Tomb Raiders Traveler's Guide: General Strategy Guide.

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	Tomb Raider -- General Strategy Guide

	1. KNOW THYSELF	One of the most fundamental things you need to learn before you start traipsing around the various worlds of Tomb Raider is to know what Lara is capable of and what she's not capable of. Everyone's always in such a rush to jump into the game, but you will miss out on one of the most important aspects of the game if you do not make a visit to Lara's home for a little training session with Lara. There you will learn the fundamentals of running, jumping, climbing, and swimming. All of which you will need to do in the real game. Also you will learn the limits of each skill so you will know whether you can make a jump or not before you take some flying leap off of a three story structure. Below are the things that you must know if you are to get Lara through the four worlds of Tomb Raider.

	1a. KNOW THE WORLD	For the sake of simplifying the rendering, you will notice that everything in Lara's world is divided up into equal sized blocks. This is also to your advantage as you try to figure out how to get Lara from one point to another point in the game. In this document, when the word "block" is used, it refers the distance measured by the number of those blocks lined up in a row.

	1b. KNOW THE STEPS	Run	This is what happens when you press the up arrow. The default action is for Lara to run in that direction. You can corner by pressing the left or right arrow in conjunction with the forward key.
		Hop back	If you press and hold the down arrow, Lara will take a hop back and continue hopping backwards until she runs into a wall, she falls off a ledge, or you let go of the key. Hopping back is essential for setting up running jumps (see running jumps).
		Turn	If you press and hold either the left or right arrow, Lara will begin to turn herself in place. She will continue to rotate until you let go, but be careful when rotating near the edge of a ledge or platform because it is possible to spin Lara right off of the platform (see slow turns).
		Walk	If you press and hold the walk key and then press the up or down arrow, Lara will walk carefully forward or backward respectively. She will not walk off the edge of a platform or ledge. You can have Lara walk around corners by pressing the left or right keys in conjunction with the walk key and the forward or back arrows. Lara can carefully negotiate spikes while walking. Walking is essential for lining up a standing jump across a single block (see standing jumps). It is important to to release the direction key before you release the walk key when you are walking, because if you release the walk key before the direction key, Lara will begin to run in the direction of the key you are still holding down, even if it sends her off the edge of a cliff.
		Slow Turns	If you press and hold the walk key and then press the left or right arrow, Lara will slowly rotate in the direction you press. This is important to make sure you are properly lined up to make a jump, since without the walk key, you could easily overshoot your desired heading (see looking).
		Sidestep	If you press and hold one of the sidestep keys, Lara will carefully step to one side or the other depending on which you chose. Lara will not sidestep off of any ledge or platform.
		Look	Often times, the "intelligent camera" will not give you the exact view of Lara's heading because she is in a tight place or has her back against a wall. In fact, sometimes the camera will give you a very nice but totally useless view of Lara herself when you really need see where she's headed instead. In these cases, if you press and hold the look key, the camera will move to directly behind Lara and slightly above her head. This is an essential thing to learn when trying to jump from a platform that is only one block in size onto another block that is exactly one block in size. With the look key depressed, you can use the arrow keys to rotate the view to look around. The limits of the look are based on how far Lara can turn her head and lean.

	1c. KNOW THE JUMPS	Jumping in place	You can make Lara jump up and down in place by pressing the jump key alone. This jump is not actually "in place", exactly, but actually Lara will inch forward very slightly every jump. This jump is useful primarily for Lara to grab and climb up onto something directly above her (see grabbing and climbing).
		Standing Jump	A standing jump will span approximately one block. That is to say, it will get you over the adjacent block to the block beyond it. The move is performed by pressing the jump key, then followed immediately by pressing the direction which you want to jump. The best way to accomplish this move is to walk to the to the very edge of a platform or ledge until Lara will walk no further (see walk), then perform the jump in order to guarantee that Lara will clear the one block.
		Running Jump	A running jump will span approximately two blocks. The move is performed by pressing the forward key, then followed immediately by pressing the jump key. Lara will run forward two steps and then jump. The best way to accomplish this is to walk to the very edge of a platform or ledge until Lara will walk no further (see walk), then take a hop back (see hop back) and then perform the running jump. The hop back will guarantee you have enough room to run up to the jump.

	1d. KNOW THE MOVES	Draw a Weapon & Firing	Lara knows how to handle a gun. Just press the draw key, and she will whip out the last weapon she used. She will target enemies that she sees automatically. You can fire a weapon by pressing the action key. Lara can continue to target and fire at a target while jumping, running, backflipping, turning and side jumping. Lara will maintain her sights locked onto the same target if you press and hold the action key. Also, she will continue to target an enemy even after it is dead, so remember to release the action key when an enemy goes down in order to retarget. (This is particularly important when there is more than one enemy in the room.) This is true of all weapons except for the shotgun.
		Grabbing, Climbing and Shimmying	When a jump is too long or high for Lara to make, you can grab onto the edge of platforms, blocks and ledges. Grabbbing a ledge at the end of a running jump will allow Lara to span three blocks with Lara grabbing onto the fourth block, while grabbing a ledge after taking a standing jump will allow Lara to span two blocks with Lara dangling off the third block. Both these moves are performed by by pressing the action key after taking a jump while in mid-air. Another important action that involves grabbing onto ledges is climbing up onto blocks. When a block, ledge or bridge is within Lara's reach, you can press and hold the action key, and then press the up arrow or the jump key, which will cause Lara to jump straight up and grab onto the block above (see also Jumping in Place). While Lara is hanging from a ledge, you can choose to have Lara pull herself up by pressing the up arrow, or shimmy left or right by pressing the left or right arrows respectively, while the action key is still depressed. But grabbing is not just for climbing up, it is also used for climbing down. See Safety drops below.
		Hanging & Safety Drops	You can drop off a ledge by walking to the edge of a ledge, turning all the way around, and then tapping the down key, followed immediately by the action key. Lara will hop off the ledge backwards, then drop and hang from that ledge. She will continue to hang there until you release the action key or have her pull herself up by pressing the up key (See Climbing). Another useful move is, if there is a crevice or ledge a little below the one Lara is currently hanging from, you can release the action key to let Lara let go of the first ledge, and then press and hold the action key immediately after and Lara will fall a little way then grab onto the ledge below the one she was just holding on to. Dropping down by first hanging off the edge of a block allows Lara to drop much further without taking any damage (though some damage will still be inflicted on Lara for really long falls, and death is imminent for ridiculously high drops, which Lara will inform you of as she releases one or more blood curdling screams as she falls to her death) and will henceforth be referred to as a Safety Drop. Another feature of the safety drop is that Lara will drop straight down, unlike if she walked, ran, or jumped off the edge of a platform, where she will fall in a parabolic trajectory. Sometimes the result of such a fall is the missing of the ledge below. Safety drops are key... learn it, memorize it, and use it.
		Pushing & Pulling	Every so often, Lara will find herself in a dead end. She's a lot more resourceful and a lot stronger than she looks. If you spot a block that can be pushed or pulled, you just have to have Lara stand in front of it as close as she can get to it, facing it squarely, and then press the action button. Lara will squat slightly, getting ready to use all her might, to push or pull the block, depending on whether you press the up or down arrow, respectively, at that point.
		Reverse	Invariably you will find that making an about-face by turning Lara around is often too slow ( See Turning or Slow Turns). Those precious moments can spell Lara's demise if you are not careful. The reverse key will cause Lara to dive forward, roll on one shoulder and come up facing the opposite direction. But wait there's more: The reverse key has lots of undocumented features including the commonly ignored fact that Lara does move forward while reversing direction. This can be used to your advantage if, for example, you want Lara to step on a pressure plate that opens a timed door behind you. Also, if Lara is standing two steps shy of the edge of a platform, you can have her reverse right off of the edge of a cliff. Don't worry because you can immediately press and hold the action key and end up in the hanging position (see Safety Drop). (If you execute a reverse at the very edge of a platform, since there is no room for her to roll on her shoulder, she will simply step off the ledge. So be sure not to execute a reverse at the very edge or one step short of the edge of any platforms. Lara will not be given the opportunity to perform a safety drop because she didn't actually reverse directions and so is facing the wrong way.)
		Dive and Roll	This move is derived from the more useless swan dive (see Swan Dive) move that Lara can do into water. On dry land, though, this move has some interesting uses, including avoiding darts and nasty shocks. To perform a dive and roll, press and hold the walk key, then press jump and the forward key. Lara will gracefully dive forward and hit the ground rolling.

	1e. LEARNING TO SWIM	Swimming	Lara can swim quite well even if you can't. Just have her jump into some water and use the arrow keys to rotate Lara and the jump key to get her to do her breast stroke. Keep an eye on her air meter, because once she runs out of air, she will begin to take damage, and when she's taken enough damage, she will let you know that she's drowning.
		Treading Water	If Lara surfaces from her swim, she can tread water and maneuver around on the surface of the water. All the usual direction keys apply. To move forward or back you can use the up or down key respectively. To turn clockwise or counter-clockwise you use the right or left key respectively and to move left and right you use the left or right sidestep key respectively. Keep in mind that moving forward on the surface of the water is the slowest way for Lara to get around in the water. Either dive back down into the water or turn sideways and use the sidestep keys. You should use the action key followed by the up key to get Lara to pull herself up out of the water when she is at the edge of dry land.

	1f. USELESS MOVES THAT ARE JUST TOO COOL	Swan Dive	This is not a particularly useful move, but it's just oh so cool to have Lara swan dive into water rather than just jumping in. To perform this move, stand a hop or two shy of the edge of some water. Press and hold the walk key, the press jump and the up arrow to perform a perfectly executed swan dive into the water. This dive causes Lara to dive deeper and faster than just jumping in, so watch out for those underwater rocks.
		Pull Up Handstand Step Over.	This has got to be the most useless move that Lara can perform, but is included to show off Lara's gymnastic abilities, as if they are not apparent in the way she jumps around. Probably this move was included primarily to show off what a bunch of video game programmers can come up with while sitting around in a dark room staring at a digital babe for hours on end. To perform this move, Lara must start off in the hanging position. Then press and hold the walk key and then press the up arrow. Lara will pull herself up, then lift her body up and over her head into a handstand. From the handstand, Lara will lower one leg, bending backwards until it's nearly to the ground and she will flip herself upright.