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Tomb Raider - The Last Revelation -- General Hints

1. KNOW THE TRICKS
The following are strategies, hints, and tricks that will help keep Lara alive. Although much of this chapter is copied directly from the general hints section of our previous guides, they still apply here. Along with the old hints, there are several new ones too.

Some tips help you take advantage of inherent weaknesses in the game The rest of the tips involve using your resources smartly. Know which weapon to use and when. Know when you should use a Medi Pack and when you shouldn't and why. Keep these things in mind and you will have a lot less trouble.
Recipe for Success
An important change in this game is that the handling of items are slightly different. Just because you have an item doesn't mean you will use it on this item. Items you collect will often stay with you for several levels until you find an opportunity to use it. Some times it will be necessary to find and combine two items and use the resultant item. In some cases can manipulate two items by combining them. For instance pouring the contents of one item into another. Because items are more complex, the use of the items are more complex. When you pick something up, you'll have to use your head.
Get Me Outta Here
One major change in this installation of the game is the change of the in-game menu. On the PC version, Escape key used to take you to all the menu functions, but now the Escape key will only take you to the item menu. To pause or exit the game, you need to press the 'P' key. The pause key will pause the game and present you with a menu where you can select game options, look at current game statistics, or exit the game.
Finger Position
This hint is for players of the PC-CDROM version of Tomb Raider - The Last Revelation who prefer to use the keyboard rather than a game controller. If you haven't played any of the previous Tomb Raider games, then you may be comfortable with the default keyboard setup, but seriously consider remapping the crouch and sprint keys, from their default position, to better positions. We suggest using the 'Z' and 'X' keys, so that, your right hand can always stay over the inverted-T arrow keys and your left hand can handle all the modifier keys. You will be making much more use of sprinting and crawling in this game than the previous ones.
Patience is a Virtue
Starting at Karnak, you will find that you must return to a level after going to another level to retrieve a specific item or accomplishing a task. The crossing back and forth becomes even worse in Alexandria and beyond. Because of this, you must be patient. You many be able to see a part of a level, but cannot access it because you must obtain an item from another level. Don't get too hung up on one place.
Safety Drops
Always use safety drops, unless there's a boulder hot on Lara's tail. The time it takes to do a safety drop may save Lara just enough health to get through the rest of the level without needing another Medi Pack. If you're tired of waiting for Lara to stand in place and turn around. Learn the reverse-roll-safety-drop.
Unstuck
One thing about the Tomb Raider games is that you're never ever actually "stuck". (There are rare exceptions to this rule, of course.) In many situations you may think that you're at a dead end, but in there is invariably some exit from the place you're in. Look for a button or a switch to activate. Check the blocks to see if any of them are movable. See if any of the walls are scalable. Find a ledge to jump or climb to. Look for crevices to shimmy across or crawl spaces to enter. If Lara is alive and well, then there is likely a way out of that situation.
Gotta Light?
When you want a quick look at a dark corner of a room, don't waste your precious flares for a such a small job. Draw pistols and fire off a few of those unlimited rounds. The muzzle flash will provide enough light to briefly see the surroundings.
Save Now
For the PC-CDROm version of this game, the <F5> key will bring you directly to the save game screen. You'll learn why it's important to have a quick path to "save game" as you get further along in the game.

2. KNOW THE TOOLS
Besides running, jumping, and fighting, it is important to be familiar with the other equipment that Lara might be carrying around. However it's not enough to just know what they do, but also how to use them strategically.
Compass
The compass from the original Tomb Raider game has returned in the latest installment. In general, we try to refer to everything in our walkthrough by the direction relative to where Lara is heading (ahead, behind, left and right), but in some cases, where cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) would be more clear, we will be making use of the compass. If you see a reference to a cardinal direction in our guide, use the compass to align Lara to the specified direction.
Medi Packs
Use these sparingly and hoard them for the later levels. Learn how much health you think you'll need to finish a level. If Lara is injured and you think you can get her to the end of the level, then don't use a Medi Pack because Lara's health will be restored to full at the beginning of the next level.

It is also important to distinguish the difference between Small Medi Packs and Large Medi Packs. Small Medi Packs will restore Lara's health by half of the total health bar, while Large Medi Packs will restore Lara's health bar to full health. One important feature of Medi Packs is that they contain poison antidote. If Lara is poisoned by a scorpion or a poisonous dart, her health bar will turn yellow, and she will continue to take damage until she dies from the poison. In the event that Lara is poisoned, you must use a Medi Pack at some point to cure her. However if Lara has enough health remaining, it is often a good strategy to look around for other poison darts or snakes and deal with those hazards before using one of your precious Medi Packs.

Flares
Be aware of areas that are dark and consider using a flare before entering because Lara may not have time to light a flare when she gets inside. Also, Lara can toss flares after lighting them. This is particularly useful in large rooms, where you can toss a flare into the room to see what's inside. Be particularly sparing with the flares, as they are in short supply and there are plenty of dark areas in the game. If you need a quick light, read the hints above.

Binoculars
A new addition to Lara's equipment are a pair of night-vision binoculars. If you need a better look at something in the distance, you can use the binoculars. The binoculars are particularly useful for viewing distant inscriptions and panels with hints for puzzles. You can adjust the zoom level with the sprint and crouch keys. If the panel is shrouded by darkness, you can use the night-vision feature by pressing the action key.
Crowbar
As you ride along on the Desert Railroad, you will add another useful item to your inventory. Once you pick up the crowbar, you will find several uses including prying open gates, activating brokern levers, prying loose artifacts, and so forth. When in doubt, see if you can pry it open or off with the crowbar.
Lasersight
In Alexandria and also in Cairo, you will add the lasersight to your arsenal. The lasersight can be combined with either the crossbow or revolver1. To activate the lasersight, ready the weapon that you have combined with the lasersight and use the look key. Instead of automatically targetting enemies, you will have to aim weapons manually. The zoom level of the lasersight can be adjusted with the sprint and crouch keys.

3. KNOW THE WEAPONS2
Lara's arsenal has been reduced a bit in the latest game, but the visual effects are yet more impressive than in any previous game. It is vital that you know the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon. This is a guide to selecting the right weapon for the right situation. The characteristics of each weapon will be described and compared below.

Legend:
  • Ammunition: Describes how many units you receive with each pickup.
  • Targeting Range: The maximum distance that Lara can stand from an enemy and still be able to target it.
  • Effective Range: The distance that the weapon is most strategic or effective.
  • Damage: The amount of damage the weapon inflicts.
  • Reload Time: The amount of time that the weapon cannot be fired either because of the recoil or reloading of the weapon
  • Pistols3
    Once again Lara sets out on her adventures armed with these trusty sidearms. With one in each hand, these handguns allow Lara to show off her nimble footwork while pumping endless rounds into her enemies. When drawn, Lara automatically targets the first enemy in front of her. The pistols are the weapon of choice for the weaker enemies and for "shooting fish in a barrel". Unlike in previous games, Lara will not maintain her lock on enemies when she is no longer facing them, but instead she will target another enemy or just shoot straight ahead. Although reliable, pistols inflict little damage.
  • Ammunition: Unlimited
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Close to medium range
  • Damage: Light
  • Reload Time: None
  • Shotgun
    Lara's shotgun gets another upgrade in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. This 12 bore weapon does the most damage at close range and can often bring enemies down with one or two shots. That fact is important to know because the shotgun becomes a strategic weapon in areas where evasive maneuvers are not possible, such as a small room. The shotgun can effectively take down an enemy very quickly. It makes the best use of your limited shotgun shells and is the safest way to deal with the shotgun's long recoil time. Beside regular shotgun shells, Lara will also find wideshot shotgun shells which can fire a dispersed shot pattern. Wideshot is scarce, so choose wisely when to use it.
  • Ammunition: 2 shells per package
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Best used at close range
  • Damage: Heavy damage at close range, light if further
  • Reload Time: Medium
  • Uzis
    Uzis are best for those hard to kill enemies that require many rounds of ammunition to bring down, because these fully automatic 9 mm pistols put out the most rounds per second. However, the Uzis are more suited for battles at close quarters, since they are not as accurate as the pistols or the Desert Eagle when attempting to hit a target at a large distance. Uzi ammo can disappear quickly if you have an itchy trigger finger, so use the Uzis wisely.3.
  • Ammunition: 40 bullets per pair of clips
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Close to medium range
  • Damage: Medium
  • Reload Time: None
  • Crossbow
    The crossbow is a new addition to your arsenal. In your travels you will find three different kinds of crossbow bolts: regular, poisoned, and explosive. The crossbow has a fairly long reload time, but when equipt with explosive bolts, can be extremely effective. Some enemies can only be destroyed using explosive ammunition, of which the crossbow is one weapon that fires explosive ammunition. Another feature of the crossbow is that it can be combined with the lasersight, giving this weapon extremely high accuracy. Although there are many reasons to use the lasersight, some enemies can be rendered harmless by carefully targetting their heads, and blowing it off with a crossbow bolt, where other ammunition would have no effect at all.
  • Ammunition: ? bolts per quiver
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Medium range
  • Damage: Light, Medium Heavy (depending on ammo)
  • Reload Time: Medium
  • Grenade Gun
    The grenade gun and the grenades have been redesigned once again. Like in Tomb Raider III, grenades bounce will skitter across the floor and bounce off walls prior to detonatation. This can be used strategically to bounce grenades around corners or down holes. Don't use this weapon at close range because the long recoil and reload time will leave Lara vulnerable to attacks, but also the grenade can bounce away from the intended target. There are three different types of grenades that can to be found: regular, flash, and super grenades.
  • Ammunition: ? grenades per box
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Medium range
  • Damage: Heavy
  • Reload Time: Slow
  • Revolver
    The last weapon you will find is also a new weapon to the Tomb Raider series. The revoler replaces the IMI Desert Eagle from Tomb Raider 3, but rather than lugging around a ten pound boat anchor like the Desert Eagle, the revolver is a much smaller weapon. The revoler's range is quite long, and the amount of damage it inflicts is moderate, but one feature of the revolver is that it can be combined with the lasersight to form an extremely accurate weapon. Ammunition for the revolver is scarce, so save it for when you actually need it.
  • Ammunition: ? bullets per box
  • Targeting Range: 16 metres (8 blocks)
  • Effective Range: Medium to long range
  • Damage: Medium
  • Reload Time: Medium

  • 4. KNOW THY ALLIES AND ENEMIES
    One big advantage in your travels is to know what enemies you're up against. You should know how they attack and how quickly they do it, what is the best way to avoid them, and what weapon works best for taking them out.

    The following are some principles that you can use when encountering enemies. You may not want to read this section until after you've met each particular enemy for the first time because finding out what the enemies are can really spoil the thrill for you.

    Click that BACK button on your browser to go back. Otherwise you can click this link to go to the directory of enemies that can be found in Tomb Raider III.

    Footnotes:
    1. Although we don't generally like to encourage people to exploit bugs in the game, but this is one that's too good not to mention. This bug only works for the PC version of the game. After equipping the revolver or crossbow with the lasersight, readying the weapon, and activating the lasersight with the look key, press the '1' (the number one) key on the keyboard, without releasing the look key. Lara will switch weapons to pistols, but still use the lasersight. You will get the accuracy of the lasersight and the unlimited ammunition of the pistols. Of course, it will take more shots with the pistol, than say with the revolver or crossbow equipt with explosive bolts, to bring down an enemy.