THE WHEELS OF KATHAR

An “Expert Level” by Philip Reinking.

Walkthrough by D&G Productions.

You can open an Intro movie (wmv) from the download folder, watching that you will get a pretty good idea of the story.
There are some game tips in the read-me, I will address them as we reach those stages.
New moves are used too, like in Underworld. I’ll explain them when we need them.
The Compass has no indications, up =N, down =S, left =W and right =E.

1 - Niflheim -- Sea

The Flyby will pan around an opening g in the bottom of the ocean, save as soon as you get control and turn left a bit to swim SW to that hole in the bottom (just past the canon). In the cave below, turn right and swim straight N into the next cave, go left of that building and find the opening in the right hand wall, throw the underwater lever and see that circular door in the building open up, swim inside.

1 - Niflheim – The Hall of Despair

Go straight to that ladder to get air at the surface. Swim back down and go into the right hand (W) side, find and use the underwater lever and get an Idol Piece from the opened gate in the W wall. Better go back for some air (although it is possible in one go), swim to an underwater door in the E side of that passage, open it for the second Idol Piece. Under the arch SE is a small medipack on the bottom. Go back to the ladder, climb out and combine the pieces to use them NW. Head into the passage N where the gate has opened up. Go up the stairs and activate that red symbol, go downstairs where the gate E has opened up. Save there as this one is timed. Activate the symbol, roll and run/sprint with a right hand curve to the gate N, hit Alt when you get near so Lara will roll through just in time.

Stand under the opening E and jump up to grab the ladder, in the passage above are a small medipack and a symbol. The symbol opens a gate up W, jump straight out of this passage and grab into that niche with another symbol. Drop down and go through the passage E.

A Pushblock and some poles.

In the next room Lara looks up to the ceiling, that is where the pushblock has to go, the lighter square of the texturing. A cage will rise in the corner of the room, now push the block once more so it will be closer to the cage. Climb it and jump to the cage, face E and jump to the pole (Can be a bit tricky). I released the Ctrl key after the pole and only held down the forward key down to land on that platform in the opposite corner. Turn N and position Lara a bit back from the edge of the platform to hop and grab the pole N. Only hold Ctrl down and keep hanging there, the pole will break from the wall and the mechanism will be unblocked and the gate opens.

The Hall of Despair.

In the middle of the Hall a big Hydra will make life hard as she will send swarms of locusts at you (one remedy is to save and reload so they will be gone for a while). Swords have to open gates. You have to activate symbols to drop these swords. Be sure to use all symbols only once as some will open gates, after using them again the gates will close up again.

Kill the One Head to get rid of the Locusts.

You can kill one of the heads before you start the next tasks in this Hall. Run forward after the flyby and in the left wall of the opening to the lava pool is a crack, grab that, go right around the corner and hold the “Up” key, then hit Alt and Lara will jump up to grab the crack above. Climb left and pull up to the floor. Go right around the corner and immediately around the statue is a symbol (Timed). Save there and push it, run back to the opening to the Hall and jump onto the right hand side of the cage that came up there. Run with a left curve and jump to grab up to an outer ledge N. Run to the S side of the Hall, find a skeleton and pull it away by the head. Hop over the skeleton and get the Revolver, the Lasersight and a small medipack.

Shoot the Sword.

You only have 6 rounds, so don’t waste them, turn left and look over the Hydra, there are 2 swords hanging there. From where you stand, aim for the left hand (W) side sword and shoot it, it will drop onto the Hydra. You will also hear the sound of a moving block. Run for the symbols E, push the left hand one which was blocked by an invisible block before. The second sword will fall and the Hydra will not be able to shoot locusts anymore.

Drop the swords to open the gates.

Run E a bit and to the edge of the floor, look down to spot a platform below. Drop down onto the platform, get the small medipack and walk to the N side of the platform, face E and jump with a right hand curve down to a ledge under the arch, hit Ctrl as soon as you passed the edge of the floor. Activate the symbol and see a sword fall. Run and jump to the pole W, swing to the rope and go down till Lara is just in the lava, swing to the ledge with the next symbol. Activate it and use the pole W to get back to the floor.

Back up.

Back up to the first floor using the cracks and go to the N, around the corner to the E and into the third arch. Jump out left to the platform and jump E with a left curve (same as you did on the other side) to the ledge below. Activate the symbol.

Back up, Last time.

Use the pole, rope and another pole (the symbol on the ledge is broken) to get to the floor W and make your way back up to the upper floor using the cracks and the timed block. Go to the symbol on the W wall and activate it. A big door opened in the N wall, go in there and find the 3 gates you’ve opened up.

Dark Pits.

Go into the pit to the E and activate the symbol to get a pole out of the wall, climb back up W and go to the pit W, jump to the pole and swing to grab the crack in the W wall ahead. Shimmy right and hold the down key, Lara will then pull up on the crack, turn around and jump to the other side, grab the crack there and go left around, do the same manoeuvre again and follow the crack to the crawlspace. Use the symbol and drop down into the pit, go back to where you cam in and climb out, go to the E pit where a cage went up. From the cage you can now reach the pole to swing to the ledge E and grab it.

A Torch.

Around the corner you’ll find a closed gate, shoot it with pistols and it will drop onto a pole, creating a nice walkway, jump over the pit and go into the room with the bowls. To the E a closed gate, to the N a spike trap with a symbol above, go to the opening W (leading up to a room with spare torches, no idea why) and pick up the Torch to the right of the opening, ignite it at one of the bowls and throw it onto the spike trap N. Save, time the spikes and run to the N wall, pull up and go inside. On the back of the pillar is a still working symbol. Go back to the Torch which will now be on a raised cage, get it and go into the room N, in the cave beyond is a candle in a shrine, light the candle and drop the Torch. Go back to the room with the bowls where the gate E has opened up. Go in, to the right of the next gate is a symbol to open the gate. Go in and step into the light.

The Face.

Jump out onto the ledge and go to the right, jump from the tip of the ledge to grab the crack over the broken symbol and shimmy right around the corner, hold the up key and hit Alt to jump up. Go to the face and spot a ledge under the mouth, hang from the ledge and push the back arrow, Lara will do a nice jump with double flip to the ledge. Go into the mouth and follow through.

2 - Niflheim – Yggdrasil (the tree that supports the world)

Follow to a pit and line up for the middle of one of the poles, not the middle of the pit and jump to grab the pole and swing across. Walk to the blue glass wall and a Serpent will come for you. Shoot it and go to the right at the glass wall. There is a symbol up on the pillar, jump up to grab it (keep Ctrl down) and Lara will turn around and jump up to the ledge next to the glass wall. A cutscene takes over where you see Gorgon (mythological figure with serpent hair), after the cutscene you can pick up some Revolver ammo.

The Gorgon.

Jump to the ledge ahead and climb the block N, slide and jump to grab up to the broken pillar, jump down to the ledge NW and then SW to the ledge behind the pillar. Face E and grab up to the symbol, Lara will jump from the wall and you can grab the crack in the pillar, climb around right and hit the down key (keep Ctrl down), Lara jumps and lands on another broken pillar with a transporter pad. Lara is taken to another corner of the room, jump down to the ledge W and run to jump to the symbol up W, keep holding Ctrl while Lara jumps back to another symbol and will land on a sloped pillar. Slide and jump to the symbol pad. Lara looks up, shoot that wooden thing with the Revolver and see a ray hit the Gorgon and kills her. Go to one of the pads on the corners of the floor and end up in a passage (both pads lead to the same place).

Spiders.

Go up the stairs and W to a pit, shoot the serpent below and drop down, use the symbol and climb back up. Jump to the pole and curve the next jump to grab the middle of the opening ahead. Follow down a set of stairs and in these next passages Huge Spiders rule. Find a pushblock in the left hand (W) wall and pull it out once, then move it once to the N, climb up and run jump to the N, passing the Spiders den. Follow around the corner and another spider attacks. Go into the passage W and get a flyby of the next series of jumps.

Go W to the back of the structure and find the symbol on the pillar, grab it and hold Ctrl to grab the crack behind. Climb right to the wall and hold the up key, then jump up to grab to the top of the pillar. Turn around and hop to the other pillar from which you can jump into the structure. Drop out of the opening backwards and grab the edge, than just hit Alt once (no arrows) and Lara grabs up to the edge of the roof. Shimmy right to the symbol and use it. Hop down to the pillar, jump back inside and now use the sloped blocks to get to the ground floor. Climb out using the ladder and drop down the other side. Go out E and find a raised cage in the passage where the last spider was. Get into the crawlspace N and follow through. Jump out holding the forward key and Alt.

Yggdrasil.

A cutscene shows you the mythological Yggdrasil. Lara ends up in the water, swim W and get the Gemstone from under that tree. Climb up to the S ledge and jump over to the rock NE, go behind the tree and find a magical switch. A pole will appear over the pool. Hop onto the rock SE and slide down S, jump to grab the pole and then swing to the platform SE. Grab up to the right and jump straight up to grab the top of the pillar. Place the Gemstone up there and an underwater gate will open up in the pool. Dive in and swim in N (I was out of Flares here). Just as you go in, turn right and then left where you’ll have some vision back. Climb out at the hole and walk up to Niddhogg where a flyby takes over (Niddhogg is the Monster nibbling at the roots of the Yggdrasil tree).

Niddhogg, Thor’s Hammer.

Time the fire and runjump out to the right, stand between the low pillar and the slanted rocks E and face W, backflip onto the rocks, jump and grab the pillar. Jump and grab N to the root of the tree and swing over to the tunnel N. Slide down in the end and walk up to Thor’s Hammer. A cutscene shows strange things happening at the mansion where the next level seems to take place, the guard asks “Is that you Miss Croft?” and immediately gets shot.

3 – Croft Manor – Infiltration

It is actually not Lara here, it is her evil Double which has advanced capabilities, like jump further, run faster etc. A normal forward stand jump is done by holding sprint and hitting the forward key, try it out.

The Hall.

Run alongside the doors and curve towards the active lasers, jump before you get close and land on the other side. Go into the passage NW under the stairs and do a standing jump over the lasers, take out the guards. NE in this garden room is a crate, pull it to that chandelier close to the jump lever on the W wall, climb up to the chandelier and jump to the lever. The door N to the swimming pool has opened.

Swimming Pool, the Basement Key.

A strange water surface, walk to the hole in the water and drop down, move one of the crates under the hole you came from (for later) and enter the tunnel W. Move one of the crates out of the corner and use the lever behind it, a door opens up. Go back and climb back up to the swimming pool. Go back over the lasers to the Hall. Go up the stairs to the bedroom SW, open the door and find that open door next to the bed, inside is the Basement Key. Go down to the Hall and into the passage NW under the stairs.

Basement.

Open the door N and follow down, time the moves through the lasers or just sprint through. Follow through even though the attention is drawn to a box behind a window. At the next set of traps you have to stand back and standjump (use the sprint/forward key jump) over the lasers, stand behind the high laser and jump when it is up and the one over the ground laser is down, repeat to the other end and get down into the hole in the floor. Follow down a ladder and come to a Egyptian style basement. Go into the main passage W and jump the first 2 lasers, get into the crawlspace up right and jump out the other end. This passage looks worse that it is, I just sprinted through. You can also time the blocks, the walls aren’t really dangerous. Next small room has a niche in the wall, get in and throw the lever, get back the way you came and drop back into the main passage with the lasers, go W.

Take the first left and follow to a room with 2 guards, take them out and get the nice box from the N wall, move it around the lower part of the floor and BETWEEN the 2 marked tiles (not ON them as you might expect). A gate back in the main passage opens up and 2 more guards are on their way over, you might wait for them here. Go back to the main passage and left through the open gate.

Door Puzzle, the Dagger.

In this room are 2 large pads on the floor and 4 small with symbols on them, a door up W will open up when you step on the 4 small pads, but when you touch the lower (normal) floor it will close again. I started on the NW pad, it isn’t a timed sequence, but the jumps were easier this way. Face W and sidejump left, backflip to the large pad and sidejump left to the other large pad, jump to the small corner pad, sidejump to the 4th and backflip to the large pad. Look up over the pillar W and the door should be open. Save if it is and look in the SE corner of the room as the challenge isn’t over yet. Stand about in the middle of the NW square of this pad and face the gate, run and curve wide to jump and grab the crack under the niche SE (Video).

Jump and grab up and turn around, use the sprint/forward key jump and grab the slanted pillar N, slide and jump over the next pillar to grab a platform in the far corner. Do jumps to the pillar at the door and go inside, the sun dial points to the Dagger standing S. Go out of the room, face N and run off the N side to an invisible ledge under that wooden platform, safety drop to get back down to the ground floor and make your way back through the laser passage to the Egyptian room. Up the ladder E and climb back up the hole in the floor. Make your way back up to the Hall and go to the first floor landing.

Up the Attic, the Bedroom Keys.

The door in the NW corner can be opened with the Dagger, go up to the attic and shoot a small box W to get the Bedroom Keys. Go back down and to the door SE on the landing. Open it and once in the bedroom a cutscene starts, the Mansion is destroyed.
Jump NE and get down the hole in the floor, kick in the door W and come to the kitchen. Jump along the wall to the N and in the NE corner is a crate you can pull away, go through to the Hall.
Climb the crate N and jump to that stone pillar E, do a curved run over the pillar to jump and grab the windowsill up E, the level changes.

4 – Helheim

Mount the snowbike and wait for the wolves, then dismount and go down the pit in the valley, pull the skeleton away and get a small medipack. Open the chest for a Gemstone. Go back up and to the NE corner of the valley, find a block in the S wall and move it in front (W side) of the E pillar, climb up and stand jump to grab the pillar. Follow the tunnel to a gate and open it with the Gemstone. In the small cave is a brightly lit pad, step on it and see an ice wall go down. Go back, mount the bike and go W into the new tunnel, stop near those big stone pillars next to the bridge. Leave the bike here for now. Drop from the bridge and go look under the bridge for a blue symbol behind an ice cover (step behind it or shoot it). Go back E a bit and use the slanted side of the cave to backflip and jump back up to the bridge, go to the block raised near the N pillar, jump from the block to the symbol and hold Ctrl. Drop from the other side of the pillar you’ll land on and use the symbol there to open the big doors of the castle.

The Castle.

Take the bike and follow to another set of large doors, just a bit back and in the W wall is a crawlspace, get in and follow to a symbol to open those doors. (Just for fun, save and watch what happens if you use the symbol a second time) Go back and go through the doors to a large Hall. A flyby shows Natla? But when I went looking for her she was gone. Follow the ramp all the way down, jump the gap and step off the bike. Stand at the NW corner of the central pillar, face W and jump up to the pole. Swing and jump to that niche W, activate the symbol and runjump out over the spike trap. The gate opened up N.

Take the bike, follow through, down a few drops and come to an intersection, park the bike here for now.
Better go right first and use the crack to shimmy to the right, backjump (down arrow holding Ctrl) and get into the crawlspace for a Medipack. Drop out, climb out S and go right around the corner into the other passage, follow to a lava room with a creature roaming the other side.
Jump onto that large rock N and then to the rock ledge down SE, jump to the last ledge SE, then to the crack in the S wall. Run to the Creature and kneel, shooting it.
Go use the symbol (jump and hold Ctrl) and Lara ends up on a far ledge with a second symbol. Use that too and use the crack in the S wall to get back to the ledge. Go to the other side and jump down onto that large rock, from there to the crack N, go right and jump up to the crack above. Go right again and from the end a backjump to the high rock. Jump to the ledge E and go back to the snow bike.

Ride it down into that pit where you got the Medipack before (E) and up the ramp through a door which is now open. Just around the corner is a wooden barrier (bridge?) You can ride the bike through the barrier, but the next jump is not doable with the bike, so just leave it here and sidejump over the barrier onto an invisible ledge. Jump over to the broken bridge across the room and follow through (It is also possible to drop from the invisible ledge, avoid the fire tiles and walk to the lower side of the broken bridge, where you can grab up ).

The Cave with the Poles.

There are 2 symbols you have to activate in this cave in order to open the gates E.
SE- Line up for the middle of the pole and stand jump when you expect the flames to go down, release Ctrl after the first pole and then hit it again to grab the second pole (at least that is how I did it). Land near the first symbol, activate it and go into the passage E, jump over to the next passage and use the second symbol there, go back through the passage, drop down onto the ledge and jump through the open gates.

Hall with the Hammers.

Jump to the grey ledge and a flyby kicks in, some kind of frozen green warrior is waiting in the passage up E.
Here it seems a part of the read-me comes to good use, but I had no idea it was meant for this puzzle, so I did it the wrong way and go stuck as there was no way to proceed after getting the sequence wrong.

Go to the break ledges and jump over to the solid pillar beyond. 4 symbols have to be activated. Jump to the N or S side, makes no difference and jump into that niche in the wall next to the pillar with the symbol where you can see another symbol. Use that first symbol and jump back out to the ledge, jump over to the other side and do the same to get the second symbol activated. There now is a rope in the middle of the room and the green statue is hammered into the passage. Back out onto the ledge and this time use the third symbol on the pillar, do fourth symbol on the other side too after you saved and release Ctrl after Lara lets go of the symbol, then hit Ctrl again to grab the rope. Turn E, go down the rope and swing over to the ledge with the hammer, go in and save 2 steps back from the intersection, roll and roll again, a boulder is activated and you are out of the way just in time.

Go right and jump over the pit using the break ledge. The niche to the left has a working symbol, use that before you go into the crawlspace S. Jump out forward and immediately jump over the spikes. Slide down the ramp to a short passage, stay in the passage and duck to shoot that creature. The next room has a nice deadly pool, save and try it out….
Go to the symbols W and use that one first, just keep holding Ctrl and finally end up in the niche up W. Use the symbol and the statue moves aside. Go into that passage and hop down into that dark pit. Watch the ongoing action.

5 – Kathar

Go to the stone pillar, grab up to the crack on the N side and shimmy around to the other side, then jump up and grab up to the top to get the small medipack there.
Use the binoculars and closely examine the nearest Tower, you’ll find the password to the “Bonus level zip file” there.
Hang down from the N side and drop to grab the symbol there, hold down Ctrl to land on the first floor of the tower.

The Tower.

Hop back and grab the edge to safety drop down, use the symbol on the pillar (raises a block upstairs). Go to a crate under the opposite pillar and pull it once to the S, climb onto the crate, hang from the side over the water and only hit Alt to jump up, grab the floor above and go to the block SW, hang on the outside and jump up to grab the floor above. Go to the pillar NE and shimmy around to the outside along the crack, jump up to the crack above and shimmy to where you can pull up to the top floor. On the back of this NE pillar is another symbol, this one opens the big gates on the bridge down N.

The Wheels of Kathar.

Drop down through the hole in the floor and now I didn’t find a way down but had to use a trick move. Go to the SW corner where the crate is on the floor below, face E and stand about 2 steps from the edge of the floor, save. Hop back and just after passing the floor, hit Ctrl to land on the crate. Drop from the S side of the floor and go to the open gates N. Face the left or right hand pole and jump to it, swing over the abyss and grab the floor. Jump over the next gap and go to the left hand pillar. Face S, next to that slanted block and sidejump onto the slanted block, jump and grab the symbol. Hold Ctrl and land on a ledge on the tower.

Be sure to safe before using the next symbols, because if you miss a jump you can’t use them again and have to get back to a save.

Use the green symbol and hold Ctrl to grab the crack, climb up to the platform and use the pole to swing to the next ledge, around the corner you can jump to the ledge E, hop to the ledge around the corner and use the symbol. Grab the crack and go left to drop to the ledge, jump and grab up to the platform S and grab the crack, left around the corner to the end and jump up to the top of the Tower, the level ends here and you can open the “wmv end movie” from the download folder. It will show you what happens after Lara reached the top of the Tower.

Bonus Level – Doppelganger Chronicles

Icy Mountains.

It is Lara’s double in the place we’ve been to. Go to the iced waterfall NE, grab up to the middle of the left side and pull up, backflip with roll and grab the jump lever. Go back where you started and a block went up, stand near the track on the higher ground (E of the block) and jump to grab up. Grab up to the snow wall and turn around, the focus will be on a snow ball across the valley. I couldn’t shoot it from here so I did a sidejump onto the snow and went to the tree in the SW corner, you can stand there and shoot the ball. The ball will open the floor in the pit.

Safety drop down and head down the pit, collect a small medipack from the chest and drop down into the hole. The pits are a bit tricky, you cannot jump from the edge of it as you will not launch! At the pit a jump to the rope and swing across, Next pit, stand back a bit and runjump across, you can jump further remember?
Go into a hall with a Creature and shoot it while crouching close. Somebody already placed the Gemstones, must have been Lara… Stand on the entrance stairs and jump with a curve to grab the crack in the pillar with the gemstones, go left around the corner and hit the down key once, grab the crack in the next pillar and go right around the corner, hit the down key once to grab the top of the pillar with finally a Medipack. Boy did I miss those…

Remember you cannot jump from the edge of the ledges and make your way over to the top of the NE pillar where a missing Gemstone is hidden. Jump back to the pillar SW where the Medipack was and safety drop onto the slanted rock below. Go to the base of the NE pillar and place the Gemstone. Now make your way back up to the NW pillar and jump into the open doors W (there is a crack in this pillar, opposite the doors, but I couldn’t find how to get to that crack).

Follow through to a room with waterwheels and a set of Hammers, you have to get over the central block to a crack in the pillar W, you can just see it. Stand left in the entrance and runjump to the waterwheel, grab the edge of the floor just left of the spikes on that corner and pull up. You are rather safe here. I ran straight W when the Hammers were about to close, jump over the circular knives and jump to the crack, go right around and hit down to jump backwards to the ledge.

Climb up and see Lara running into the Castle…