Manual
Welcome to the Tomb Raider web manual.
You can use the Contents menu on the left to skip directly to the section you're looking for. Alternatively, click the Enter button to access the manual, and use the Next and Previous buttons to navigate page by page.
Can't find what you're looking for? There's even more information in the FAQs and ReadMe: you can view them using the buttons at the top of the screen.
A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these “photosensitive epileptic seizures” while watching video games.
These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects.
Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms—children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures. The risk of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be reduced by taking the following precautions: Sit farther from the screen; use a smaller screen; play in a well-lit room; and do not play when you are drowsy or fatigued. If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures or epilepsy, consult a doctor before playing.
Tomb Raider is the first chapter in the story of Lara Croft.
As the game begins, Lara is a young college graduate, eager to find adventure and make her mark on the archaeological world. With her best friend Sam, Lara joins an expedition aboard the research vessel Endurance in search of the lost kingdom of Yamatai.
Thought to have existed on an island somewhere off the coast of Japan, Yamatai’s true location has remained a mystery for centuries. Trusting in Lara’s research, Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance, takes the expedition into a dangerous area of the sea known as the Dragon’s Triangle.
It is here that everything goes horribly wrong and Lara discovers the true price of adventure.
As part of the Steam download process, the game has already been installed on your computer. To start playing the game, read the Getting Started section.
Double-click on the Steam application icon. By default this is located in the Applications folder on your computer's hard drive.
If you are not already signed in, the Steam Login dialog will appear. Enter your account name and password, then select Login.
The Steam application will launch. Select the Library tab.
In the library, highlight Tomb Raider in the list of games on the left-hand side of the window, then select Play.
The Tomb Raider pre-game Options window will appear. Click on the Play button. The game will launch.
After the loading screens, the Main Menu will appear. Select New Game.
A dialog will appear prompting you to select a save game slot. Select Create a New Save.
A dialog will appear prompting you to select a combat difficulty setting. If this is your first time playing, we recommend you select either Easy or Normal.
After the opening video, you'll find Lara on Yamatai, where she's got herself into a bit of a bind...
The following options are available to you in the Main Menu:
There are three difficulties to choose from when starting a new game: Easy, Normal and Hard. Enemies are stronger and Lara is more vulnerable on the hard difficulty setting. Enemies are more forgiving and Lara is more resilient on the easy difficulty setting. Difficulty can be changed at any time in the Gameplay menu (Main Menu → Options → Gameplay).
You can play Tomb Raider with either a keyboard and mouse or a gamepad. The instructions in this manual refer to the default keyboard controls; if you have customized your controls or are using a gamepad, the controls listed here will not apply.
The default keyboard and mouse controls are detailed below. You can customize your keyboard configuration by selecting Options → Button Mapping from the Main Menu.
Tomb Raider requires you to right-click in order to perform certain commands. If you are using a Magic Mouse or a Trackpad, your secondary click may not be activated by default: see Can I play Tomb Raider using my Magic Mouse or Trackpad? in the FAQs for detailed instructions on how to enable secondary click.
| Move forward | Up arrow or W |
| Move back | Down arrow or S |
| Move left | Left arrow or A |
| Move right | Right arrow or D |
| Walk | Control (ctrl) (hold) |
| Jump | Space |
| Roll / evade | Shift (⇧) |
| Interact | E |
| Melee | F |
| Survival instinct | Q |
| Center camera | Z |
| Map | Tab (⇥) |
| Pause | Escape (esc) |
| Aim | Right Mouse button (hold) |
| Primary fire | Left Mouse button or V |
| Alt fire | Space or Middle Mouse button |
| Shoulder swap | C |
| Zoom | Z |
| Reload | R |
| Select next weapon | Mouse Wheel up |
| Select previous weapon | Mouse Wheel down |
| Select bow | 1 |
| Select pistol | 2 |
| Select shotgun | 3 |
| Select SMG | 4 |
You can play Tomb Raider using a dual analog stick gamepad. The diagram on this page is based on a standard controller layout; all gamepads have similar buttons but some may differ in layout from the gamepad shown here. For more information see Can I play Tomb Raider with a gamepad? in the FAQs.
NOTE: Gamepad controls cannot be customized.
| Move | Analog stick 9 |
| Jump | 2 |
| Roll / evade | 3 |
| Interact | 1 |
| Melee | 4 |
| Survival instinct | 5 |
| Map | Select |
| Move camera | Analog stick 10 |
| Center camera | Analog stick 10 (click) |
| Pause | Start |
| Aim | 7 (hold) |
| Primary fire | 8 |
| Alt fire | 6 |
| Zoom | Analog stick 10 (click) |
| Shoulder swap | Analog stick 9 (click) |
| Reload | 1 |
| Select weapon | ↑ / ↓ / ← / → |
Movement in Tomb Raider is fluid, responsive and natural. To move around, press the W/A/S/D keys in the direction you want Lara to go. Lara will move forward to seamlessly interact with her environment, climbing, crouching or moving in and out of cover without additional key presses. Often Lara will have to jump, climb and crawl while traversing the island in order to reach her destination.
Lara is an expert climber who can use skills and tools she acquires on her adventures to scale dangerous cliffs and structures. As long as there is a ledge or platform within reach, Lara will move towards it with a simple push of the controls. Lara can also use flat, vertical surfaces to scramble up to areas that are inaccessible with just a normal jump. Sometimes a ledge will be unable to support Lara, causing her to lose her grip; these instances will be indicated by an action key icon. Press the key indicated to help Lara recover from the perilous situation. There are some instances where Lara may need to drop down from where she is climbing: pressing the Shift (⇧) key will cause Lara to drop and if there is a ledge below her position she will grab onto it.
At any time, you can press the Tab key to bring up the Map screen. This menu shows where Lara is located on the island, her next objective, the status of the region and other useful information about the area. A diamond icon on the map indicates the location of the next objective. This icon can also be viewed by activating survival instinct during gameplay.
Important landmarks and collectibles such as camps, tombs, relics and documents will appear on the map after you find or collect them. You can unlock these items on the map without finding them by discovering a treasure map or completing a challenge tomb.
While viewing the map you can use the W/A/S/D keys to move around the cursor. You can click the Zoom Out/Zoom In button to alternate views between the region you are currently in and the entire island. Clicking the Center button will center the map on Lara. You can also set a waypoint by moving the cursor over a location on the map and clicking the Toggle Local Waypoint button. This waypoint can be viewed both on the map and by activating survival instinct during gameplay and looking for the blue column of light.
Campsites can be found all over the island and provide a number of uses to Lara during her travels. There are two kinds of campsites: day camps and fast travel camps. Day camps are represented by a campfire icon on the map while fast travel camps are represented by a tent icon. Lara can use her skill points to purchase new survival skills as well as spend salvage on upgrades to her gear at both day camps and fast travel camps. Fast travel camps also allow Lara to quickly move between previously visited campsites allowing you to re-explore and collect new things in regions that have already been discovered.
Lara has a keen sense of survival that can be relied upon to find items and objectives or determine what needs to be done next. Pressing the Q key will cause anything that can be used or attacked to light up, and will also display the objective beacon, which guides Lara towards her next destination.
There are many treasures waiting to be discovered on the island. By locating relics, documents and GPS caches, Lara can earn experience points while also learning about the history and current activity of the island. Any collectibles that have already been discovered can be viewed at any time by pressing the Tab key to bring up the Map screen and using the buttons in the top-right corner of the screen to access the Gear, Relics and Documents screens.
Additionally, Lara can find ammo boxes, food and salvage across the island. Ammo boxes will help Lara replenish ammunition for her various weapons, food provides additional experience points, and salvage provides Lara with raw materials that she can use to upgrade her weapons.
Lara arrives on the island without any combat experience, but she quickly learns the skills required to survive. Lara can use a range of weapons, hand-to-hand combat or stealth to deal with the hostile inhabitants of the island. As Lara becomes more experienced she will acquire new weapons as well as skills that allow her to use her resourcefulness to better defend herself against the harsh challenges she faces.
As Lara hones her skills and explores the island, she must gather and build equipment to aid in her survival. Some gear can be acquired by progressing through the story, but most advanced weaponry and gear must be found by gathering salvage and broken weapon parts and upgrading at a campsite. Lara’s primary weapons are her bow, pistol, shotgun and machine gun. Each serves a different purpose and allows Lara to approach combat situations using a variety of tactics. She also carries an axe which can be used for both exploration and combat.
During Lara’s time on the island she is forced to grow into a survivor and learn skills for making it in a hostile environment. These skills can be unlocked by acquiring experience points through completing objectives and finding collectibles. There are three types of skills available to Lara: survivor, brawler and hunter skills. Survivor skills help Lara to improve her awareness of the environment and ability to manage her resources. Hunter skills help Lara to improve her ability to combat enemies with her weapons. Brawler skills help Lara improve her skills in hand-to-hand combat. Learning basic skills will unlock more advanced ones that were not initially available.
Every effort has been made to make Tomb Raider as compatible with current hardware as possible. However, if you are experiencing problems when running Tomb Raider, please read on.
The latest version of the FAQs can be found by selecting the View FAQs button in the Support tab of the Tomb Raider pre-game Options window (this is the window that opens when you launch the game), or by going straight to the Feral website: http://support.feralinteractive.com
Contacting Feral
If the FAQs and/or updates do not solve your problem, then please feel free to contact us. The following information must be obtained before contacting Feral Technical Support:
All the information required can be obtained by opening Tomb Raider and clicking on the Support tab in the Tomb Raider pre-game Options window. In the Support tab, click on the Generate Report button. Once the report is generated it will appear as a file in your ~/Downloads folder (the “~” symbol refers to your home directory). Now click on the Create Email button. Remember to attach the Tomb Raider Report.txt file to your e-mail.
In your e-mail, please include a brief description of the problem you have experienced with Tomb Raider. We will do our best to help you.
E-Mail: support@feralinteractive.com
Please check the warranty information provided by Steam.