Rise of the Tomb Raider - Ice Ship, Red Mine, Ancient Cistern, Voice of God
How to locate and complete the Challenge Tombs in the Glacial Caverns and Soviet Installation regions of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Here's our quick guide to completing the first few Challenge Tombs in the game.
Glacial Caverns Challenge Tombs
Ice Ship
This challenge tomb can be accessed from the main path during Best Laid Plains.
Make your way across the mast then use your axe on the mechanism. Scramble up the boards behind the mechanism and head round the smaller mast. Next, leap from the end and grab the dangling lump of ice to send it crashing into the wall.
Scramble up the newly cleared path and use your axe on the wheel. Wind the basket as far down as it will go, then make a dash round the mast. Jump from the end to catch the basket as it ascends in order to clear another path.
Clamber up it to reach the treasure. In addition to the main prize - rapid fire arrows - there's a map, a scroll, some arrows, and a Coin Cache. Head up the ramp to the zipline to rejoin the main path.
Soviet Installation Challenge Tombs
The Red Mine
This challenge tomb can be accessed from the locker room in the copper mine. It's best done during the Alone Again mission.
The path forks after a few yards - the right lane leads to a resource to gather, and a map can be found on the crates to your left. At the bottom of the tunnel, jump to the zipline and drop into an underground lake. The left fork holds some resources, and the right fork takes you deeper.
You'll come to a flammable barrier. Grab a nearby bottle and cloth, and fashion a Molotov cocktail to continue - stock up on cloth here if it's needed. Crawl through the hole, then jump the gap. You'll plummet to the bottom of the shaft.
Take the right-hand passage and follow it down. At some point the floor will give way, so hit X to haul yourself back up. In the small office ahead, there's a suitcase to loot. Now grab a bottle, make a Molotov cocktail, and then stand at the opposite side of the room from the waterfall. Throw the cocktail over the pipes to burn the obstacle behind them, then jump through the opening to reach the puzzle room.
From your starting position, jump left across the gap and follow the passage. A small room half way down contains a journal to collect, and at the bottom you'll find a new camp. From the camp, jump across the gap (hit X to save yourself from a fall on the other side), then go across to the other side.
Upstairs there's another suitcase to loot and a journal to collect at the far end of the level. Once that's collected, double back and jump off the small ramp to your right to grab the bucket. Two mine carts will roll down the track.
Drop down from the bucket and head back up the stairs. Climb onto the platform to your right, then jump across to the next wooden platform. Use your bow to fire an arrow at the minecart off to the left and drag it down the track. Jump back to the previous platform, then go across to the roof using using the grab bar.
Read the plaque on the other side, then climb onto the roof. Stand next to the rope-covered pillar and fire an arrow down to the minecart to attach it to the pillar, then head back down and swing on the bucket again to release the cart. Now the water is blocked, so head to the small platform with the bit of rusty track on it, prepare a Molotov and use it to destroy the barricade, then jump across the gap.
Head up the stairs and collect your reward. Once you've picked everything up, head down into the small cavern and climb your way up and out, eventually returning to the copper mine.
Ancient Cistern
In the centre of the hub area is a sawmill, and nearby is a crane with a log dangling from the arm. Shoot the block suspending the log to reveal a hidden entrance.
Descend the ladder and clamber down to the chamber below. It contains a few resources and a plaque to read. Once you've collected everything, head through the passageway between the two makeshift crosses and descend through the tunnel.
You'll encounter two more crosses. Before leaping across the gap, look to your left for an artefact. Now leap the gap and grab the rock with your axe. Shimmy left and climb down, then leap across to the right and grab the rocks on the other side.
Climb down and then left to reach solid ground, then slide down the slope into a small room. Climb up the steps and jump across to the bar to start the mechanism, then drop into the water below by timing your release to coincide with the gaps in the blades beneath you.
Climb out of the water through the archway and turn the corner. Shoot the small red oil cask to the right of the hatch to clear your way, then swim into the next area to find a campsite. Rest if you need, then head down the steps to enter the puzzle room.
Walk along the stone beam and scramble up the wall, then take a flying leap off the ramp to your right. It obviously wasn't going to be quite that easy, so once you hit the water swim left, head through the gap in the railings, and clamber out of the water in the next room.
Head up the stairs, grab the oil canister, carry it back to the round hatchway and then step back and blow it up to raise the water level. Dive back in and swim under the archway to return to the main room, then head left to another set of stairs.
Climb up, grab an oil canister, and toss it carefully onto the wooden platform floating in the corner of the water. Climb to the upper level and jump from the ramp onto the wooden bar. Wait until the water level has rise,n then drop off - as the water level sinks, the wooden platform will slowly drift back to its original position, so shoot the canister when it's in front of the hatch to raise the water again.
Swim through the opening you just made, clamber onto dry land, ascend the stairs, and jump the gap. Head to your left and through the arch, then use your axe to demolish the weak wall. Jump through into the water and swim back to where you got the last oil canister. Throw another one onto the wooden platform and then use the beam to temporarily raise the water again.
Drop off and quickly swim across to the wooden platform, grab the canister, throw it through the wall you knocked down, then clamber up after it. Pick up the canister again and carry it into the larger room, toss it to the platform in front of the hatch, and blow it up to raise the water level one last time. Swim under the surface, return to the main room to collect your reward, then leave the way you came in.
Voice of God
From the Sheltered Ridge campsite, face south and drop down. Head into the nearby cave and eliminate the ferocious feline. Use a rope arrow to pull down the barricade, then force the gate open with your axe.
Head along the passage and clamber up the end to locate a new camp. Exit the other side of the cave, head up the narrow cliff to your left, and squeeze through the gap at the end. Jump across the chasm, scramble up the wall to your left, and use the handhold to head right around the cliff face.
Climb up, use your axe to climb a little higher, then jump across the gap to your right and head up again. Cross the narrow stone beam, jump off the pillar and grab the rocks ahead, then head right and down to reach the tomb.
Jump off the end of the small rocky outcrop you're stood on and grab the handholds. Traverse right, leap across and grab the rock-face, then when it collapses quickly hit X to grab the one below you. Head right, climb up, then make your way across another narrow stone beam, hitting X to grab the rock-face when it gives way beneath you.
Jump right, climb to the handholds, and then shimmy your way to solid ground. The wooden platform behind you holds a relic, so collect that before heading in through the big door towards the ominous noise.
There are a few items to collect in this chamber, so pick it clean and then use the crank next to the open door to close it. Scramble up the now-closed door, head through the arch to the left, and drop down to the ground to your right. Turn around and jump across the gap, use your axe to break down the wall, then squeeze through the gap and reopen the door.
Squeeze back through the gap, jump across to the rope reel, and use an arrow to attach the swinging counterweight to it. Wind the crank, then use either your knife or the attachment at the other side of the reel to cut the rope and free the other counterweight. Head back to the entrance area, open the other door, and descend the steps to collect your reward.
Head back outside and turn right. Use an arrow to make a rope bridge between the post and the block on the far side, climb along it and clamber up the wall in front of you. Create a zipline down to the next rope block, slide down and collect the relic, climb up the handholds, and fashion another zipline. At the bottom, drop down, jump the gap to the right, squeeze through the gap, and you'll be back at the Frozen Gorge campsite.
- Our walkthrough continues with a step-by-step guide to completing Rise of the Tomb Raider: House of the Afflicted.
- You can find the rest of our Rise of the Tomb Raider guide from the first page of this article.