NOTE: Combat strategy is based on the Medium difficulty setting, so your experience may vary slightly. In addition to the walkthroughs for each level, there are separate pages for Controls & Gameplay Tips, Skill & Weapon Upgrades, and Collectible Items.
SAVING AND CHECKPOINTS: Like the last several games, TOMB RAIDER uses autosave checkpoints. Whenever you pass a checkpoint, the game is saved automatically. Then, if Lara dies or you quit the game and restart, the game reloads at the last checkpoint. If you only rely on one autosave, you may run into trouble if you get stuck in the game, encounter a bug, or if your autosave file becomes corrupted. To avoid problems, I highly recommend changing your save slot at least once each level. You may also want to periodically back up your autosaves on a memory card (consoles) or into a separate folder (PC). See the controls page for details.
AREA 7: MOUNTAIN BASE
Updated: 8/3/13(†)
Camps: Map Room (Fast Travel)*
Gear: none Weapons/Weapon Parts: WWII Submachine Gun
Documents: 3 Relics: none GPS caches: 2 Treasure Maps: none
Challenge Tombs: none Challenges: 1 (5 items)
Area Map: Mountain Base**
*See the section about base camps on the Controls page.
***Map includes all major collectibles and challenge items. Refer to the in-game map by pressing Tab/Back if you'd prefer no spoilers. The in-game map does not include a compass rose showing which way is north. So when I refer to map directions in my walkthrough, assume North is up, east right, south down, and west left.
When you slide down the zip line from the previous area into the bunker, you are immediately rewarded with 100 XP and a mission update.
OJBECTIVE: Find the Communication Console
As you slog through the fetid water to the stairs on the opposite side of the room, you can overhear a couple of Mathias's men talking about some sort of ritual.
On a desk on the landing, in plain sight, is a document (1/3), "The Best Job," part of the Confessions of a Solarii series. (screenshot)
Continue to the top of the stairs. Don't enter the gas-filled passageway on the left just yet. Green gas is bad for you. Trust me. I'm a mom. I know about these things. Use your axe to turn the red valve and shut off the flow of gas. (screenshot) Now you're good to go. Squeeze through the small opening and follow the passageway to another room.
Lara overhears 2 men talking in the hallway ahead as they haul some heavy object. Move to the door on the opposite side of the room. Ignore the salvage crate next to the door for now and peer out to the left. If you're quick, you can catch the two guys moving a big, red barrel. Unless you're a fan of Watney's beer, the first thing that will come to mind will be explosions. Use your bow to target the barrel and, once both men are standing close to it, let fly. The resulting fireball should take out both of them. If not, finish off any survivors. A third man comes down the stairs at the end of the hall to investigate. Take care of him as well. (screenshots)
Go back for the salvage. Then make your way down the hallway. About halfway along, before you get to the spot where the red fuel barrel was, turn right into a grungy, old bathroom. Go through it into a second room, where you'll find a food cache. Continue into a third room and use your axe to pry open one of the lockers to get some salvage. (screenshots)
Return to the previous room and use the burning barrel to light your torch. Keep the torch lit as you exit the bathroom and loot the bodies in the hallway. So sad. So crispy.
At the end of the hall, opposite the stairs, is another room on the left. (screenshot) Enter and use the torch to burn the banner (1/5) on the wall above the oriental rug. (screenshot) This unlocks the Non-Believer Challenge: Find and burn 5 such banners for an XP bonus. Extinguish your torch (by holding the Duck button briefly). Pick up some arrows in the doorway on the way out and head up the stairs.
As you turn the corner to the right, a guy with an axe and machete drops down through a hole in the wall and charges. Try to take him down before he reaches you. Loot his body. There are also some rats in this area that you can kill and—what? skin?—for XP and salvage if you like. Climb up through the hole where that last Solarii came from. It's at the end of the hall on the left near the angled, iron girders. (screenshot) Drop down into a room with several lanterns sitting on the floor.
LANTERN ROOM: Move close to one of the lanterns and press Interact to pick it up. Turn to face the wall with the opening where you dropped in. Hold the Aim button and you will see an arc showing the trajectory the lantern will take if you throw it. Move the mouse or right stick to aim the lantern at the banner (2/5) on the wall below and to the right of the opening. Then press Fire to throw the lantern and burn the banner for the Non-Believer Challenge. (screenshots)
Now climb up onto the green duct and through the small, square hole high on the north wall. Drop down into the control room beyond. Move to the right and use your axe to turn the red valve in the corner. This starts the flow of flammable gas into the room. When you've turned the valve, a Solarii with a rifle enters the room on the other side of the window and starts taunting Lara. Now you need to get out quickly before Lara chokes. Climb back onto the green duct where you dropped down a minute ago. Then scramble back through the square hole into the previous room. (screenshots)
Quickly pick up one of the lanterns and move back from the wall with the square opening. Press and hold Aim. Then direct the arc so the end goes through the hole into the control room that is now filling with gas, and press Fire to throw the lantern. Kerblam! 250 XP and one less obstacle in Lara's way. (screenshots)
Go through the hole you just made into the next room. (screenshot) You'll find the Solarii soldier trapped under some rubble whinging. Approach him for another 250 XP and a new weapon: the WWII SUBMACHINE GUN. The soldier begs you to put him out of his misery. It's up to you whether you want to oblige him or not.
After you kill him (or don't), you can take a few minutes to work on the Non-Believer Challenge if you like. Unfortunately Lara can't light her torch from any of the numerous flames left over from the explosion. So you'll need to return to the bathroom. From the soldier's body, turn to face the control room you just blew up. The next banner (3/5) is on the wall in the far left corner just before the low wall separating the room you're in from the control room. Go through the control room and out the first door on the right. Head down the stairs and turn left. Pass the room where you burned the second banner earlier. Then turn left again into the bathroom. Go through to the second room and light your torch at the barrel. Then return upstairs to the room with the dead solder. Again, the banner is on the right wall (when facing the soldier) in the corner nearest the control room. Once you've set it on fire, you can extinguish the torch for now. (screenshots)
Go through the doorway next to the dead soldier. In the next room you'll find 2 boxes of rifle/SMG ammo, a document (2/3), "Scientist: Secret Project," part of the Wartime Intelligence set, sitting on the desk near the ammo, plus a GPS cache (1/2) in the near right corner. (screenshot)
SPOTLIGHT ROOM AMBUSH: Check your weapons now because you're about to head into a massive gunfight. To make sure pistol and rifle are fully loaded, select each one (2 on the keyboard or D-Pad Down on the controller for the pistol, 4 or D-Pad Right for the SMG), hold Aim, then press Interact to reload. This transfers the maximum amount of ammo from inventory into the gun. I recommend going in with the SMG selected. Also note that if Lara dies during the upcoming fight, which she probably will at least a few times, the game will reload at the checkpoint in this room. Remember to pick up the rifle ammo again.
When you're ready, go through the doorway on the left (west) into a dark room swarming with Solarii cultists, who immediately turn on several spotlights, temporarily blinding and disorienting Lara. Then they start shooting bullets and flaming arrows. As soon as you regain control, press Aim to draw your SMG and take out the 2 guys with machetes and axes charging up the steps toward you—one on the left, one on the right. In order to conserve ammo, try to tap lightly on the trigger in short bursts and aim for their heads if possible. (screenshots)
The door where you came in is now closed and can only be pried open with the axe. So you're basically trapped in here until you kill everyone. If you're quick you can try and shoot out some of the spotlights, but because Lara is a bit slow and disoriented at first, this can be hard to do without being shot to pieces. Instead, as soon as you've dealt with the first pair of enemies, pick up the rifle/SMG ammo sitting on the floor to the right, next to the blue barrels. Then run up the ramp on the right and jump to grab the edge of the elevated walkway.
Pull up and run forward, taking out the archer who drops down directly in front of you at the end of the walkway. Your old gun is hard to aim, but do the best you can. Follow the walkway around to the left. As you run toward the camp fire, another archer drops down through a hole in the ceiling. Shoot him while running toward him and finish him off with a melee attack if necessary. Lara can't use the axe as a weapon yet, but if the guy is nearly dead as you approach him, you'll see the Melee icon, prompting you to press the button for a finisher. Lara will then pick up a conveniently appearing rock and smash the guy's head in. Guess she learned that on the late shift at the Nine Bells. (screenshots)
Now you want to get behind the cover of the cage near the campfire as soon as possible, so the men will have a harder time shooting at you from below. You can take a moment to pick up the arrows leaning in the corner and reload your rifle if necessary. Stay alert, though, since the guys downstairs will not wait long before coming up after you. Fortunately, they usually come one or two at a time, so you can shoot at them as they climb up in the same spot where you did and make their way along the walkway from right to left. You may want to switch to the bow for now to conserve ammo. Aim through the holes in the cage and try for headshots if possible. Then if one or two do manage to make it all the way around the corner, you can switch to the pistol or SMG to take care of them. (screenshots)
I'm not sure if the number or type of enemies varies, but in my experience over several playthroughs, there were always 10 enemies in all: the 2 men with axes and machetes who charge at the beginning, the 2 archers on the walkway, 4 more archers with flaming arrows who may or may not climb up from below, another guy with an axe and machete, and a guy with explosives.
They won't always climb up in the same order, and sometimes a few stay down below, allowing you to pick them off when they move out from behind cover. You just need to watch out for those flaming arrows and Molotov cocktails. If a flaming bottle lands near you, quickly dodge out of the way. Then, if possible, move back into the cage into an area that's not currently burning. (screenshots)
Be especially wary of the demolitions guy (the one with the reddish glow). If he attempts to climb up onto the walkway, take him out quickly. You do not want him to reach the left corner, since he will then be able to pelt Lara with fire and she'll have no place to hide. If you shoot at him and miss, he may drop down and move to hide behind the junk to the right of the entrance. Use the bow, to take him out with a headshot. If you can hit him just as he's about to throw a petrol bomb, he'll fumble it and set himself on fire, earning you a 10 XP bonus. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you're having trouble with this sequence, don't be afraid to adjust the difficulty level to Easy. You can always change it again later. If all else fails and you're playing on the PC or Macintosh, you're welcome to download a save file.
AFTER THE BIG FIGHT: Loot the bodies for salvage, arrows and bullets. If you've been collecting all the available salvage up to this point, you should now have enough for a weapon upgrade. During the brawl, you discovered the Map Room Base Camp. If you like, you can use it now.
NOTE: If you've been following this walkthrough, you should also have enough XP for your 7th Skill Point. Spending it unlocks the Hardened Skill Tier. This will enable you to choose from among the Hardened-level skills, as well as any Rookie-level skills you have not yet unlocked, next time you have a point to spend. At this time, you also receive a bonus skill, Axe Strike, without having to spend a point on it. To use Axe Strike, press the Melee button in close combat to hit an enemy with your climbing axe. Land multiple hits to stun enemies. Once you've unlocked this skill tier, I highly recommend purchasing the Dodge Counter skill as soon as possible. It will come in handy throughout the game.
Drop down to the lower level and pick up more rifle/SMG ammo near one of the desks in the middle of the room and a GPS Cache (2/2) on the floor behind the vertical pipes near the right wall. (screenshot)
Go through the doorway on the far wall, opposite the entrance and below the graffiti that reads, "Embrace the Flames." In this little control room, you'll find a salvage crate, pistol ammo and another banner (4/5) for the Non-Believer challenge. You could go all the way back to the bathroom for some fire, but that's not necessary. There's a closer source. Exit this room, turn right and go up the stairs. There's a flaming barrel at the top, but before lighting your torch, ready a weapon. When you take a few steps into the hallway, another Solarii drops through the grate on the ceiling to your right. Shoot him. Then light the torch at the barrel and return downstairs and left into the little control room with the challenge banner. (screenshots)
If you've been collecting everything up to this point, you should have found all but one document and one of the challenge banners. (Check the list on your map screen if you don't remember.) If you missed anything in the previous rooms, you can get back there by using your axe to pry open the door where you entered the ambush room. (screenshot) Return here when you're ready to move on.
THE CONTROL ROOM: From the ambush room, once again go up the stairs to the south. Pass the burning barrel and the spot where you killed the last guy who dropped down from above. Pry open the door at the end of the hallway and enter the control room.
In the next cut scene, Lara discovers that the controls here are not working and she'll have to climb the radio tower in order to patch into the panel there. You receive 100 XP for trying and a new goal.
OBJECTIVE: Climb the Radio Tower to Send an SOS
Afterward, pick up various goodies in this room: another document (3/3), "Alone," one of the Diaries of a Madman series, and rifle/SMG ammo on the right when facing the entrance; arrows and salvage on the left. The final challenge banner (5/5) is hanging on the wall to the left of the entrance. (screenshots) Go out into the hallway and use the barrel to light your torch so you can burn the banner. If you've found and burned all of them, you'll receive a bonus of 150 XP.
In case it isn't obvious, the exit is the hole in the north wall with the scrawled arrows pointing at it. Squeeze through into a narrow space between the walls where steam pipes run. Move forward through the twisting passage until you come to a low opening blocked by metal slats. Press the Melee button when the on-screen prompts appear to kick out the grate. Lara then emerges outside in the next area.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 4/2/13 - First draft of walkthrough posted online.
4/11/13 - Added annotations for collectibles to the level map. Also updated the formatting of the header.
4/20/13 - Fixed the incorrect numbering of the documents. Thanks to Mike the Aardvark for the correction.
5/15/13 - Added note about unlocking the Axe Strike skill automatically when the Hardened skill tier is unlocked. Thanks to Jeff Reid for pointing this out. Also fixed a few minor typos thanks to Micah.
7/10/13 - Added note recommending Dodge Counter skill.
8/3/13 - Fixed a typo in the header. I had forgotten to list the challenge, although all the challenge item locations were mentioned in the walkthrough.
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