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 28: CHASM SHRINE
Updated: 8/26/13(†)
Camps: Sacred Hall (Fast Travel Camp), Sacred Passage (Fast Travel Camp)
Gear: none Weapons/Weapon Parts: none
Documents: 3 Relics: 3 GPS caches: none Treasure Maps: 1
Challenge Tombs: none Challenges: none
Area Map: Chasm Shrine*
*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.
OBJECTIVE: Rescue Sam from Mathias
ENTRANCE HALL: When you enter the sheltered room, the door closes behind you. The Sacred Hall Base Camp is on the left if you need to relax and make any upgrades. In addition to the ammo scattered around the floor—3 boxes of rifle/SMG ammo, 2 boxes of shotgun shells and one of pistol ammo—there's a salvage net hanging from the ceiling and a relic (1/3), a Kansu Burial Urn from the Vases set, sitting on the table near the campfire. (screenshot) You'll also find a document (1/3) on the floor to the right of the ornate, wooden doors. (screenshot) This is another diary excerpt from the Wartime Intelligence series, titled "Soldier: Last Stand." Pry open the doors with your axe and move into the next room.
ROOM WITH FLOOR GRATE AND DANGLING CAGE: Drop down to the gore-strewn floor and scramble up onto the ledge on the right. Use your axe to turn the wheel there, opening the grate in the floor above a deep pit. Drop back down and move across the room and into the alcove to the left of the painted scrambling wall. Here you'll find another relic (2/3), a Ban Chiang Vase, also part of the Vases set. Grab it. Then climb onto the ledge above and head to the right end of the ledge to find another document (2/3), "Whitman: Crossing the Line." In case you had any doubts about the good doctor, this note, which is part of the Endurance Officers set, makes his intentions clear. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you'd like to learn more about the relics featured in this level, as well as other treasures, Tomb Raider Horizons publishes a fascinating series called "Arte-Factual," which covers art and artifacts from all the TR games.
Use your rage-fueled strength to crank the second wheel, raising a large, metal cage out of the pit. When you've cranked it all the way up, the cage locks into place. (screenshots)
Turn around, run up the wooden ramp and jump to grab the ladder made of planks. Climb onto the ledge above. Follow it around to the far side of the room, jumping the gap near the dangling corpses. Pry open the salvage trunk and take the Chasm Shrine Treasure Map from the table. Then jump back across the gap and move to the middle of the walkway, above the entrance. (screenshots)
From this position, with Lara standing on the high ledge and the metal cage hanging between her and the exit, shoot a rope arrow into the rope-wrapped section at the bottom of the cage. Use the rope ascender to pull the cage toward you. When it swings back, it crashes through the wall above the exit, creating an opening. (screenshots)
To get there you'll need to use the cage again. Start by jumping across the gap in the walkway on the right and then dropping down to the lower ledge—the one with the first wheel. Turn it again to close the grate in the floor. Move back to the other side of the room and climb up onto the other ledge. Turn the second wheel again to lower the cage to the floor. With the grate closed, it will not sink all the way back into the pit. (screenshots)
Climb back onto the upper ledge and move around to the middle, so the cage is directly between Lara and the exit. Once again, use a rope arrow and the rope ascender to pull the cage toward you. As soon as Lara releases the rope and before the cage can swing away, jump on top of it. As it swings across the room toward the exit, move to the opposite edge of the cage. When it gets close to the wall, jump forward and jump again to scramble up the painted wall into the opening. Lara automatically climbs through and drops down on the other side. If you don't make it the first time, just climb back onto the high ledge and try again until you get it. (screenshots)
HIMIKO'S SHRINE: In the ensuing cinematic, Lara at last puts the remaining pieces of the puzzle into place. The pouring-water iconography she'd previously assumed to mean a transference of power is in fact the transference of a soul from one vessel to another. Himiko's trapped spirit needs a living body to inhabit, and Mathias intends that body to be Sam's.
Before leaving this room, go into the alcove to the right of Himiko's statue to find the final document (3/3) in the level. This is the last of the Ancient Scrolls and is titled "Hoshi: An End." In this moving diary entry, Hoshi, a former attendant to the queen, describes her plan to refuse her role as vessel, thus breaking the chain of succession. (screenshot)
NOTES: Although this is the last document you'll discover in the game, you won't actually unlock 100% of the documents until you've beaten the game and heard Lara's final journal entry. If you missed anything in the first part of this level and need to get back there, you can use a rope arrow to open the rope-wrapped gate from inside the room with the many statues. (screenshot)
When you're ready to move on, go through the doorway to the left of Himiko's statue (screenshot) and follow the twisting passageway to the next room, cracking open 2 salvage crates along the way. At the end of the tunnel you'll find the Sacred Passage Base Camp.
NOTE: A message on screen warns you that this is the "Point of No Return." This camp offers your last opportunity to Fast Travel before entering the final area. Just to clarify, you don't have to complete everything now, since you will be able to Fast Travel again after beating the game. However, if you want to go back to previous areas and look for things you missed, or hunt a bit in order to unlock a final upgrade or two, now is the time. Once you've beaten the game, the extra skills and weapon upgrades won't really matter, except as they relate to achievements and trophies.
There's a relic (3/3) sitting in the alcove to the right of the campfire. This Satsuma Vase is the last relic in the level and, if you've found all the others previously, the last one in the game as well. (screenshot)
Rest and regroup at the campsite if necessary. Then pry open the wooden doors and enter the final area.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 6/16/13 - First draft of walkthrough posted online.
6/17/13 - Added another missed salvage net caught by Mike the Aardvark. What would I do without him? :)
8/26/13 - Added link to Tomb Raider Horizons.
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