Rise of the Tomb Raider: Walkthrough & Tips

A complete companion for Rise of the Tomb Raider (20 Year Celebration): how the survival, crafting and skill systems work, a spoiler-light route through the story hubs, challenge tombs and collectibles, what the bundled DLC and Expeditions modes add, and the achievements people usually miss.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC build (last Steam update September 27, 2022, an online-authentication fix). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status and Versions

Released on PC February 9, 2016. The 20 Year Celebration edition (October 11, 2016) bundles the base game with the full Season Pass: Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, Cold Darkness Awakened, Blood Ties, Lara's Nightmare, co-op Endurance mode, the Extreme Survivor difficulty, and bonus outfits and weapons.
The game is complete and no longer receives content updates. Its sequel is Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). The next new Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, is dated February 12, 2027.

Quick Start

Pick a difficulty for how you want to play. Survivor and Extreme Survivor change resource scarcity and remove some helpers; Extreme Survivor also only saves at campfires.
Use campfires. Base camps are where you spend skill points, craft upgrades, change outfits and fast travel between discovered camps.
Loot everything. Wood, cloth, animal hides, mushrooms and salvage feed both crafting and weapon upgrades.
Invest early in Hunter and Survivor skills that boost crafting and resource gathering; they make the rest of the game easier.
Do challenge tombs as you find them. They're the heart of the game and reward unique abilities you'll use for the rest of the story.
Learn languages. Reading monoliths, murals and documents raises your Greek, Russian and Mongolian proficiency, which in turn reveals coin caches and more.
Byzantine coins buy gear from the merchant. Collect coin caches everywhere.
Hubs are revisitable. New gear (rope arrows, ascender and other tools) unlocks paths you couldn't reach earlier; come back.
Stealth first. Many fights can be thinned out silently with the bow and takedowns before anyone raises the alarm.
Survival Instinct highlights what matters. Tap it constantly to see interactables, enemies and resources.

Difficulty Settings

Difficulty	Summary
Adventurer	Forgiving combat, more resources
Tomb Raider	The balanced default
Hardened	Tougher enemies and fewer resources
Survivor	Harsh combat, scarce resources and fewer helpers
Extreme Survivor (20YC)	Survivor-level challenge plus saving only at campfires

Shadow of the Tomb Raider later split combat, exploration and puzzle difficulty, but in Rise it's one overall setting.

Core Systems

Skills

Earn XP from kills, discoveries, tombs and challenges; level up for skill points and spend them at campfires.

Tree	Focus	Early priorities
Brawler	Weapon handling, melee and combat survivability	Better dodge-counter and health
Hunter	Bow skills, animals, gathering	Resource-yield skills, bow damage/aim
Survivor	Crafting, traps and explosives, stealth	Crafting speed and improvised explosives

The Self-Improvement Junkie achievement needs every skill in one tree, so pick your favourite tree and finish it.

Crafting

Ammo and consumables (arrows, fire arrows, poison arrows, grenade arrows, bandages) are crafted on the fly from the weapon wheel.
Improvised weapons: Molotovs from bottles, frag grenades from cans, and incendiary or poison traps using bodies and radios. These are Survivor-tree unlocks.
Gear upgrades (bigger quivers, ammo pouches, outfits) are crafted at campfires from hides, cloth and rare materials.
Weapon upgrades use salvage and other parts. Weaponsmith is earned by fully upgrading any one weapon.

Weapons

Lara carries a bow (several bows are found or bought), pistols, shotguns and rifles. The bow is the most versatile: silent, with special arrow types (Fire, Poison, Grenade). Master Fletcher asks you to craft 25 of each special arrow type, which is easiest if you craft whenever you're full on materials.

Languages and the merchant

Greek, Russian and Mongolian proficiency rises by reading monoliths, documents and murals. Max one for the Fluent achievement.
Monoliths reveal coin cache locations on your map once you can read them.
Byzantine coins buy weapons, attachments and ammo capacity from the Remnant merchant at camps.

Collectibles

Narrative assets: relics, murals and documents (Truth Seeker at 25%, Voices of the Past at 75%).
Survival caches: buried stashes (Keen Eye for 40).
Strongboxes, coin caches and monoliths.
Challenges: optional tasks in each hub (Looking for Trouble for 5, Compulsive for all).
Crypts: smaller optional tombs that usually hold a gear or weapon part.

Route Through the Story (Spoiler-Light)

Syria. A tomb-raiding tutorial. Climbing, traversal, a first puzzle and a trap-filled escape.
Siberian Wilderness. Survive the cold, learn hunting and crafting, make your first campfire and upgrades.
The Soviet Installation and the Gulag. Open hubs with Trinity patrols, a lot of stealth and climbing, and early challenge tombs. You meet Jacob here.
The Geothermal Valley. The largest hub: Remnant villagers, the merchant, many side missions, crypts and tombs. Spend time here.
Linear story areas such as the Copper Mill and the Flooded Archives introduce new gear and traversal tricks between hub visits.
The Acropolis, the Lost City of Kitezh and the endgame. Heavier combat, bigger set pieces and the showdown with Trinity's leadership, Konstantin and Ana.

Hub loop that works: arrive, find the camp, clear the story objective, then sweep the hub for tombs, crypts, challenges and monoliths. When you get new gear later, fast travel back and pick up anything previously blocked.

Challenge Tombs

The base game has nine challenge tombs, plus the Baba Yaga DLC tomb. Completing all base-game tombs in one playthrough earns the Tomb Raider achievement.
Every tomb rewards an ancient skill (a unique ability), so they're not just XP.
Most tombs are physics puzzles: weights, water levels, wind, counterweights and timed movements. When stuck, use Survival Instinct to highlight interactable parts and look for what moves.
Each tomb's entrance is marked on the map once you've found it; some need story gear to reach.

Combat and Stealth

Stealth kills: Takedowns from bushes, from above and from ledges. Silent arrows to the head drop unaware targets.
Distractions: Throw bottles or cans to pull enemies away.
Improvised weapons: Bottles become Molotovs, cans become grenades; radios and bodies can be trapped.
Dodge counters: Time a dodge to open enemies for a counter-attack (Brawler skills improve this).
Heavily armored enemies: Use explosives, headshots and fire arrows. Don't trade shots in the open.
Rifles for crowds: A Trusty Old Friend asks for 5 kills in 10 seconds with any rifle; set it up in a big firefight.

DLC and Extra Modes (20 Year Celebration)

Content	What it is
Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch	Story DLC with a new tomb and a hallucinogenic-pollen twist
Cold Darkness Awakened	Wave-based survival against infected enemies at a Soviet facility
Blood Ties	Explore Croft Manor and uncover family history; a puzzle/story piece with no combat
Lara's Nightmare	Croft Manor overrun by zombies; combat variant of Blood Ties
Endurance (with Co-Op)	Survive, scavenge and dig crypts in Siberia as long as possible, solo or with a friend
Extreme Survivor	Hardest difficulty with campfire-only saving

Expeditions

Chapter Replay / Chapter Replay Elite: Replay story chapters, optionally with expedition cards.
Score Attack: Chase high scores through chapters.
Remnant Resistance: Build and share custom challenges.
Endurance: Survival mode (Who Needs a Map? asks you to find 5 crypts in Endurance).
Expedition cards change gameplay (buffs, handicaps, big-head modes). Common cards are single-use; foil cards are reusable. Credits earned in-game buy card packs. Quite the Collector (150 cards) and These Belong in a Museum (300 cards) are the long grinds.

Missable and Tricky Achievements

Paying Respects ("Attend a funeral"), Quiet Time ("Find the best seat in the house") and For My Next Trick... ("Dive into a well") are location-based and easy to miss. Look them up for your current hub before leaving it.
Tomb Raider requires all challenge tombs in a single playthrough; don't start a new game mid-hunt.
Master Fletcher, Craftswoman (5 pieces of equipment) and Weaponsmith come naturally if you craft regularly.
Most other collectibles can be cleaned up after the story, since you can return to hubs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping challenge tombs. Their skills make the whole game easier.
Hoarding materials. Craft upgrades at every campfire; bigger quivers and pouches change fights.
Ignoring monoliths. They are the fastest way to find coin caches for the merchant.
Going loud by default. Stealth thinning of patrols saves a lot of health and ammo.
Forgetting to return to hubs after gaining new gear.
Playing Extreme Survivor first. Campfire-only saving is brutal if you don't know the routes.

Advanced Tips

Headshot with the bow from stealth to remove the most dangerous enemies first (armored and shotgunners).
Use the environment: explosive barrels, hanging objects and gas can end fights early.
Chain takedowns by throwing a bottle to separate a group, then picking off stragglers.
Craft special arrows during lulls so you're always stocked when fights start.
Explore with Survival Instinct pulsed often. It highlights hidden caches and climbable surfaces.
For collectibles, finish each hub before the story locks it temporarily; it'll reopen, but it saves backtracking.

FAQ

How many challenge tombs are there? Nine in the base game, plus the Baba Yaga DLC tomb.

Can I go back for collectibles after finishing the story? Yes. You can return to hubs via base camps after the credits.

Which edition should I buy? The 20 Year Celebration edition. It includes the base game and all DLC.

Is there co-op? Yes, in Endurance mode (added with the 20 Year Celebration update).

What's the best skill tree? There's no single best. Hunter and Survivor early for economy and crafting, then Brawler for combat survivability.

What order should I play the survivor trilogy in? Tomb Raider (2013), then Rise of the Tomb Raider, then Shadow of the Tomb Raider.