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Slay the Spire 2Natla's Mines
Natla's Mines is level 13 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, where Lara starts with no weapons and wins them back from three of Natla's henchmen, the Cowboy, the Skater Boy and a bald man with a shotgun, before opening the Atlantean pyramid. It has 3 secrets, by Stella's count for the Remastered version.
Natla's Mines is level 13 of the 1996 Tomb Raider and the first of the Atlantis chapter: Lara begins with no weapons at all, and the level is about winning them back, the pistols from a building lowered by three fuses, the magnums from the Cowboy, the Uzis from the Skater Boy and a shotgun from a bald henchman, before the Pyramid Key opens the way into Natla's buried pyramid. Stella's Tomb Raider Site sums up the goal as recovering your weapons from the nasty men who took them, and counts 3 secrets, 30 pickups and just 3 kills in the Remastered version. The mines are the Natla Technologies dig that hides the entrance to the Great Pyramid, half buried in the mountain. The clip is Josh Strife Plays on the 1996 PlayStation version.
Quick facts
| Level | 13 of 15, the first in Atlantis |
| Before and after | Sanctuary of the Scion, then Atlantis |
| Secrets | 3 |
| Pickups | 30, including the four weapons, 3 fuses and the Pyramid Key |
| Kills | 3: the Cowboy, the Skater Boy, the bald henchman |
| Weapons at the start | None |
| Save crystals | 7, in New Game+ only (Remastered) |
| Remake | Not shown, as of Nov 2, 2026 |
Source: Stella's Tomb Raider Site: Natla's Mines (Remastered counts).
Walkthrough
The pool and the boat. Lara surfaces in an underground pool. A switch around the corner from the waterfall passage opens a wooden door. At the southeast landing a small boat is moored; a switch moves it, and Lara uses it as a stepping stone, taking a running jump from the boat to the ledge with the wooden crates. Move a crate, go through the passage, and a second switch opens another door.
Three fuses. Past the waterfall, climb to the cave with the dangling building. In a glassed-in room there are three receptacles waiting for fuses. In the boarded-up cave, push a crate under the opening in the ceiling, jump to the roof and drop through a broken tile to a switch that shifts the boat. The first fuse is in a tunnel to the right of the boulder-trapped mine tracks. The second is past the drill car, in the big southeast cavern where the Cowboy waits. The third comes off the conveyor belt behind a switch-operated door. With all three in place the small building lowers, and the pistols are inside.
The Cowboy. In the cavern of the second fuse, he steps out from behind the pillars on the right with magnums drawn. Use the pillars as cover, keep away from the lava edges and pits, and try to get behind him. Stella's cautious method: draw the pistols, lure him in, backflip into the tunnel and hold Action so Lara keeps firing. He drops the magnums.
The Skater Boy. Later, past the lava pit with sloping sides, through the TNT cave and over the rubble, is the huge skate park, with the Skater Boy waiting at its top right corner. Keep moving, or shoot from the opening above the ramp room, which Stella calls much less dangerous. The flooded room of the third secret is a safer way around. He drops the Uzis.
The bald henchman and the pyramid. Outside, a big bald man with a shotgun comes from the pyramid entrance. Stella suggests shooting from the roof of the low building with the pistols if Lara has nothing better. He drops a shotgun, or shells if she already has one. Climb the stepped sides of the pyramid and pull the switch inside to open two gold doors near the fight; behind the right-hand door are Uzi clips, a large medi pack and the Pyramid Key. Unlock the pyramid entrance and walk in to end the level.
Where are the three secrets?
- The trapdoor over the lava. Behind a trapdoor over a lava pit: a large medi pack and Uzi clips. In Remastered, taking it without setting off the trapdoor slide unlocks "I'm Not Falling for This Trick".
- Behind the crate. Behind a movable crate after a boulder passage: two large medi packs, Uzi clips and a shotgun, so Lara can have the shotgun before she meets the bald henchman.
- The flooded room. A flooded room reached by swimming through a pit near the skate park: medi packs and Uzi ammo.
Source: Stella's Tomb Raider Site. More on Secrets.
Who are Natla's henchmen?
No source from the makers or the press that we read gives them names, so this viki calls them what Stella does: the Cowboy, the Skater Boy and the bald henchman. The names that circulate for them come from fan wikis. They are the only human enemies in the level, and each is a short boss fight with one of Lara's guns as the prize. Earlier henchmen, Larson and Pierre DuPont, are covered on Tomb Raider Characters and Enemies.
Natla's Mines in Legacy of Atlantis
As of Nov 2, 2026, the makers of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis have shown nothing of the Atlantis chapter: no official text names Natla's Mines, Atlantis or The Great Pyramid, and the fourth region is described only as a mysterious Mediterranean island shrouded in myth. The remake does add a new kind of enemy that suits this place: human mercenaries of Natla's faction with assault rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles, first met in Greece. Whether the three henchmen return, or Lara loses her guns again, is not known.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Lara have no weapons in Natla's Mines? In Tomb Raider (1996), Lara starts Natla's Mines without her guns, which Natla's men have taken, and the level is about getting them back from those henchmen one by one.
Where are the pistols in Natla's Mines? In Tomb Raider, the pistols are inside the small building that lowers once Lara places all three fuses in the glassed-in room.
How do you beat the Skater Boy in Tomb Raider? Keep Lara moving in the skate park and get behind him, or shoot from the opening above the ramp room, which Stella calls much less dangerous. He drops the Uzis.
How do you beat the Cowboy in Natla's Mines? In Tomb Raider, use the pillars in the cavern for cover, stay away from the lava edges, and fire from a tunnel if he follows. He drops the magnums.
Where are the fuses in Natla's Mines? In Tomb Raider, the first fuse is in a tunnel off the boulder-trapped mine tracks, the second past the drill car near the Cowboy, and the third on the conveyor belt behind a switch-operated door.
How many secrets are in Natla's Mines? Natla's Mines, level 13 of Tomb Raider (1996), has 3 secrets by Stella's count, and the second one holds a shotgun.
Sources
- Natla's Mines, Stella's Tomb Raider Site
- Tomb Raider Remastered Lore: Natla Technologies, Crystal Dynamics, Mar 2, 2024
- Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Steam
- Creatures of Greece, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis official site, Sep 14, 2026
- Was it Good? - Tomb Raider 1, Josh Strife Plays, Jan 22, 2022 (video)
Moments
Was it Good? - Tomb Raider 1
Josh Strife Plays
- Natla's Mines is level 13 of the 1996 Tomb Raider and the first of the Atlantis chapter: Lara begins with no weapons…
- The pool and the boat. Lara surfaces in an underground pool. A switch around the corner from the waterfall passage…
- Three fuses. Past the waterfall, climb to the cave with the dangling building. In a glassed-in room there are three…
- The Skater Boy. Later, past the lava pit with sloping sides, through the TNT cave and over the rubble, is the huge…
- The bald henchman and the pyramid. Outside, a big bald man with a shotgun comes from the pyramid entrance. Stella…
Related
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AtlantisAtlantis is the lost civilization behind Tomb Raider's story and the last region of the 1996 game, played in three levels: Natla's Mines, Atlantis and The Great Pyramid. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis calls it a mysterious Mediterranean island and has not shown it as of Nov 2, 2026.
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CavesCaves is level 1 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a snowy Peruvian cave system with wolves, bats, a bear, dart traps and 3 secrets, all small or large medi packs. Legacy of Atlantis remakes it as Mountain Caves, opening on snow and an ice slide.
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CisternThe Cistern is level 8 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a flooded underground reservoir in Greece where Lara raises and lowers the water with one switch to reach 5 keys (2 Rusty, 2 Silver, 1 Gold), with 3 secrets. It ends with a fall into the Tomb of Tihocan.
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City of VilcabambaCity of Vilcabamba is level 2 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a lost Inca village in Peru where Lara finds the Silver Key and the Gold Idol to open the exit gate, with 3 secrets. Legacy of Atlantis keeps the City of Vilcabamba and expands its Atlantean story.
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ColosseumColosseum is level 6 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a ruined arena in Greece full of lions, gorillas and crocodiles, where Lara finds the magnums in a secret and the Rusty Key that opens the way out. It has 3 secrets; Legacy of Atlantis has not shown it as of Nov 2, 2026.
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Lara's HomeLara's Home is the optional training level of the 1996 Tomb Raider, set in Croft Manor, where Lara's own voice teaches jumping, swan dives, ledge grabs, shimmying and swimming in her music room, hall, ballroom gym and pool. It has no enemies and no secrets.
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Obelisk of KhamoonObelisk of Khamoon is level 11 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, where Lara lowers four bridges around an obelisk and collects the Eye of Horus, the Ankh, the Scarab and the Seal of Anubis. It has 3 secrets, by Stella's count for the Remastered version.
See also
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Tomb Raider (1996)Tomb Raider (1996) is the first Tomb Raider game, made by Core Design in Derby and published by Eidos Interactive in late 1996 on Sega Saturn, PlayStation and PC. Lara Croft hunts the Scion across 15 levels in Peru, Greece, Egypt and Atlantis; it sold over 7 million copies.
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Sanctuary of the ScionSanctuary of the Scion is level 12 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, the last Egypt level, where Lara climbs a great sphinx, finds the Uzis in the level's one secret, beats Larson again and takes the third piece of the Scion.
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Atlantis LevelAtlantis is level 14 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a living city of flesh, lava and mutant hatcheries inside Natla's pyramid, where Lara beats her own fleshy doppelganger by luring it into lava and takes the Scion. It has 3 secrets, by Stella's count for the Remastered version.
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SecretsThe 1996 Tomb Raider has 45 secrets across its 15 levels, counting Stella's per-level figures for the Remastered version, from 1 to 5 per level, plus 10 in Unfinished Business. Secrets hold ammunition, medi packs and sometimes a weapon, and the original gives no reward for finding them all.
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Larson ConwayLarson Conway is Natla's mercenary in Tomb Raider, the henchman Lara fights in the Tomb of Qualopec and again in the Sanctuary of the Scion in the 1996 game. In Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis he is played by Bradley Snedeker.
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Tomb Raider CharactersThe 1996 Tomb Raider's characters are Lara Croft, the villain Jacqueline Natla, her henchmen Larson, Pierre, the Cowboy, the Skater Boy and a bald henchman, and the Atlantean rulers Qualopec and Tihocan. Legacy of Atlantis has cast Alix Wilton Regan, Adrienne Wilkinson and Bradley Snedeker.