Tomb Raiders Traveler's Guide: Tomb Raider Mansion / Training Level

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	Dagger of Xian -- Lara's Home / Training Level

	Outside the Mansion	Tomb Raider II includes a training level, where Lara Croft walks you through all the various moves you must master in order to complete the game. Select the picture of Lara's Home from the Game Menu Ring. The training level opens with Lara in the backyard of her mansion. She is dressed in an exercise outfit and standing at the beginning of her new assault course.
	Outside the Mansion	Lara:	"Welcome back! After that grueling business last year, I decided to build this assault course to hone my skills and learn some new ones." TURN LEFT towards the sound of tinkling china and meet her trusty old butler. He will follow Lara throughout her home standing by ever ready with freshly made tea. Just make sure Lara is careful not to run into him as she runs around her home and the surrounding grounds.

	The Assault Course		RUN FORWARD onto the second step of the platform ahead of Lara and a timer will appear. If Lara runs forward too far and falls off the edge, Lara will explain how to clear this gap, which spans one block.
		Lara:	"No. That's not right. You need to press jump and forward together for me to clear the gap." Run back to the start and try again. Press JUMP followed by FORWARD to perform a standing jump over the gap to land on the next platform. As soon as Lara clears the gap, the timer will start. If Lara runs off this next platform and drops into the wider gap, she will give instructions for how to clear gaps which span two blocks.
		Lara:	"For bigger gaps, I'll need to do a running jump. Back to the start." RUN FORWARD and press JUMP to take a running jump to the next platform. If Lara hesitates to vault up to the higher part of the next platform, she will explain how to vault up onto the upper platform.
		Lara:	"To climb up, press forward and then hold down the action button." VAULT UP onto the higher platform with a black surface. If Lara accidentally runs off the edge of this high platform and falls down into the first half of the gap, she will describe how to avoid this type of accident.
		Lara:	"To avoid falling off the ledges, you can use the walk button. That way, I'm more careful and won't step over the edge." If Lara attempts a jump across the gap but falls into the second half of the gap, she will explain how to properly set up running jumps.
		Lara:	"To make that jump successfully, I need to walk back as far as possible from the edge, and then take a running jump as before. Or you could walk to the edge, jump forward, and press action to make me grab the far edge." Follow one of the two options that Lara described to clear the gap. Lara will now approach the largest gap in the assault course. If she does not make it over the gap, she will explain how to clear spans of three blocks by grabbing onto the edge of the platform.
		Lara:	"Okay, that was quite a tough one. You need to make a running jump and then press action for me to grab the edge. To get the run up exactly right, walk to the edge, then tap backwards to jump back. If you run forwards from there, and press jump, I'll make it just right." Follow Lara's instructions. Run forward and SLIDE FORWARD down the slope into a pool of water that reaches up to Lara's waist. WADE FORWARD through the water and approach the wall ahead with a blue rope mesh. If Lara hesitates to climb up, she will explain how to scale vertical surfaces.
		Lara:	"I can climb up this wall. Just walk up to it and hold down the action button. You can then use the direction buttons to climb up, down, and side to side." Press the action button and the up direction button to have Lara climb up on the wall. Continue to press up to scale up the wall and pull up at the top. Have Lara WALK to the protruding part of the platform covered in black. If Lara falls off this platform, she instuct on how to best cross this next part of the assault course.
		Lara:	"This set of obstacles is easiest to traverse by using my sideways jumps. Just press left or right at the same time as jump. I can jump backwards too." Do a forward STANDING JUMP, then a RIGHT SIDE JUMP, forward STANDING JUMP, LEFT SIDE JUMP, then a forward STANDING JUMP to the last pillar. Run forward and SLIDE down the ramp. Before Lara falls off the ramp, JUMP FORWARD and GRAB the opposite wall. If Lara falls to the ground, she will describe the wall.
		Lara:	"This is another climbing wall. You can tell by the footholds." CLIMB to the top of the wall and PULL UP. Run forward over the rope bridge, being careful not to fall off. If Lara does fall off, she can jump up and grab the rope bridge and pull up, but it will cost Lara time.
		Lara:	"Oh dear. Back to the start if I want to beat my best time." When Lara reaches the other side of the bridge, DROP down into the water. If Lara surfaces, she will explain how to swim.
		Lara:	"To swim underwater, press the jump button and the direction buttons to guide me." Press the jump button to dive back underwater, and swim through the tunnel made of bricks. When she surfaces on the other side, she will describe how to tread water.
		Lara:	"On the surface, the direction buttons move me about and the jump button makes me dive underwater. At the edge of the pool, I can climb out by using the action button." Move forward in the water until Lara can WADE FORWARD in the shallow end of the pool. CLIMB up the wall with ropes, then SHIMMY sideways to the middle to pull up on the middle platform. WALK forward and press the action button to grab hold of the rope slide. Let Lara slide down until she lets go of the handle bar at the bottom of the slide. Run forward towards the shrubs ahead.
		Lara:	"Congratulations! You did it! But perhaps I could have been faster." Lara can go back to repeat the assault course again and try to beat her best time. Lara will say one of the following each time she completes the course:
		Lara:	"Great! But nowhere near my best time."
		Lara:	"Almost. Perhaps another try and I might beat it."
		Lara:	"Gosh! That was my best time yet!" If the game is exited and Lara returns to the assault course later, she will welcome you back.
		Lara:	"Hi there! Let's see if I can beat my best time." A respectable time to finish the assault course is about one and a half minutes. However, the game designers have posted times around one minute and six seconds!

	Inside the Mansion		After Lara has had enough practice on her obstacle course, run forward toward the wall across from the end of the zip-line and Lara will extend a welcome to visit the rest of the house and grounds.
	Inside the Mansion	Lara:	"Feel free to explore the rest of the house and gardens." Run through the stone arch and head to the front door. To the left is a button that rings the doorbell and opens the door.
	The Main Hall		Enter the mansion and step into the main hall. There are two stairways on either side that lead to the second floor. Ignore them for now and run towards the corridor on the left past the grandfather clock.
	The Kitchen		Turn left to find the kitchen. Run past the small dining table on the left and turn left again to find a walk-in freezer. Press the button on the wall to the left of the freezer door to open it. Lara can walk in and look around. Exit the freezer and press the button again to close the door. Run forward to notice the kitchen sink on the left and the stove and oven on the right. There is a side door on the left wall of the kitchen that automatically opens to the outside as Lara approaches it. However, turn right to continue touring the house.
	The Ballroom		Ahead is Lara's ballroom. Along the walls, there are decorative knight statues and speakers installed for Lara's sound system. Find the stereo system along the right wall. Push the button to start playing some classical music.
	The Swimming Pool		At the end of the ballroom is the entrance to the indoor swimming pool. Lara can practice swimming around the small pool. She can also practice her SWAN DIVE off the new diving board she installed within the past year.
	The Music Room and Library		Return to the main hall and run up the stairs to the second floor. Turn right at the top and turn right again at the corner. Find the entrance to the music room on along the left wall. The harp and piano are still there, but the large blue gym mat has been removed since Lara has built her assault course. Lara can explore the adjoining library. Notice the fireplace has been renovated and the billiards table has been removed.
	The Bedroom and Bathroom		Lara can now run over to her bedroom which has its entrance across the main hall from the music room. Besides the bed and fireplace, there is a locked walk-in closet where Lara stores her firearms. Lara will not be able to unlock this gun closet at this time. At the far end of the bedroom is the bathroom equipped with both a full size bath and shower. NOTE: Lara can actually enter her bathroom through the window from the assault course outside. When Lara is outside, position her on the high platform closest to the bathroom window and take a RUNNING JUMP towards the window and GRAB the window sill. Lara can pull up inside of the bathroom. If she did not open the front door before doing this, she will still be able to exit the house through the side door.
	The Attic		Exit the bedroom and run over to the dark opening just to the right of the top of the stairs. Lara can VAULT up into the opening and proceed up the stairs in the dark passageway. Turn right at the top and enter the attic. Lara can wander around but because the lighting is quite poor, she may want to explore the attic again with flares she will pick up later.

	The Garden Maze		Exit the house through the front door and head left. Pass the fish fountain and head towards the tall hedges ahead. Find the entrance to the hedge maze and carefully use the following directions to find a secret area at the center of the maze. Upon entering the maze, take a left and run all the way to the end until Lara must turn right. Keep running and take the first left and left again. Turn right at the corner and run straight down this stretch until Lara must turn right. Again take the first left and left again. Turn right and right again at the corner. Run past the small protrusion until Lara finds the side of the maze which is the mansion's perimeter wall. Finally, turn right at the wall and take the first right to find an opening in the ground to a brick tunnel. Enter the dark tunnel and pull up at the opposite end into the secret area. The secret area houses two statues from Lara's adventure in Peru last year. There is a button on the wall between the statues that opens a door to Lara's basement. There is also a box of flares (1) sitting to the right of the tunnel exit. Pick up the flares and then position Lara in front of the button. It is important to run as fast as possible back to the house after pushing the button as the door is on a timer. Push the button to see a cinematic of a secret door opening to the basement. Immediately REVERSE ROLL and run forward to drop down the tunnel. Follow the same route Lara used to enter the secret area to exit the maze, and head straight for the mansion's front door. The basement door opening is in the left wall of the corridor between the main hall and ballroom. (Lara can throw in a couple of RUNNING JUMPS in the open areas to speed up as she races to the secret door to the basement.)
	The Basement		Enter the doorway and head down the dark stairs. Light a flare to improve visability and turn right at the bottom of the stairs. Lara can now examine her private collection of treasures from her various exploits. Notice the cat statue from her adventure in Egypt on the opposite side of the glass window casing. To exit the basement, run back up the stairs and push the button near the door to open the basement door again.

	The Outside Wall		For some unconventional exploring around the mansion grounds, Lara will need to use a special move that can only be used in corners (commonly known as the "corner bug"). Exit Lara's house through the kitchen side door and return to the tower with the zip line. From the shallow pool, climb to the top of the rope slide platform. WALK to the edge of the platform and SIDESTEP RIGHT until Lara is against the right column. Angle Lara forty-five degrees towards the mansion wall and press and hold the jump button. Lara will repeatedly jump in place up and down until it appears that the right side of her body is partially embedded in the wall (usually after the second jump if done correctly). After this happens, on the next jump up, she will jump right to the top of the column! From the top of the column, she can take a STANDING JUMP down to the mansion wall. Lara can now run along the mansion wall and enjoy a different view of the assault course.
	The Roof		To climb on top of the mansion roof, have Lara take a standing jump from the top of the wall to the roof over the swimming pool. This is the one-story section of the house with the white skylight windows located beside the hedge maze. Run over to the far left edge of the swimming pool roof and find a corner of Lara's house similar to the corner used to get to the top of the rope slide platform. Walk to the edge of the roof that is facing the hedge maze, sidestep right until Lara is against the wall on the right, and turn her forty-five degrees towards the hedge maze. Repeatedly jump up and down until Lara suddenly appears on top of the roof. Lara can explore the whole roof and enjoy a bird's eye view of the mansion grounds.
	The Balcony		One way Lara can safely get down from the roof and back to the wall is to DROP FORWARD down to the swimming pool roof from the same corner of the roof she climbed up on. She will take some damage doing this but Lara can easily jump back onto the perimeter wall from the swimming pool roof. However, if Lara wants to visit the balcony outside her bedroom, she can do a SAFETY DROP down from the roof ledge above the balcony. She will also take some damage from the long drop. After admiring her potted plants, Lara must jump over the balcony railing to get back to the ground below.
	Outside the Front Gate		The final area left to explore in the training level is the area outside the front gates. Have Lara get back on the mansion wall. Run all the way around the wall until she finds the small clearing in front of the mansion front gates. SAFETY DROP down to this clearing and Lara can explore this small area. To get back inside the front gates, Lara must use an "advanced version" of the corner bug trick. Starting with Lara standing by the the middle of the gates, turn left and walk towards the brick wall on the left side of the gate. Angle Lara left forty-five degrees towards the left edge of the corner of the brick wall and press and hold the jump button. Lara will repeatedly jump in place up and down until it appears that the right side of her body is partially embedded in the wall. After this happens, on the next jump, she will jump up to the top of the wall. From the top of the wall she can drop back down into the mansion grounds and continue her training¹.

	Summary	Pickups	1 Box of Flares 1 Total
	Footnotes: Credit goes to Jeff Reid and Marsh as reported by Theresa's Tomb Raider II Walkthrough for discovering how to return to the inside of the mansion gates.