Tomb Raider Anniversary Time Trial Tips - Level 5: St. Francis Folly

The following walkthrough was created by Eldin to help other gamers who might be having trouble beating the Anniversary time trials.

Before you start, be sure to review the General Time Trial Tips & Strategy if you haven't done so already. You can also find the regular walkthrough for this level here.


Time Limit: 34:00

If you have been playing the time trials in order, you will now have unlocked infinite ammo for the Dual 50 Caliber Pistols. At the beginning of the level choose that weapon in order to kill the lions.



Head for the end of the room farthest from the entrance and climb the column on the right. If you climb up its left side, you can climb straight to the top without having to circle around it. This is the fastest way to get to the upper level.



Now you can jump to the next column and from it to the balcony.



There is no need to actually go and look at the solution to the Perseus Constellation Puzzle. Either make a note for yourself showing the correct combination of stars or refer to the screenshot below. Then you can quickly solve the puzzle and move on.



Push the globe off the ledge and to save time, jump to the nearest column. Then drop down and either roll the ball or shoot it to propel it to onto the pressure pad.


Use the same column you used before to climb up to the dark anteroom.



"Swan Dive Jump" through this hall to cover more ground.



Now for the key moment of this level. You are in the very tall room with central structure. You remember what this room is about, right? You may find it helpful to take a practice run through this area and make a few notes about the quickest ways to reach each of the switches and doors. Then, if necessary, refer to your notes during the time trial.

Well, what you need to do there is to open all four doors before going into any. This will save a lot of backtracking. Start with switches on the left and right sides.



You can take a shortcut to this switch, by jumping from this side as you can on the picture. This is not the regular way, the regular way is to get here from the upper level but, hey, this is a Time Trial and we need shortcuts.



Once you've unlocked all the doors its time to get to them, one by one. The strategy here is to get to the nearest one, in this case, Poseidon.



Ignore the rats and jump into the water.



There is not much I can tell you in this room. Tomb Raider is about puzzles. So, how fast can you solve a puzzle? Take a deep breath, relax and start solving the puzzle in this room the best way you know how. Do not try to get items that are not important; you don't have time for that.



After getting the key, there is no need to lower the water level. Just jump and start diving down. (Don't forget to turn on Infinite Breath Cheat, which you unlocked when you beat the game.)



The next room we are going into now is Damocles, since that one is nearest to the exit from the Poseidon room.



Ignore everything for now, just use "Swan Dive Jump" through this big room and take the key.



This room can be hard, the most important thing here is to relax. Because if you start to panic, your mind will be focused on bad things, like falling and things like that. Think positive you know that this room needs the power of your brain like this trap-puzzle here.



After Damocles it is time to go to Hephaestus.



Now, you will probably say: "Eldin you are not helping." This level is all about your brain and the ability to move fast. In this room, for example, you need to solve this puzzle in order to open the gate. There is not much I can tell you here. The only thing you need to do is to relax. A nervous person won't be able to finish this in time. I was like that before so I know.



Now, it is time to go to the final room: Atlas.



Atlas is not very hard room, you know your goal here. Just don't forget to use "Swan Dive Jump" as much as you can, especially when you are running from the big globe.



This level is long and it can be complicated, but if you did everything as I told you to do, in order to save time, you will have 7 or maybe more minutes left, and you'll be near the bottom of this room with all 4 keys. YAY! So even if you do fail at some point, you will still have some time left. Remember, the key here is to relax, everything else will go just fine.



Time trial completed!



[Previous Level]

[Main TRA Time Trials Page]

[Next Level]