GARDENS OF ASH

Beyond the Basics Egypt (2024) Level by LOTRKingluis

Walkthrough by Treeble

OASIS OF NAQADA

As Lara finishes her slide, loop around the wooden house to your left to find shotgun shells and a bit further away from the oasis is a deeper pond, you can drop into it to retrieve uzi clips near the back. Get out of the pool using the bridge and notice the receptacles for two ankhs in the surrounding pillars: finding them is our current goal.

Back in the upper area, check the SE corner between a tall ramp leading nowhere and another wooden building for a narrow cave filled with spikes. Monkey swing across the ceiling to find lever 1/4; a cutscene shows a cat statue spinning in place elsewhere. Swing your way back out and loop around the building to your left to find a crawlspace. Inside is an alcove with a reach-in hole, get the OVERPASS KEY inside and crawl back out.

Follow the wall a bit further to find a cave passage opposite from the starting position, cross it to another area of the oasis. Run between the buildings and next to the loud pigeons you can climb up on top of a small hay housing. Get uzi clips and then drop into the secluded backyard for lever 2/4 on the house wall. Grab the crevice on the cliff face and vault upwards to the higher crevice, which in turn allows you to shimmy all the way left and over the metal barrier.

Climb the hay housing again and this time head over to the opposite building. Get shotgun shells and jump towards the closed gate in the cliff and unlock it with the key in your possession, in preparation for a timed run. The gate leads to the initial oasis area but don't go there yet, instead safety drop back and head W to find a block embedded into the wall. Get the yellow light sticks from the floor and pull the block once and then move it towards the western wall so you can pull it back one tile further. From this position, you can grab the sloped edge above and shimmy to the right until you can pull up.

Save your game in front of the reach-in hole: you get 40 seconds for the timed run, it should be plenty once you know the path. After you throw the switch, roll and run towards the end of the walkway, do a running jump over the sloped rocks to the left so that you can keep your momentum as you jump to the rooftop of the houses. Immediately do a running jump to land straight in front of the open door and run across, performing a series of running jumps across the tall pillars. Once you make the jump past the timed trapdoor, you can save your game again and catch your breath.

Turn left to face the wall and spot the ankh inside the crawlspace beneath the statue. Jump to the pillar and then to grab the crevice on the left side, shimmy all the way towards the wall and backflip (tap backwards while hanging) to grab the opposite crevice, then shimmy left and pull into the crawlspace to lay your hands on the first ANKH. Safety drop down and head back to the second oasis area.

Past the loud pigeons, get some revolver rounds behind the camel on the left and head upstairs where three jackals roam free (two crocodiles eventually spawn downstairs). Follow the tunnel on the left side for a chasm with a lot of pillars.

If you look at the second pillar on the left hand side, you'll find a spot you can do a running jump with grab to land just beneath it. Turn around and jump to the rock wedged between the pillars on the opposite side, then again turn to the opposite row of pillars and jump to grab the sloped rock support on the right. Shimmy as far right as possible, pull up and immediately backflip with a midair roll while steering left to land on another wedged rock with lever 3/4. Almost there. Reverse your trajectory as you zigzag back to the entrance (from the crevice next to the entrance, shimmy around the corner and tap backwards to grab the edge above) and get back to the town.

On the opposite side, approach the backside of the vegetable stand to find a tall sloped rock. Grab the edge and shimmy to the right around the corner until you can pull up where you spot a patch of grass. Beyond the trees, jump over the slopes to find lever 4/4 and watch as the fire goes out among the cat statues. Back on the grassy patch you just climbed up to, go left through the opening over a massive wooden block to find the cat statues just beneath you.

Safety drop and deal with two small scorpions before claiming the second ANKH. Climb the nearby ladder to the top and shimmy all the way around to the end of the sandy slope, at which point you can pull up and find SECRET #1 in a crawlspace of you: the SHOTGUN, uzi clips and a small date branch (oka small medipack). Slide down to the ledge below for another small date branch and jump back over to the entrance. Retrace your steps back to the very first oasis area, and place both ankhs in the statues flanking the bridge to open the door in the back.

TEMPLE OF NUT

Get a small date branch and shotgun shells in the back before sliding down the pole to a lower floor. The floor lever right in front of you is obviously trapped, so let's work on that, shall we? Let's start with the S doorway for a clever push block puzzle.

From the entrance, jump right for some shotgun shells and work your way safely to the bottom. That vase in the center of the room is highly volatile, so be careful if you decide to shoot it. There are several cat pedestals in the room that you can push over the golden tiles, which in turn raise and/or lower different blocks. Notice it's a two-tiered track and your end goal here is to get the one flat top pushable beneath the reach-in hole high up in the S wall.

When you get to the bottom of the room, turn around to face N and push the leftmost cat once, so it stands on top of a lowered raising tile. Now go to the rightmost cat and move it twice around the corner onto a golden tile to raise the first cat. Get back there and push that one onto a golden tile in the upper track. In the NE corner of the room, just behind that rightmost cat statue, a block has lowered allowing you to squeeze in and claim SECRET #2: shotgun ammo and uzi clips.

Next to the leftmost cat you should now see two raised blocks next to the S wall track. Pull the scarab block once, and then move it left towards the center of the room. As you do so, it gets lowered, so go back to the rightmost lower cat statue and move it off and right back on the golden tile to raise the scarab block again. Push that one into the alcove and examine the reach-in hole. You see the floor lever, but we're not quite done yet.

Get back to the entrance at the top by moving the scarab block back towards the golden tile next to its starting position (you have to again move the rightmost cat off and on the golden tile again), that way you can climb to the ledge above, go up the ladder and jump around the perimeter of the room back to the entrance.

Enter the opposite doorway to find the tip of the edge burning, which in turn means you can't reach the ropes. Jump to the platform on the right side and then to the floor divide below. Climb over the next divide and shoot the vase on the floor for a large medipack. From the top of the second divide, you can jump to an opening in the wall. Go around it to a timed switch in the end, save your game here.

You again get 40 seconds: do an angled running jump to the entrance of this passage, then over the divides (ignore the ladders and use the block instead), quickly hop to that side platform and run jump off the tip of the ledge to catch the first rope before the flames come back alive. Swing towards the second rope and you might want to do a quick save here, as you need to swing and jump to that far ledge on the right side, but the angle can be tricky for the rope. Interact with the reach-in hole you find there and the trappings surrounding the floor lever in the center room are finally disabled. Get back there.

Gun down the mummy and proceed to take the UZIS from where it came from before throwing the lever. The trapdoors below the pole open, so you can delve deeper into this temple. Kill a bat and then notice you have two find two keys, one of which is actually right in front of you but it's currently on fire...

Drop through the right opening and pull the scarab block to the middle of the corridor in order to reach a tall opening, pull up and take the HORUS KEY from the pedestal at the end. Backtrack to the previous room and now drop through the other opening to find yourself back in the room with the timed switch for the flame emitter. Work your way over the divides to that switch again, as it also puts off that flame over the key you just saw. But notice you get the same 40 seconds, so again save your game before attempting the timed run.

Again, do a running jump around the wall to the platform and over the floor divides, but instead of going up, go through the opening beneath the entrance and quickly pull up through the open trapdoor in the back to take the ANUBIS KEY and move away from that spot not a moment too late. With both keys in hand, insert them in the keyholes in the back to flood the chamber you've just left.

Drop into the water and swim to the opening beneath the ledge with the reach-in hole to find a passage to the next area. Pull out of the water and run towards the closed gates to entice two bats, then find an opening on the left hand wall. Since you already have a shotgun, ignore the swinging traps for now and fall into the water right below. On the other end of the watery path, you'll emerge on the top of the waterfall and you can walk towards the inner chambers to find yourself in the magnificent titular gardens of Ash.

GARDENS OF ASH

The camera flyby shows four statues surrounding the center pillar, our goal now is to find four gems to shatter and activate all of them in turn. We're lacking the proper gear as of yet though, so from the starting position, take the E branch of the watery bridge and check the right hand side to find a jump switch at the same height as the bridge itself. Take an angled jump to grab it and as quickly draw weapons to deal with three panthers when you land.

On the NE garden patch, find a large medipack hidden among the plants for SECRET #3, bundled with a small date branch and uzi clips. Then head W to find an opening in the wall through which you can get back onto the watery fourway bridge and cross it straight E to find an open door near the end.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Just above the floating, spinning weapon is one of the gems you'll soon be searching for, make a mental note of its location, take the revolver rounds and then take that all-too-tempting REVOLVER. The floor gives way and you're thrown into a deadly room with four wraiths.

Your way out of this nightmare is a bit tricky: you need to shoot all hanging gongs, the ones you've hit will be tagged with an electric spark. Use the slopes around the perimeter, jumping off the highest possible point and steering to the side while shooting towards the ones you still need to hit. When they're all hit, the wraiths explode and the doors will open. Find a small date branch in the back, then go into the small room to pull a chain before proceeding up the steps. Grab the trapdoor above to pull it open and climb back to the central gardens, again using the opening on the W wall to reach the four way bridge.

Mind the harpy and go N on the bridge to where you entered from. The ceiling spikes have retracted, so you can pull into that crawlspace. Shimmy around the hole in the floor and drop through the next one to find yourself above a pool. Notice the glyphs in the far wall, reading from the left to right that's the order you need to be activating a series of underwater levers next.

Get the revolver rounds underwater and swim through the opening, then swim right and towards the back SE corner, turning left there to find the first switch (in a layman description, it looks like a butcher knife). Swim back for air and then go back in, this time always taking lefts until you find the second ceiling switch (which looks like a goose, if you will). You can also go for the third switch, as you swim backwards to the entrance take a left instead and then two tight turns to the right to find a narrow tunnel with the third switch (looks like a knotted string). You'd probably do well by going back for air now, then go back in and swim towards the back SE corner again, turning right to find the final switch (which I'll describe as a fancy lower-case F. For someone who cares this much about Tomb Raider, you'd imagine I'd give two damns about actual history or archaeology...).

Anyway. When all four levers are down, a cage gets lifted and you can climb out of the water and add that pretty LASERSIGHT to your arsenal. Combine it with your revolver and put it to good use by shooting gem 1/4 just underwater. Swim across the pool, hang from the raising block and vault upwards to the crawlspace, then drop through the hole in the floor back to that hallway with the swinging traps. Go N and find another SHOTGUN, then draw your revolver to shoot gem 2/4 near the ceiling. The first swinging trap is protecting a box of revolver rounds, you can crawl to get it if you like.

Drop to the water and swim to the other end to get back on the watery bridge. Take that harpy out and run straight ahead to the S end of the bridge to find gem 3/4, as well as a box of revolver rounds. The last gem is in the room where you found the revolver, you can access it through a side passage in the far E end of the bridge. Drop through the hole, shoot gem 4/4 and watch a massive set of double doors swing open on the ground floor of the gardens. Climb back to the bridge and safety drop to get there.

VAULT OF ASH

Get the small date branch before sliding down into what looks like an obvious boss arena. Circle around the room for a handful of supplies, including another SHOTGUN, before approaching the plants in the center of the room. When you do so, the so-called remnant of Seth spawns.

The boss requires you to swap your weapons frequently: at first, you need to shoot him with your pistols or uzis to drain his shield (the blue bar). When that is depleted, quickly switch to shotgun or revolver and shoot him to make him tumble. That is to say, if he's shooting at you from the air he won't take damage. When he does tumble, he'll likely respawn back in the middle of the room with a full shield, so again use your lesser weapons tear it down. Rinse and repeat.

When he's finally done for, Ash's true soul plant is revealed and the adventure comes to an end.