beneath the pointed archway to get a large medipack. When you do, 3 skeletons appear on the ledges below. Take them out using any of the techniques below. Again, make sure you don't accidentally blow up the jars in the eastern alcove, or you'll miss an item. You may be able to conserve ammo if you hang from the ledge to draw them together, then pull up and destroy them all with one grenade or explosive arrow. Going into the alcove triggers the appearance of a fourth skeleton that emerges from the northeast alcove. Use your preferred technique to deal with it. (screenshots)
Now that you've destroyed all of the skeletons, you can shoot the breakable jars in the eastern alcove. This should cause a small medipack and regular shotgun ammo to appear on the nearby ledges. Pick up the items and enter the northeast alcove. There's nothing in the jars on the small ledge beyond the deep pit, but if you turn around so Lara's back is toward the jars, you can drop back to grab the edge and climb down the ladder on the inside of the pit. At the bottom you'll find normal arrows and wideshot shells, plus regular shotgun shells inside a ceramic jar in an alcove on the east side of this dark area. When you have everything, climb back up the ladder. (screenshots)
Follow the ledge to the right. Jump across the gap and turn right again into the northwest alcove. Jump over the deep pit and climb the ladder in the back left corner to reach the next area. (screenshots)
SMALL ROOM WITH POLE AND PEDESTAL – TRIDENT #2: Blast the skeleton that hops in from the left. Take the TRIDENT (2/4) from the pedestal and climb the pole to the level above. Backflip onto any of the ledges. Shoot the ceramic jar in the southwest corner to find explosive arrows. (The other jars are empty.) Take a standing jump to grab the pole and continue climbing almost to the top. Turn so the passageway is behind Lara. Adjust her position up/down so you can see her feet and a bit of the ledge behind her. Then press Jump to backflip into the passageway. (screenshots)
Follow the hallway. The door at the end opens letting you back into the ROOM WITH THE POLE near where you first entered this level. A skeleton comes up from the floor ahead. Destroy it with explosives, wait for it to jump across the pit toward you and then knock it back with the shotgun, or just avoid it. Slide down the pole. At the bottom, watch out for another skeleton that rises from the floor near the metal jar. It'll take a few shotgun rounds to knock it off the edge, so if you use that method, be sure to wait for it to stand up before firing again. Shooting it while it's down just wastes ammo. You can also destroy it with explosives or just avoid it and head straight for the ladder, skipping the next paragraph. (screenshots)
HUGE ROOM WITH HIGH PLATFORM, ROPES, AND SMALL POOL (again): From this high ledge at the eastern end of the room, you can spot 2 skeletons sneaking around the floor way down below. If you destroyed the skeleton at the bottom of the climbing pole, you can take your time with these two. Blast them from above with the laser sight-equipped crossbow and explosive arrows or disable them using regular arrows to the head. (screenshots)
Take a running jump from the ledge to grab the long ladder on the wall to the right. Climb down to the floor. Cross the room toward the pool in the northwest corner. Climb the short ladder to the right of the pool. Then follow the stairs down to a large room with a high ceiling and smaller rooms on each side. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH HIGH LEDGES AND CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – LOWER LEVEL: Start by entering the WEST ROOM (i.e., the first door on the left). Just inside you'll meet a skeleton. You can hit it with explosives roll, run back out the door, turn left, and head for the end of the aisle that runs down the middle of the room from north to south. Jump over the shallow pit, roll, and wait for the skeleton to hop across after you. When it touches down on your side of the pit, use the shotgun to knock it into the pit, destroying it. (screenshots)
Before returning to the WEST ROOM, go into the EAST ROOM (now on the left). Just inside the doorway, turn right, then left down a short flight of stairs. As you step down into the room at the bottom of the stairs, another skeleton rises out of the floor. Destroy it with explosives or lure it back up to the long aisle between the rooms and blast it into the shallow pit with the shotgun. (screenshots)
When the coast is clear, go back into the EAST ROOM and down the stairs to where you met that last skeleton. Shoot the breakable jars to get some Uzi ammo. Then return up the stairs and along the north-south aisle to the WEST ROOM, where you met the first skeleton. This room is basically a square corridor around a solid center. There's another shallow pit inside on the right. You may not need it, but if you like using the shotgun against skeletons, make a mental note of its location. For now, go around to the far side of the room to find a narrow alcove with more breakable jars and a sleeping skeleton. You can use explosives to destroy it before it animates or crouch and shoot the jars to wake up the skeleton, then lure it to either of the shallow pits and knock it in. Then return to the alcove and climb the rough wall at the back. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH HIGH LEDGES AND CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – MIDDLE LEVEL: Pick up the wideshot shells at the top of the climbable wall. Then step forward. A skeleton comes up out of the next ledge. Let it jump toward you, then blast it off the ledge with the shotgun. Take a running jump across the gap to the ledge where the skeleton came from. Go to the right end and take a running jump to the alcove with the large medipack. Jump back to the previous ledge. Then take a running jump to the next ledge (to the east). Two more skeletons emerge from the next ledge. Blast them off the edge. (screenshots)
Notice the high alcove on the east wall with the glittering object. That's another TRIDENT, and that's where you're headed. Take a running jump to grab the ledge in the southeast corner. Pull up and grab regular and wideshot shotgun shells. Return to the previous ledge. Take a running jump to grab the ledge in the northeast corner and pull up. Ignore the opening in the floor to the right, which leads back down to the lower level. Instead climb the ladder to the ledge above. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH LEDGES AND CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – UPPER LEVEL – TRIDENT #3: Pick up some shotgun shells in the short passageway opposite the ladder. Continue through the passageway and take the TRIDENT (3/4) from the pedestal. Now return to the ledge near the ladder and hop across the gap to the next long, narrow ledge. Take a running jump to the large, rectangular platform ahead. Turn left and take a running jump from the corner of the platform to the alcove near the southeast corner of the room, where you'll find a small medipack and wideshot shells tucked away. Exit the alcove, take a running jump back to the large, rectangular platform and head to the left. As you cross this platform, a skeleton arises on one of the ledges ahead. Wait here and it will make its way around toward you. If you track its approach, you can knock it off the ledge with a shotgun blast just before it reaches Lara. (screenshots)
Now jump across the ledges to the dangling rope on the northwest side of the room. Swing over to the next ledge. Run toward the wall and turn left to spot another skeleton coming toward you. Wait for it to hop across the gap just in front of you and then blast it off the ledge. (screenshots)
There's a brown door over in the southwest corner, near where the skeleton came from. It doesn't open yet, but there's a secret behind it, so note its location. For now, take a running jump with Action to the alcove with the climbing pole. Climb about halfway up the pole and backflip onto the ledge with the jars and sleeping skeleton. It doesn't wake up until you return here later. You can dispose of it with a grenade now, or avoid it. Climb the ladder to the room above. (screenshots)
BUG NOTE: There is a potential bug in this area that can prevent you from getting the next secret, so I recommend saving the game before exploring this room, just in case. Then if you run into trouble, you can reload and try again. See the footnote for details.
ROOM WITH SERPENT CARVINGS AND PEDESTAL – TRIDENT #4: At the top of the ladder, a long narrow hallway leads to a pedestal with another TRIDENT. You'll also notice several small, white piles of bones. In order to get the next secret, you must destroy all 5 bone piles. The first of these is just at the top of the ladder. To destroy it without wasting explosives, draw the shotgun, stand on with Lara's toes on the seam between the tile with the bones and the adjacent empty tile, hold Look and tilt the camera downward toward the bones, then fire; or use the crossbow + laser sight with regular arrows to destroy the bones. (screenshots)
Jump across the hole in the floor and destroy 2 more bone piles in the hallway leading to the pedestal room. The remaining 2 bone piles are to the right of the pedestal and in the alcove behind it. The 3 skeletons here won't animate until you take the TRIDENT, so you can either blast them and the bone piles with grenades or shoot the bone piles and wait to deal with the skeletons. When you have destroyed all 5 bone piles, the tile in the northwest corner of the pedestal room sinks into the floor. Drop down through the opening for SECRET #2 (46/70), explosive arrows. (screenshots)
Cutscene: The brown door you saw earlier opens. This is down in the ROOM WITH LEDGES AND CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – UPPER LEVEL.
Climb back out of the secret area and take the TRIDENT (4/4). If you haven't already destroyed the 3 skeletons with explosives, they will animate now. If you're out of grenades and explosive arrows, you can lure them to the opening above the climbing pole and knock them in with the shotgun. (screenshots)
RETURNING BRIEFLY TO THE COASTAL RUINS (optional): The ladder behind the TRIDENT pedestal leads back to the COASTAL RUINS. (screenshot) There are still things to do in the CATACOMBS, so don't leave yet; however, you may want to climb up and open the gates in case you want to return that way later. Changing levels also restores Lara's health without using a medipack. If you want to do this, climb the ladder and follow the hallway into the COASTAL RUINS. Blast the skeleton in the hallway into the nearby pit. Then use the crowbar to pry open the two wrought iron gates. You'll emerge at the top of the ramp on the side of the first building, marked B on the map of the ruins. Return through the two gates and follow the passageway back toward the ladder. Another skeleton appears behind you. Use explosives to destroy it or just run away. Climb back down the ladder into the CATACOMBS.
BACKTRACKING FOR SECRET #3: Return to the hole in the floor at the end of the far end of the room with the TRIDENT pedestal. If you didn't destroy the skeleton on the ledge below, you can hit it with explosives from above, or just drop down near it, grab the climbing pole, and slide down before the skeleton has time to react. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – UPPER LEVEL (again): At the bottom of the pole, take a running jump to the ledge ahead on the left. Turn left and make your way across the ledges to the southwest corner. Here you'll find the door that opened when you took the previous secret. Inside is SECRET #3 (47/70), explosive arrows, wideshot and regular shotgun shells, and a large medipack (4 separate pickups). (screenshots)
Exit the secret alcove and move to the far left corner of this ledge, nearest the large support pillar. Safety drop to the pink-tiled area below. Turn left, move toward the corner of the platform, step down onto one of the sandy colored tiles, then safety drop to the floor. Lara will take no damage if you do it this way. (screenshots)
ROOM WITH CIRCULAR SKYLIGHTS – LOWER LEVEL (again): You're now back in the LOWER LEVEL, WEST ROOM. Exit into the long aisle between the rooms, turn left (north), and head for end of the aisle, jumping over the shallow pit along the way. (screenshots)
SECRET ELEVATOR: When you enter the small room at the north end of the aisle, the door closes and the floor rises. When it stops, climb into the raised passageway and follow it to SECRET #4 (48/70). Shoot the breakable urn to find a large medipack, wideshot shells, and explosive arrows inside (3 separate pickups). Go up the short ramp to the high doorway. Safety drop to the ledge below. Move to the right edge and safety drop again to get back to the long aisle on the LOWER LEVEL. Return to the far (south) end of the aisle, turn right, and follow the stairs back to the previous area. (screenshots)
HUGE ROOM WITH HIGH PLATFORM, ROPES, AND SMALL POOL (again): Check your inventory. You should now have 4 TRIDENTS. If so, go through the large doorway near the pool to enter the next level, TEMPLE OF POSEIDON. (screenshot) If you're missing one or more TRIDENTS, check this separate page with tips for finding them.
*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 48/70.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 4/25/09 - Minor change to the level flow, incorporating the first visit to the Catacombs into the Coastal Ruins walkthrough.
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 Albert V., Carolyn K., CMB1988, Helena, James 007, Jamie, Jeff H., Jeff Reid, Johannes, Lisette, Lyneel, Nick. R., Niels & Pernille, Simon, Sturm, and VermilionNeko for various tips and corrections used in this level.
NOTE ON DESTROYING SKELETONS: There are several ways to get rid of the pesky skeletons. Explosive ammo (i.e., grenades or explosive arrows) will easily destroy them. This even works on the 'sleeping' skeletons before they animate. Or, lure them to the edge of a ledge or pit and knock them off with a shotgun blast. Or, once a skeleton has animated, use the combined crossbow and laser sight loaded with normal arrows, and aim for the skeleton's head. Once its heads is blown off, it will run around aimlessly. To conserve arrows, you can use the laser sight bug to shoot pistol rounds with the laser sight, as described in the Useful Bugs section.
USING THE CORNER BUG TO OBTAIN SECRET #1: If you used the ropes to swing over to the alcove on the west side of the HUGE ROOM WITH HIGH PLATFORM, ROPES, AND SMALL POOL then saved the game, you will no longer be able to reach the first secret; however, you can still get it by using the crawling corner bug. First, use the climbable wall at the back of the western alcove to climb down to the floor. Turn around and run back across the room to the base of the high platform. Then use the crawling corner bug to get back on top of the high platform with the lever, as shown in this set of screenshots. From there you can reach the dangling ropes and swing over to the secret.
NOTE ON BUGGY ITEMS IN THE ROOM WITH THE FIRST TRIDENT: I can't promise this will work exactly as I have written, but here's what I've discovered so far: There are 4 breakable jars in the alcove on the east side of this room (i.e., the right side as you enter). (screenshot) Only two of the jars contain items, but the triggers appear to be programmed incorrectly. If you shoot only the two jars on the left side of the alcove, a box of shotgun ammo should appear on the ledge just in front of the one with the jars (or occasionally on the ledge to the north). If you shoot the two jars on the right side of the east alcove when you first enter this area, you won't receive an item, but if you wait until after destroying all 7 skeletons, then shoot the jars on the right side of the alcove, a small medipack should appear somewhere on the north side of the room. If you wait until you've destroyed all of the skeletons, you should then be able to smash all of the jars at once and get both items. These items appear in different places, which may be related to where the skeletons are when you destroy them. These screenshots show a few of the possibilities.
BUG NOTE - SECRET #2: Several players have contacted me about a rare but serious bug that can prevent you from getting the second secret. In the ROOM WITH SERPENT CARVINGS AND TRIDENT #4, there are 5 bone piles that you must destroy in order to open the secret area. Apparently one or more of the bone piles can fail to appear or can disappear as you explore, making it impossible to get the secret. So I recommend saving as soon as you enter this area and not overwriting that save until you have the secret. I have not been able to reproduce this bug, so I don't know what causes it. If you have already run into this issue, you can download a PC or Mac save file.
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