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Rise of the Tomb Raider: Blood Ties - Finding the Safe Combination clues, Blank Letter, Crowbar and how to solve the final Sun Shaped Plaque riddle

Crack the safe and solve the mystery in the second half of the Croft Manor story.

Welcome to the second part of guide covering the Blood Ties story (if you've skipped ahead, jump back to our Rise of the Tomb Raider - Croft Manor: Blood Ties walkthrough and guide first to get started.)

So, now you have the Master Key from the Library, it's time to open more areas of the Manor to get more Safe clues. Here's how to find and solve them. Two of the clues are in the West Wing, which you can access by using the Master Key on the other side of the upstairs of the Grand Hall.

Safe Combination clues in Blood Ties explained

You can do these in any order:

  • 'Lara's expedition treasure' - Use the Master Key on the crate upstairs where you found the second Exhibition Map. Examine the front to reveal the hieroglyph, which can be translated with the Hieroglyphics Worksheet found in the library. The number is 5.
  • 'My favourite painting of Amelia' - In the Atelier, find the Moving In collectible on the work top amongst the paintings to learn the favourite was the abstract one with blocks of red. This has four blocks on it, making it 4.
  • 'The day of our wedding anniversary' - Inside the Master Bedroom in the West Wing, find the An Unlikely Union (on the stool in front of the bed) and Amelia's Necklace (to the right side of the bed, and examine the lid). The Union tells you it's four days before her birthday on October 13, making October 9 - so 9.

Now return to the Safe back in the opening Study room and insert the numbers 549 to open it up. You get a series of items, ending with the Blank Letter.

How to use the Blank Letter

With the Blank Letter in hand, go downstairs in the Grand Hall and use the Lighter on the fireplace, showing clues on both sides of the Blank Letter:

You'll notice it's a map of the Wine Cellar down below. Head down, and push the wine rack where shown (it's near where you pushed the two wine crates earlier) to reveal a hidden key pad.

There is where the other side of the parchment comes in handy; translating the hieroglyphs gives you the numbers 142.

This opens a hidden passage nearby, leading you to the Secret Vault and the start of the final puzzle.

Get the Crowbar and solve the final puzzle, the Sun Shaped Plaque riddle

Collect the Sun Shaped Plaque on wall on the right side of the room, giving you the following riddle:

'...our knowledge is to the east, our respite to the west, our future to the south and our past to the north.'

Now, get the Crowbar from the box on the large table in the centre of the room, and use it on the cracks in the wall underneath the Sun Shaped Plaque to escape back into the basement.

To solve the Sun Shaped Plaque riddle, head to the ground floor of the Grand Hall and place the Plaque in the centre of the floor.

Place the Sun Shaped Plaque in the Grand Hall here.

From here, go north from where the arrow points - up the set of stairs, to the scratched wall - and use the Crowbar to find the Croft Family Crypt. Head down and examine the letter in the middle of the room to see the end of Blood Ties.

Once you're done, it's worth mopping up any Blood Ties Relics and Documents you've missed, and collecting the four final pick-ups that are only available once you've finished the story (three of which are only available if you're finished Rise of the Tomb Raider proper, too).