The TR2 Remastered guide is now complete. For the guides that have not yet been updated, I will continue to link to the ORIGINAL WALKTHROUGHS, which cover all the basics. Follow this link for the archived classic guide.

I use classic tank controls, and mostly reference them here. If you're using modern controls, these guides should still be helpful for navigating the levels, finding every item and secret, and avoiding danger. I may revisit the modern controls at some point, but for now there are loads of YouTube videos with helpful tips.

If you're new to classic Tomb Raider, or returning after a long absence, I highly recommend exploring the Croft Manor training level in each game (i.e., Lara's Home, the Polaroid photo in the main menu) and completing the interactive tutorials there. Also, check out the TR Remastered Controls (in progress) and Classic Tomb Raider Tips & Strategy pages for pointers on moving Lara through her environment, conserving health and ammo, and much more.

This guide includes notes on most achievements and trophies, but it is not an exhaustive roadmap. I do not cover the advanced ones, such as "Very Hard Boiled" (beat the game with pistols only), "I Only Play for Sport! Still!" (beat the game in less than 6 hours), or "Starring One More Time" (finish New Game+), but I do mention a few shortcuts and many strategies to conserve health and ammo.

INTRODUCTORY CINEMATICS: A battle rages in ancient China. A fire-breathing dragon rampages across the field, laying waste to its enemies, until a wounded monk spots a glowing dagger hilt protruding from the beast's belly. The monk deftly removes the knife, and the dragon disintegrates, leaving a snarling human lord behind. Thus, the Dragon Emperor is defeated. The monk and one of his brothers return the Dagger of Xian to its hiding place. Centuries later, Lara Croft abseils out of a hovering helicopter, dropping the last few meters to land on the ground near the Great Wall of China. We see a pile of rocks, presumably a cave entrance, nearby.

Now that the games include subtitles (under Options > Audio), I have removed the cutscene transcripts. The classic guide still includes them.

Starting Inventory: small medi pack, large medi pack, 2 flares, pistols (unlimited ammo), shotgun with 2 shells
Pickups: 14, including grenade launcher, 2 keys, and 3 secrets*
Kills: 23*

LEVEL MAP by VGCartography (used with permission)

Great Wall Video Walkthrough by Eldincy‡

OBJECTIVES: Climb onto the Great Wall and find a way into the guardhouse. Survive a gauntlet of traps in order to reach the cavern beneath the wall. Then make your way across the cavern to the exit. Note that there are a few hidden areas that lie off the main path.

CAVE WITH POOL: The level begins in a cave at the base of the wall. As you cross the cavern floor, the camera shifts to show the helicopter flying away. The building above is where you're headed next. (screenshots)

Start by wading into the shallow pool. Climb out of the water on the stone ledge on the left. (You can either pull up directly onto the ledge by facing it and pressing Forward + Action, or go around behind the rock formation and climb up.) If you like, you can turn, draw your pistols, and shoot at the tiger (1) that emerges below. You don't have to kill it, though, since you're going up, not down. And tigers are endangered, you know. ;-) (screenshots)

Move up the slope, turn left, and walk to the end of the ledge. (If you hold Walk while maneuvering, Lara will not accidentally step off an edge.) Take a standing jump (Forward + Jump together) onto the freestanding block ahead. Turn right and jump onto the long, L-shaped ledge. Follow it all the way to the other end and climb onto the raised block. Now, turn around and take a running jump to land on the thin ledge above the ledge on which Lara was just standing. (screenshots)

IMPORTANT: If you're using classic tank controls and aren't already familiar with the technique for setting up jumps, I highly recommend you try this now. Walk to the edge and face where you want to land. Then take a single hop back from the edge (Back + Jump). Press and hold Forward, then almost immediately press Jump, and Lara will run two steps and jump on the third, taking off right at the edge and landing on the other side of the gap.

Before continuing to climb, look to the right. Across a small gap is a longer ledge extending out toward the pool. Jump onto this ledge and follow it to the end to find SECRET #1, the Silver Dragon (1). Stand over it and press Action to pick it up. From up here, you can kill a second tiger (2) on the cavern floor if you like. Just be sure to hold Walk to prevent Lara from stepping off the edge. (screenshots)

NOTE: You must collect all secrets to unlock several achievements/trophies, "Souvenirs From Around the Globe" for all pickups, "Codex of China" for all secrets in the various China and Tibet levels, and "Extinct is Extinct" (below).

Jump back across the small gap to the previous ledge. Then climb the blocks in front of you until you can touch the side of the Great Wall. Look to the left to spot an opening leading inside. That's where you're headed. Stand on the slightly angled block with the wall on Lara's right. Then take a running jump to land on the flat area just below the opening. (Again, set up the jump as described above to make sure Lara doesn't fall.) Pull up into the building. (screenshots)

FIRST GUARDHOUSE: Stand on the trapdoor in the corner to fall safely into the flooded room below. Swim/wade out of the pool. (Use Jump + direction buttons to swim.) Move to the top of the stairs. Then take a running jump and grab the ledge near the switch. (Again, be sure to use the setup-and-jump technique described above. Then press and hold Action while Lara is in the air to grab.) Pull up. Throw the switch to open the door on the opposite wall. (screenshots)

ON TOP OF THE GREAT WALL: Move out onto the wall and kill 3 crows (3-5) that fly in from the next building. If you draw your pistols and run forward, Lara will automatically lock onto the first target she sees. Fire until the crow drops out of the sky, hopping back if necessary to avoid it. Run forward and repeat the process with the other two birds. Just take care not to run onto the uneven area between the two guardhouses, or Lara will slide off the wall. (screenshots)

The entrance to the SECOND GUARDHOUSE is locked. You'll need to find a key. If you're in a hurry, you can just slide down the crumbling section of wall into the pool below (and skip to the next section). Otherwise, take a little detour for three achievements/trophies.

"Crane Dive" requires you to "dive into a lake from the top of the guardhouse." The others, "10/10" and "20/10," involve doing a somersault dive and double somersault dive, respectively, into water. We can unlock all three at once if we find the right starting point. Begin by climbing onto the wall to the right of the locked door. Take a carefully angled running jump onto the greenery-covered ledge to the right of the guardhouse. Then work your way around the perimeter until you can climb onto the roof of the FIRST GUARDHOUSE. From there, you can do a running swan dive with two midair somersaults into the pool below. This unlocks all three achievement/trophies simultaneously. The linked page with screenshots shows every detail and includes a breakdown of the diving controls.

POOL BELOW THE WALL: You'll find the GUARDHOUSE KEY (2) in a small underwater cave. It's on the right if you're facing away from the wall. Swim into the tunnel, position Lara above the key, and pick it up. Roll, swim out of the tunnel, and head for the surface before Lara runs out of air. (screenshots)

NOTES: If you enable Action Indicators and Walk to Action, new features in the remastered games, you'll see a hand icon when Lara is close enough to the key to pick it up. If you then press Action, she'll slide in and grab the key. No fussy maneuvering necessary. These features are enabled by default and help with things like item pickups, interacting with switches and levers, etc. To toggle them off/on, Press Esc (keyboard), View (Xbox), touchpad (PlayStation), or minus [–] (Switch) to open your inventory. Press Down to access the lower menu ring. Press Left/Right to select 'Controls,' then Action. In the Controls menu, uncheck the features you don't want. Follow this link to review the swimming controls.

When you took the key, a tiger (6) appeared at the edge of the pool. If you like, you can tread water until it runs off. Then climb out of the water, equip the shotgun from inventory, and hit it with two blasts as it charges. Or, to conserve ammo, wait until the tiger moves away, climb out of the water and jump onto the vine-covered blocks near the wall (i.e., on the right side of the pool when facing the wall). Then either shoot the tiger from safety or just leave it in peace. Climb those blocks and pull up onto the wall. (screenshots)

SECOND GUARDHOUSE: Open the door by approaching the lock and pressing Action to select the GUARDHOUSE KEY from inventory and Action again to use it. Enter and shoot 3 spiders (7-9). (Two come down the stairs, one spawns on the ledge to the right.) To grab onto the ladder and climb, approach it, press and hold Action to hang on, then press Forward/Up to climb. At the top, kill another spider (10) and take the RUSTY KEY (3). (Or, if you'd rather not get close to the spider, climb the stone steps and shoot it across the gap. Then climb the ladder and retrieve the key.) (screenshots)

Use the key to unlock the exit, below the ledge where you found the key. In the next room, 3 more spiders (11-13) drop from the ceiling and another spider (14) comes in behind you. Shoot them all and take the shotgun shells and large medi pack (4-5) from the skeleton. There's a big stone block in front of the exit. To move it out of the way, stand close, press and hold Action to grab the block, and then press Back/Down to pull. Or stand beside it and push it out of the way. Slide down into the next room. (screenshots)

FLOODED ROOM WITH FLYING BLADES: If you want the "I'm not Climbing the Walls for This" achievement/trophy, you must cross the pool without taking damage from the razor-sharp flying disks or jumping while standing in the shallow water. If possible, save before activating the blades. Then take a running swan dive (Forward...Walk + Jump) from the entrance into the middle of the pool. Immediately wade forward until Lara's feet can no longer touch bottom. Dive below the surface and swim forward, along the floor, to the far wall. Surface to the left of the doorway. Carefully pull up into the opening, and the achievement/trophy should pop. (screenshots)

NOTE: If you did everything right, but the achievement/trophy still didn't unlock, you may have jumped while standing in the water. It's OK to press Jump in order to dive from the doorway, and again to dive below the surface while treading water, but if you jump straight up while standing in the shallow water, the game interprets this as attempting to grab the crevice (as described below), and voids the achievement. Reload an earlier save and try again. If you don't have a convenient save, you can start a new game or restart the level by letting Lara die. Then press Action/Enter to open the Passport menu. Page to the right and choose "Restart Level." Not ideal, but at least you don't have much to replay.

If you don't care about achievements or already have this one, there's an easier way to avoid the flying blades. Wade over to the left wall, stand close to it, then jump straight up and grab the horizontal crevice. Hold Action + Right to traverse all the way across the room, as the blades pass harmlessly below. When you reach the far corner, release Action to drop into the water, roll, then carefully surface near the doorway, avoiding the blades as you climb out of the pool. (screenshots)

GAUNTLET OF TRAPS: Ahead is a fiendish series of hazards. It's possible to navigate the entire sequence non-stop, but there are also several safe spots to catch your breath and save along the way. This walkthrough describes the step-by-step version. This video walkthrough shows both versions. It was made in the classic game, but the same strats work in the remaster. Again, all this assumes you're using the classic tank controls. Be sure to save the game before starting out.

First comes a series of cracked floor tiles with deadly spikes below. Run over them without pausing. Then keep running forward and to the right as you enter the wide tunnel ahead. The door to the previous area closes, and a pair of rolling boulders rumbles down behind you. Press the Look button to cancel the cutscene and get Lara's perspective back. Continue running, staying in the middle of the tunnel. You're aiming for the seam between the doorway with the floor spikes on the left and the solid wall on the right. If Lara stands exactly on the seam between the left and right floor textures, with her chest against the corner, she should be safe. (You can pivot 90 degrees in either direction, so both feet are on the seam, if you want to be extra careful, but this isn't necessary.) Once both boulders settle, save the game. (screenshots)

Face the left boulder and spikes. Then take a running jump over the middle of the boulder to land on the slope beyond. (Make sure Lara doesn't overshoot the slope and fall through the opening.) Let Lara slide (without pressing Jump or Action). She'll bang her face on the wall then drop into a room with spiked walls encroaching. There's a set of automatic pistol clips (6) on the floor near the skeleton off to Lara's left. As soon as she touches the floor and stands up, side flip (Jump + Left) to land directly on the ammo. If you hold Action (and release the other controls) immediately after you flip, Lara will start to make the pickup as soon as she lands. While she's crouching to grab the ammo, press and hold Forward + Action + Jump. Then, as soon as she's made the pickup, she'll jump forward and grab the edge of the doorway. Keep holding Forward + Action, and she'll immediately pull up and step forward. The spikes may graze Lara as you pull up, but if you step forward immediately, the damage should be minimal. Save the game again here. (screenshots)

NOTE: If you're not fast enough or just don't care about getting all pickups, skip the ammo, and just fall into the room, flip to the left, run forward, and climb into the doorway.

Run down the next hallway, over more collapsing tiles with spikes below, leaping over the 3 horizontal blades as you run. Try to time the first jump so Lara takes off at the seam between the third and fourth collapsing tiles. Then you can just hold Forward and Jump to clear the remaining blades in a smooth series of running jumps. (screenshots)

At the end of the hall, veer to the left. You can even angle Lara slightly to the left while she's in the air after jumping over the last blade. SECRET#2, the Jade Dragon (7) is sitting on the floor in plain sight. Try to grab it before the spiked walls close in. Then quickly run across the next concealed spike pit into a long hallway with spikes all along one side. As long as you stay close to the right wall, the spiked walls moving in from the left won't touch Lara. If you managed to get the jade dragon, go ahead and save again if you like. (screenshots)

DO NOT SAVE if you missed the secret and want to try again. After the spiked walls have converged, you can no longer reach the treasure without getting skewered. You'll have to reload a save from before the slicing blades and try again.

Now, take your time getting to the end of the hall. Just watch out for another concealed spike pit about halfway along. At the end of the hallway, slide down into the next room. If you slide facing forward, once Lara touches down, roll to face away from the encroaching spiked wall and run onto the cracked floor tile. Or, slide facing uphill, then side flip directly onto the cracked tile. Fall through to land safely below. Whew! (screenshots)

Ahead you'll see two huge rolling blades. Save the game once more if you like. In front of them is a skeleton with a small medi pack (8). To grab it without getting hurt, gradually walk toward it, taking care not to get too close. As soon as you see the hand icon, press Action to pick it up. Then wait for the blades to roll away before running past them into the doorway beyond. (screenshots)

HUGE, DARK CAVERN: You emerge on a wide, mossy ledge overlooking a huge cavern. Explore this area to draw out a few small enemies. Two spiders (15-16) approach from the right as you move out into the open, and 2 more spiders (17-18) descend when you approach the zip line handle, and a fifth spider (19) drops down as you near the far left corner. They're hard to see against the mottled background, but if you keep Lara's pistols drawn, she'll spot them before you do. Just take care not to panic and fall off the edge. It's a long way down. (screenshot)

CLIMBING DOWN INTO THE CAVERN: Don't ride the zip line yet, or you'll miss quite a bit of action, a secret, and an achievement/trophy. Instead, walk carefully to the edge, to the right of the zip line, and look down. You'll see a small, square ledge in the corner below. That's where you're headed. Turn around so Lara's back is toward the cavern and step back while holding Action to grab the edge. Make sure Lara is hanging directly above the corner ledge. Then release Action to drop. This is called a safety drop. It allows you to descend carefully and can reduce the amount of damage Lara takes when falling. (screenshot)

Grab the horizontal crevice in front of you and traverse to the right until you can pull up into a small cave. Follow the tunnel to the left, picking up a box of flares (9) on the way. At the end of the tunnel is a deep shaft with a ladder. Approach the ladder and hold Action to grab on. Climb to the right then down the long, dark shaft to the cavern floor. To descend faster, release Action to let go and then quickly press it again to re-grab. When the ladder ends, drop to the floor. (screenshots)

NOTES: Since flares are limited at this early stage, you can try to conserve them by saving your game before entering dark areas. Then you can use as many flares as you like during your initial exploration. Once you know where you need to go, reload your save and proceed, using only as many flares you need. If you run out of flares, try turning up the brightness on your monitor, or fire your pistols, which have unlimited ammo, to light the way. I use flares in a lot of screenshots where you probably won't need them. Just try to play conservatively and you'll be fine.

CAVERN FLOOR: Follow the passageway to the end. Then enter the cavern and advance to the right, toward the skeletons on the ground. There's a rumbling in the distance. If you played the original Tomb Raider, you can probably guess what's coming. A Tyrannosaurus rex (20) lumbers out of the darkness toward you. (screenshots)

NOTES: If you aren't interested in achievements/trophies, you can approach this section any way you like, attacking and dodging in the open or running back to the tunnel and sniping from safety. However, the "Extinct is Extinct" achievement/trophy requires you to "defeat both T-Rexes with no evidence." If you use pistols only, the bodies will remain. If you use grenades, the dinosaurs will explode, leaving no evidence. You won't have enough grenades yet to do the job, so you'll need to start with pistols, then finish with grenades. In order to get the grenade launcher and other bonus items (below), you must find all three secrets. If you missed either of the first two, reload an earlier save or restart the level by letting Lara die. Then press Action/Enter to open the Passport menu. Page to the right and choose "Restart Level."

Run/jump past the T. rex toward the far end of the cavern and into a narrow, dead-end passageway, where the huge beast can't reach Lara. Retrieve SECRET #3, the Gold Dragon (10). If you've gotten all three secrets, you'll also receive a small medi pack, 2 pairs of grenades, and the GRENADE LAUNCHER (11-14) loaded with another 2 grenades. (You'll have other chances to acquire this weapon if you miss it here.) (screenshots)

Picking up the gold dragon also triggers the appearance of a second T. rex (21) out in the cavern. Draw pistols, run forward, and lock on to either dinosaur. Then back up into the narrow part of the passageway, where the rexes can't fit, and continue firing. (If you like living on the edge, you can, of course, do this out in the open.) Shoot continuously until the first dinosaur's health bar is almost depleted, but don't kill it yet. Then repeat with the second one. When both rexes' health is almost gone, open your inventory and switch to the grenade launcher (hotkey 7 if you're playing with a keyboard) and finish them off. This should only take one grenade each. When the second dinosaur explodes, the achievement/trophy should pop. (screenshots)

NOTES: Boss HP bars are enabled by default. You can toggle them on/off in the Controls menu. If you notice roaring after killing both T. rexes, don't panic. This is just some tigers up above, which you'll encounter soon. They can't harm you now, though.

A WORD OF CAUTION: After this fight, I HIGHLY recommend saving most of your grenades for the last two levels in the game. There are a few enemies there that are quite easily dispatched using grenades and very hard to kill otherwise. Now, don't say I didn't warn you. ;-)

When the coast is clear, return to the other end of the cavern, where you came in. Follow the passageway (on the left beyond the two skeletons) to the low step. Vault up onto it, turn around, walk to the edge, then jump straight up and grab the ladder. Climb all the way to the top. (Don't get off on the left where you climbed on.) Follow the short passageway and drop down to emerge near the zip line. Watch out for spiders here if you didn't shoot them all earlier. (screenshots)

ZIP LINE TO THE EXIT: Grab the zip line handle and hold on as you slide down to the opposite side of the cavern. Two tigers (22-23) emerge from the doorway ahead. If you decide to fight them in the open, make sure you switch back to pistols (hotkey 1 on the keyboard) if you last used grenades, and watch out for the drop-off. You don't want to go extinct like you-know-who. If Lara takes a little damage here, don't fret. You're almost at the end of the level, and your health will soon be fully restored. (screenshots)

Alternatively, if you don't care about getting all kills (there's no achievement/trophy for it), run/jump past the tigers into the opening ahead on the right. Turn right and follow the tunnel to the next room. Run/jump forward toward the ornate wooden doors to trigger the end-of-level cutscene. (screenshots)

Or, if you want a safe spot from which to shoot the tigers, after letting go of the zip line, roll and run toward the right side of the drop-off. There's a small, square ledge protruding from the right wall, just beyond the edge. Jump onto it. The tigers can't reach Lara there, so you can shoot them whenever they move into range. When the coast is clear, proceed through the tunnel to the next room. (screenshots)

You'll emerge near a large, wooden door, which should look familiar if you watched the opening movie. There's nothing much you can do here, though the campfire will kill Lara if she gets too close. The raised opening on the right is a dead end. You can take a peek using Photo Mode, but there's nothing there. Itst's where the enemy comes from in the next cutscene. (screenshots)

NOTE: To activate Photo Mode press F3 on keyboard, L + R on Switch, L3 + R3 on controllers; i.e., click both analog stick buttons at the same time. Then use WASD + mouse or analog sticks to move the camera.

Approach the wooden door to finish the level. The achievement/trophy "These Doors Are Waiting" unlocks automatically.

Next, a cutscene, in which Lara has words with a member of the Fiamma Nera cult. Then it's off to scenic Venice....

†UPDATE HISTORY: Updates made prior to the Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered release, including credit for tips sent in by other players, are tracked in the archived classic guide.
8/1/26 - Remastered guide posted. Better late than never. :D

*NOTES ON PICKUPS, SECRETS, AND KILLS: Each level, except the last two (THE DRAGON'S LAIR and HOME SWEET HOME), includes three secrets in the form of small dragon (or maybe foo dog) statuettes—silver (or maybe stone), jade, and gold. Sometimes they're well hidden, sometimes in plain sight. A chime sounds when you pick up a secret. If you find all three in a level, you are rewarded with bonus items, usually ammo but occasionally a weapon or medipak. To check your progress, pause the game and select the stopwatch from the menu ring to open the statistics screen, which shows the running secret, pickup, and kill count. A summary is also displayed when you complete each level. The number of pickups, tracked in the stats line at the top of each walkthrough page, includes the three dragon statuettes and the bonus items awarded for finding all three secrets.

You must collect every item for the "Souvenirs From Around the Globe" achievement/trophy. There's also an achievement/trophy for finding all secrets in each geographic location. "Codex of China" includes The Great Wall, Tibetan Foothills, Barkhang Monastery, Catacombs of the Talion, Ice Palace, Temple of Xian, and Floating Islands. "Codex of Venice" includes Venice, Bartoli's Hideout, and The Opera House. "Codex of Bartoli" covers Offshore Rig and Diving Area, and "Codex of Maria Doria," 40 Fathoms, Wreck of the Maria Doria, Living Quarters, and The Deck.

The game tracks the number of kills but does not indicate the total number possible. There is no reward for max kills, though you can unlock "Very Hard Boiled" for beating the game using only pistols.

NOTE ON LEVEL MAPS: Special thanks to VGCartography for the excellent level maps, which are used here with permission. Visit VGCartography on DeviantArt and follow on Twitter/X and YouTube for more fantastic game maps.

‡NOTE ON VIDEO GUIDES: Eldin's videos don't always follow the same strategies I use in my walkthroughs, but if you prefer that format, I think you'll find them very helpful.

DARK MODE: I plan to add optional dark mode for these pages, but my current priority is updating the walkthroughs. Meanwhile, may I suggest a reputable dark mode browser extension, such as Dark Reader? (Download only from trusted sites, like darkreader.org or your browser's official add-on/extension site.)

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. If this guide was useful, please consider supporting my work financially or in other ways. For details, visit tombraiders.net/stella/support.html. As always, I welcome your corrections/suggestions. Thank you!

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