Tomb Raider 2: Dagger of Xian Walkthrough & Game Guide

Level 17: The Dragon's Lair

Pick up the two sets of Uzi Clips and the Large Medi Pack. The warrior at the entrance does not awaken, so freely pass into the next room. The warrior opposite the entrance awakens when you enter, so start shooting as soon as you enter to take him down. Do not use the switch in the alcove where the warrior was. This awakens the warrior at the entrance, so do not use it unless you are interested in all kills.

The switch to the left of the entrance (as you face it) opens the exit door and awakens the two remaining warriors. You may need to use a powerful weapon to take them down, but make sure you save some Grenades that will be proved helpful at the end of the level. Taking down those two warriors may be hard, so try not to stay motionless, at least most of the time. The room is quite vast, so you have enough space to back-flip, side-flip, roll and generally do whichever convenient movement, so as not to get hurt by their swords. The Automatic Pistols seem rather effective here, as they are quite powerful and you can use them whilst moving around.

Room with pillars – The next room is pretty dark and there are pillars around. Draw weapons and enter cautiously. Lara will aim at a guy that throws knifes from the right. Immediately jump backwards whilst shooting to enter the previous room and side-flip to the left or right in order to avoid the knifes. Once he is dead, pick up his Large Medi Pack. Draw weapons again and approach the doorway. Lara may aim at the next guy from outside (who was triggered along with the first one), but even if you entered, jump backwards again whilst shooting. Once you are done with him, pick up his two sets of Uzi Clips.

Enter again and proceed forwards. When you pass the second pillar from the left, two more guys appear - one from ahead and one from the left. Again, jump backwards whilst shooting to take them down. Once they are dead, pick up their four sets of Uzi Clips. The last pair of guys appear when you pass in front of the third pillar. Take them down by jumping backwards and pick up their Small Medi Pack and Mystic Plaque. Use the Plague to open the gates and enter. Slide into the Dragon's Lair.

Dragon's Lair – Proceed forwards, but do not pass the two pillars. Beyond you can see Bartoli's body on a platform. If you approach more, he will transform into a huge Dragon. The deal is to stun the Dragon and pull the Dagger of Xian from its belly.

You may have noticed the openings in the floor. They lead to a pool with various pick-ups: ten sets of Uzi Clips and two Large Medi Packs. You can retrieve some of them before the Dragon's appearance, as long as you swim around the perimeter, avoiding the pick-ups in the middle, because you will awaken the Dragon. In order to do so, move to the left or right side of the room and drop through one of the holes.

Stunning the Dragon – As mentioned before, you need to stun the Dragon. This means that you cannot kill it. You need to shoot it with a powerful weapon (the Pistols are almost useless) in order to take it down quickly. It does not worth it to run around like a madman, because it breathes fire that can easily catch you. You can extinguish Lara by dropping into the pool, but it may catch you again when you climb out.

You need to find a safe spot. Assuming you have the entrance to your back, there should be an alcove at the far left. If you approach this alcove, you will see a pillar on the right which is next to the wall (see this screenshot if you cannot find the pillar). Staying behind this pillar is a safe spot. So, awaken the Dragon and quickly roll and run\ jump behind that pillar. If you make it on a timed manner, the Dragon will not turn around the pillar. Stand against the pillar having the wall on your left and notice the Dragon. It breathes fire, then breathes in, then breathes fire again. Side-jump to the right when the Dragon breathes the first fire and start shooting. Until it breathes in, in order to breathe fire again, you will have time to side-jump to the left and behind the pillar.

You will understand that the Dragon is ready to fall down when it raises its body. Immediately run around it (do NOT try to jump over it) and approach its belly to get the Dagger. Be quick, because you have just a few seconds. The spot where you are supposed to pull it off is the red vertical line. Although you can get it if you are standing in front of the red line, some people have mentioned that they are not able to pull the Dagger. In that case, side-jump so that Lara's right arm is in front of the line.

Alternative method - Run into the room and when you see Bartoli starting to transform, hide behind the pillar just to the left of the pedestal where he lies (the pedestal is in front of you). Stick to the pillar and when the transformation is complete, make just one step backwards and make sure that Lara's half body is outside the pillar. The Dragon will stay immobile, and only spit fire. Where Lara stands, the fire cannot catch her, so she is safe. She cannot autoaim with any gun, so take out the grenade gun and start throwing grenades to the Dragon (from where you are, you should be able to directly hit his belly). Upon the 10th grenade, the Dragon will stop spitting fire, he will growl and get stunned. He will lie with his belly towards you, so quickly run/jump to it and grab the Dagger.

Tips – You will need about 12 Grenades or about 300 Uzi Clips to take the Dragon down. Make sure you stay close to the pillar and do not back up because you may make the Dragon turn around the corner. Save frequently during the process in case something goes wrong and you catch fire. Also save your game when the Dragon is ready to fall. If you fail getting the Dagger at your first try, load the game and try again. Also, shooting from the left pillar as suggested above (the first method), will make the Dragon fall down with his back to you. So, the spot where you get the Dagger is on the other side. This means that you need to run around the Dragon, because you cannot jump over it. The same happens if you stun the Dragon by hiding behind the right hand pillar on the other side (it falls down with its back to you). Most of the times though, Dragon's position does not help you get the Dagger in time, so avoid the right hand pillar.

Once you make it – The Dagger is important for the Dragon and once you get it the Dragon dies leaving only its bones. The exit gates on the other side (opposite the entrance) open and the place around starts to collapse. If you have not done so, you can jump into the water and get the items, but they are useless now (unless you are interested in all pick-ups).

It is time to finish the adventure and return back to home. Go through the exit and follow the passage. Keep running to avoid the falling rocks and end the level.

The FMV shows Lara exiting, as the Great Wall collapses behind her. An explosion throws her away and she gets unconscious. When she awakens, she takes a last look at the destroyed Wall (what did this girl do?!?).

 

     
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We would like to thank Nicky for her help. Many parts of this walkthrough would not have been written without her participation.
Last update:
30 September 2007: Text has been proofed and screenshots have been added.

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