Level 18 - The Lost Library - Guide for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

LEVEL 18: THE LOST LIBRARY
 
Secrets: 3*

Go through the next crawlspace and drop down into a hallway with a lantern. Continue 
in either direction to reach the MAIN HALL WITH TWO LEVELS AND MANY BLUE DOORS. This 
room is the hub for all of your explorations in this level. It is illustrated in the 
diagram at right. Some of the blue doors can be opened from this room; some open 
only from the other side. There's no set order for exploring the different side 
rooms. I've tried to set up the walkthrough to include the least amount of 
backtracking while still maintaining a sequence where you get the clues or puzzle 
pieces needed before you get to the puzzles. If you want to, you can now open the 
four lower-level doors that will open from this side. This may save you a bit of 
backtracking later on.

ROOM WITH MECHANICAL MEN AND FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL: Go to the first door on the left 
and press Action to push it open. Go through the hallway, break the jar to get the 
small medipak and Uzi clips inside, and continue to a room with banners hanging from 
the ceiling and a golden circle inscribed on the floor.

Two mechanical men emerge from the alcoves. These guys can be challenging to defeat 
since their metal hides repel bullets. The blue gems in their chests are their 
vulnerable spots, so don't bother shooting when their backs are turned. You can hear 
them grunt every time you score a direct hit, and they'll let out a longer groan 
when they're about to fall. You don't get much maneuvering space in this small room, 
but you will meet more of these mechanical men throughout this level. In general, 
try to keep your distance and just continue plugging away at them until they fall 
down. It may help to back away from them while shooting. Then, when they get close, 
jump over them, roll and start backing up and shooting again. Since a lot of your 
shots will miss, I'd recommend using the pistols rather than more powerful weapons 
to conserve ammo. Also, in this particular case, if you need to flee to safety for a 
moment, you can run back down the hallway where you entered. The mechanical men 
won't follow all the way back to the MAIN HALL.

There is a scroll on the pedestal here, but a bug seems to prevent you from picking 
it up. It will be possible to get it later in the game, but by then the clue it 
offers may come too late. This is the FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL. When examined, it 
reads: "For the serpents to live, all must first be stilled. Provoke each in turn, 
and the circle will burn complete." (This applies to the puzzle in the FIRE CIRCLE 
ROOM, described below.) Return to the MAIN HALL the way you came.

ROOM WITH POLE AND BLADES: Go to the second door on the left when facing the big 
double doors and press Action to push it open. Jump to grab the climbing pole and 
quickly slide all the way down to the bottom. Use a medipak if necessary to repair 
the damage from the gear-like blades. Yes, there are some goodies on the middle 
levels, but you can get them more easily on the way back.

Alternately, you can use the "hole bug" to descend past the blades: Stand Lara at 
the edge of the opening with with her back to the pole. Press Back then Action as if 
you were performing a safety drop, but release Action before Lara actually grabs the 
ledge. She'll then drop to the ledge below. If you time each drop so the blade is on 
the opposite side of the passage, you can make it down one floor at a time without 
taking damage.

Follow the hallway to the second pole. There's no need to climb it. Just stand below 
one corner of the opening, wait for the blade to pass to the other side, then pull 
up through the opening.

ROOM WITH HUGE GEARS: Kill the mechanical man. (Refer to the tips above under ROOM 
WITH MECHANICAL MEN AND FIRE CIRCLE SCROLL if necessary.) Use the crowbar to pry the 
GOLDEN STAR out of the column.

Go to the back side of the gear on the right when facing the two gears (i.e., the 
southeast corner). Turn Lara so her back is toward the edge of the turning gear, 
drop back and grab the edge. Climb down the ladder into the pit to find secret #1 
(50/70), a small medipak, revolver ammo and Uzi clips. Climb back out the way you 
came.

Climb the ladder on the south side of the tall structure in the middle of the room. 
Go through the door on the T-shaped platform above to the an opening with a climbing 
pole. Slide down the pole.

ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND PIPES: Two mechanical men emerge as you explore. Destroy 
them. Take note of the locked gate with the receptacle next to it. You'll need to 
find something to put here. Enter the next room and climb down the ladder. Go 
through the crawlspace. Enter the room beyond.

Cut scene: A mechanical man runs into the room, mounts the bronze horse and begins 
riding around the room.

The mechanical horseman is quite hard to kill. Fortunately he won't do much damage 
as long as you move around a lot to stay clear of his axe and the horse's hooves. 
After you've shot him in the blue gem for a while, he'll get off the horse and come 
after Lara on foot. Keep firing and he'll soon fall. Take the HORSEMAN'S GEM.

(NOTE: You can climb into the secret area, as described in the next paragraph, 
before defeating the horseman and shoot him from above. However, this takes quite a 
bit longer than just toughing it out on the ground.)

In the room to the south of the main room, there's a gate with a pulley mechanism. 
Use the laser sight-equipped crossbow with normal arrows to target the dangling 
ball. Or, use the laser sight bug, described on the COASTAL RUINS page, to conserve 
ammo. (If that doesn't work, try explosive arrows, or use the grenade gun, jumping 
and shooting at the peak of the jump.) When you hit it, the gate opens. Climb in to 
get secret #2 (51/70), a large medipak, shotgun shells and Uzi clips.

Return to the main room, exit through the door where you entered (east side), go 
through the crawlspace and climb the ladder back to the ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND 
PIPES. Use the HORSEMAN'S GEM in the receptacle near the small gate to open it. 
Enter and pull the chain.

Cut scene: A gate raises in an underwater room below. (You can see this area through 
the grate in the floor.)

Exit the alcove and make a U-turn to the right to return to the climbing pole. Climb 
up, back flip to the floor and go up the steps to the upper level of the ROOM WITH 
HUGE GEARS. Go to the right along the T-shaped ledge and climb back down the ladder 
to the floor.

Cross the room to the west side (opposite the gears). Go through either door. The 
rooms beyond have swinging chains. You can avoid these by standing at either side 
and running carefully past them, or crawling underneath them at either side. When 
you reach the room with the smaller turning gear, stand at the edge of the metal 
trapdoor in the floor, facing the low ramp but with the trapdoor between Lara and 
the ramp, and press Action to open the trapdoor.

Jump into the water and swim down through the gate on the west side (now open if you 
pulled the chain in the ROOM WITH BRASS ARCHES AND PIPES). Use the crowbar to pry 2 
GOLDEN STARS from the wall. There's an air pocket below the grate in the ceiling if 
you need to breathe.

Swim back through whichever passage (north or east) you came through, climb out 
through the open trapdoor, and return past the swinging chains to the ROOM WITH HUGE 
GEARS. Go through the east door to the climbing pole where you entered this room. 
Drop down into the hole at the base of the pole when the blade moves to the other 
side. Follow the hall to the other pole. Climb the pole as quickly as you can to get 
past the first blade. Position Lara's feet just a hair above the blade and back flip 
to land on the ledge. Or, grab the pole, climb as far up as you can without Lara 
taking damage then, when the blade moves to the other side, climb up until Lara's 
waist is about level with the opening and back flip. (This is a bit tricky. You may 
need to let Lara's feet get cut a little in order to make the jump.) 

If you didn't do it on the way down, shoot the jars to get a large medipak and 
shotgun shells. Take a standing jump to grab the pole. Slide down a little to avoid 
the second blade, then repeat the steps above to get to the next ledge. Shoot the 
jar for a small medipak. When climbing up through the last blade, position Lara so 
she's facing west or south (i.e., there's no wall behind her on the upper level), 
wait until the blade begins to move toward the opposite side of the opening, then 
jump to grab the pole and immediately back flip onto the ledge above. Continue to 
the MAIN HALL.

The next door on the left won't open from this side. Cross the room and push open 
the door to the right of the big double doors. 

PLANETARIUM: Shoot the jar in the hall to get a small medipak. Follow the hall to a 
big room with celestial patterns on the ceiling. Slide the globe with the blue band 
at the equator onto the thick, gold circle at the center of the floor diagram. A 
glowing white orb appears above the globe, showing that it's in the correct position.

Use the three GOLDEN STARS you collected in the previous area to open the small, 
square gates. Now you need to move the rest of the globes onto the correct circles 
within the diagram: gray = inner circle, green = second circle, pink = third circle, 
yellow = outer circle. When all of the globes are positioned properly, blue 
lightning crackles between the globes and the gold circle on the north wall, and a 
door opens below the gold circle.

Go through the door and continue, shooting the jar at the bend in the hallway to get 
a large medipak. At the next bend, shoot the jar to get a box of wideshot shells.

FIRE CIRCLE ROOM: This large room has a seven-pointed star inscribed on the floor 
and a serpent statue fitted with a lever at each point of the star.

To solve the fire circle puzzle, note that pulling any lever affects the burner on 
that lever, as well as the two other burners at the opposite points of the star. If 
a burner is off, the lever will turn it on and vice-versa. Begin at the serpent 
lever nearest the entrance. Pull the lever, then move counter-clockwise around the 
circle, pulling each lever in turn. When you pull the seventh lever, all the burners 
should be lit, and blocks will rise from the floor in the middle of the room. If you 
make a mistake and want to start over, walk over the low step with the star on the 
east side of the room to extinguish all the burners.

In the PlayStation version, solving the puzzle also triggers the appearance of a 
fire elemental. You'll need to find some water quickly to extinguish it. Run through 
the hallway behind the first snake lever (where you came in) to the MAIN HALL. Then 
run across the MAIN HALL and in through the lower middle doors on the other side. 
Run down the stairs to a room with a hanging lantern, where you'll pick up 2 more 
fire elementals. Run through either door out of this room. Follow the hallway to a 
room with benches and a small pool. Jump into the pool and wait there for the fire 
elementals to extinguish themselves in the water. Climb out of the pool. Whew!

LIBRARY: Now return to the fire circle room if you left previously to deal with the 
fire elemental. Climb up the blocks through the opening in the ceiling. Follow the 
stairs past the small pool and fountain to a room with scrolls scattered around the 
floor and a ladder leading to the upper level. Climb the ladder, go around the 
balcony and shoot the jar to get a small medipak. Climb back down the ladder.

Follow the hall to a ROOM WITH BENCHES AND SCROLLS, breaking the jar in the hall on 
the way to get some Uzi clips. Go down the stairs and push open the blue doors to 
emerge on the UPPER LEVEL OF THE MAIN HALL. Turn right and cross the balcony to the 
other side.

You can save yourself some time later by opening all of the doors on the south side 
of the upper level now. These only open from the MAIN HALL side. Be careful at 
door "I". If you follow the hallway, a fire elemental will appear. In order to 
extinguish it, you'll need to open the trapdoor and descend to the room with a pool 
below. (For details, see the section ROOM WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS, 
below.) I recommend avoiding this room for now and instead going through the 
rightmost door on the upper level, south side. This leads to the ROOM WITH LIONS' 
HEADS.

ROOM WITH LIONS' HEADS: Save your game before sliding down the ramp. As you slide, 
jump to grab the ladder (above and in front of you just before the end of the ramp). 
Climb up to the top of a huge statue of a lion's head. You'll hear a huge metal 
globe roll down from a chute on the other side of the room. Take a running jump from 
the top of the lion's head to the long ledge on the right (west) wall. This is 
secret #3 (52/70), a large medipak and normal arrows. Safety drop to the ground.

When you explore near the ramp, a mechanical man approaches from the east side of 
the room. The top of the ramp and the low stone block are safe spots to stand, but 
it takes longer to destroy the robot from here because it's harder to hit his blue 
diamond. Also, note that standing at the top of the ramp triggers a second rolling 
globe, so jump to the side to avoid it. After destroying the mechanical man, take a 
standing jump from the top of the ramp to grab the switch high on the wall to the 
left of the ramp. This raises large stone blocks near the middle of the room.

Climb to the top of the blocks and take a running jump to grab the ledge ahead (on 
the south wall). Pull up and follow the hall around to an opening facing the second 
lion's head. Take a running jump to the top of the head. Parts of the head are 
slippery, so aim for the flat triangular area just to the right of the chain. Pull 
the chain. This widens the opening in the lion's mouth so you can crawl through. 
Slide down the front of the lion's snout facing uphill so you can grab the edge as 
you slide. Let go and immediately grab again to catch onto the lower jaw. Crawl into 
the open mouth. If Lara stands up, she'll slip. If she falls, you can climb up the 
blocks and jump to grab the nose without having to go all the way to the top of the 
head again.

Climb the pole to the small room above and back flip to the floor. The two gates 
open automatically as you approach. Go through the gate on the right.

ROOM WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS: Enter the room and take the PHAROS PILLAR 
from the pedestal. Stand facing the trapdoor in the floor next to the pedestal, with 
the pedestal ahead on Lara's right, and press Action to open the trapdoor. Note the 
ladder on the left side of the trapdoor leading down to the room below. If you like, 
you can enter the hallway opposite the pedestal to draw out a fire elemental. If you 
avoid this side of the room and the hallway, the elemental won't appear.

Run back to the trapdoor, drop back to grab the ladder and descend. Press and 
release Action repeatedly to climb down rapidly. Once at the bottom of the ladder, 
roll and run through either door out of this room. Follow the hallway to a room with 
benches and a small pool. Jump into the pool and wait there for the fire elemental 
to extinguish itself in the water. Climb out of the pool.

(NOTE: If you stand on the tile with the gold orbital patterns, Lara looks intently 
at the chute high on the wall. If you select the binoculars and look into the 
opening, pressing Action to activate the light, you'll see the solution to the 
puzzle in the PLANETARIUM, which you won't need if you have used this walkthrough.)

Follow the hallway on the west side back to the room with the ladder, shooting the 
vase and picking up a small medipak on the way. Entering the stairway to the right 
of the ladder causes 2 more fire elementals to emerge from the lamp in the ladder 
room. Lure them back to the pool to destroy them. Alternately, when you first climb 
down the ladder, you can duck into the hallway to get all of the fire elementals 
after Lara at once. Then you'll only need to make one mad dash to the pool. Or, you 
can avoid this stairway altogether and the two elementals won't appear.

Climb back up the ladder to the room where you got the PHAROS PILLAR. Go through the 
open gate back to the small room with the pole. Go through the gate on the right.

ROOM WITH WOODEN PLANK FLOOR: A little way down the hall is an alcove. Pick up the 
wooden TORCH from the floor. Step on either round grate to light one of the burners. 
Carefully approach the burner with torch in hand. Press Action to light the torch on 
the burner. Continue down the hallway to a room with a wooden floor. Press the draw-
weapons key to toss the torch onto the wooden floor and watch it burn away. If the 
torch slides off the wooden area of the floor, pick it up and try tossing it again.

Drop down through the opening in the floor and pick up the MUSIC SCROLL. (It's the 
one in the circle on the floor that Lara stares at intently when you walk past it.) 
Shoot the jar to get some shotgun shells. Climb through the doorway, follow the hall 
and push open the blue doors to emerge back at the MAIN HALL.

If you've already opened the doors on the south side, upper level, go through the 
middle door on the south side, lower level, which leads to the room below the ROOM 
WITH PHAROS PILLAR/FIRE ELEMENTALS. Climb the ladder to the PHAROS PILLAR ROOM, go 
through the hallway opposite the pedestal and exit through the blue doors to emerge 
back at the MAIN HALL, UPPER LEVEL.

If you haven't opened the upper level doors, go through the right door on the north 
side, lower level of the MAIN HALL. This leads to the FIRE CIRCLE ROOM. Climb the 
blocks, go through the opening in the ceiling, follow the hallway through the 
LIBRARY, through the ROOM WITH BENCHES AND SCROLLS, and finally through the blue 
doors to emerge back at the MAIN HALL, UPPER LEVEL.

HARP ROOM: Go through the door on the right, north side. Shoot the vase to get the 
Uzi clips inside. Then continue to the room at the end of the hall. Face the music 
stand near the harp and press Action twice to place the MUSIC SCROLL on the stand.

Cut scene: Lara plays a tune on the harp and a nearby door opens.

Go through this door to the small balcony above the big double doors in the MAIN 
HALL. Pull the chain to open the big double doors. Take a standing jump over the 
railing to the floor below. Go through the doors you just opened to the next level.