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Slay the Spire 2Palace Midas
Palace Midas is level 7 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, a Greek palace where Lara finds 3 lead bars, turns them to gold on King Midas' hand, and uses the gold bars to open the exit. It has 3 secrets and the most kills in Greece, 43.
Palace Midas is level 7 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, the third in Greece: Lara collects three lead bars from rooms opened by a panel of five switches, lays each on the open palm of a statue of King Midas to turn it into a gold bar, and places the three gold bars to open the exit. It has 3 secrets, 23 pickups and 43 kills (crocodiles, lions, bats, gorillas and rats), by Stella's count, the most of any Greek level. Touching the hand herself turns Lara to gold, one of her best-known deaths. The clip is Josh Strife Plays on the 1996 PlayStation version.
Quick facts
| Level | 7 of 15, Greece |
| Before it | Colosseum |
| Next level | Cistern |
| Secrets | 3 |
| Pickups | 23, including 3 lead bars |
| Kills | 43: crocodiles, lions, bats, gorillas, rats |
| Save crystals | 8, in New Game+ (Remastered) |
| In Legacy of Atlantis | Not named in official text as of Nov 2, 2026 |
Source: Stella's Tomb Raider Site: Palace Midas (Remastered counts).
How the Midas hand works
The statue cave in the garden holds King Midas with one hand held out. Lara uses each lead bar on the palm from the inventory, as she would a key, and it comes back as a gold bar. Walking into the hand without a bar kills her: she turns to gold. The three gold bars go in three niches of a side chamber behind the switch room, and the exit opens. Stella notes the Remastered version checks the inventory for the gold bars.
Walkthrough
The order below follows Stella's Remastered walkthrough. The five switches in the pillar room each have two positions; each door's inscription shows the pattern as five Greek letters, left to right: Ω (omega) means up and Υ (upsilon) means down, as Stella explains.
- The dolphin pool. Climb out on the north side, kill the crocodile, and follow the long passage to an open area with a tall building.
- Below the aqueduct. Kill the lions, then the bats, and take a small medi pack. A gorilla behind the building guards magnum clips.
- The switch room. Up the stairs, a square room of pillars with five switches. Kill three gorillas and collect the magnum clips and a medi pack from the high ledges.
- First lead bar: the fire pillars. Set the switches to Υ Ω Ω Ω Ω. A timed run across flaming pillars reaches the bar.
- Second lead bar: the spike room. Set them to Ω Ω Υ Ω Υ. A movable block and a switch raise pillars to jump on; the bar is in a small room in the northeast, where a gorilla appears.
- The sand room and the aqueduct. Set them to Ω Ω Υ Υ Ω. Pull a block to bring down a ceiling, then climb through the sand room to the top of the aqueduct. The first two secrets are up here.
- The middle tier. A small medi pack is in the alcoves and a large one in a crevice. Break three cracked tiles, cross the low room and a crocodile cave, and jump to the roof of the distant temple.
- Third lead bar: the temple roof. The bar is on the roof. The temple's switch opens the gate to the garden.
- The garden. Past the chomping blades is the third secret. Then climb to the statue cave and turn all three bars to gold.
- The exit. Back in the switch room, set the switches to Υ Ω Ω Ω Υ, kill the lion behind the door, and place the three gold bars in the niches.
Secrets
| Secret | Where | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Through the underwater tunnel at the end of the aqueduct's top | Magnum clips and a small medi pack |
| 2 | A hole at the north end of the aqueduct's top | Small medi pack, shotgun shells, Uzi clips |
| 3 | A small room past the chomping blades in the garden; the chime sounds at the blades | Magnum clips (or the magnums), shotgun shells, small medi pack |
Source: Stella's Tomb Raider Site: Palace Midas.
If the magnums were missed in the Colosseum, they turn up in Palace Midas in place of the third secret's clips.
The unreachable medi pack
A large medi pack in the switch room sits on a tan block Lara cannot normally reach. Players get it with the "corner bug," in which Lara jumps in place against a block, inching forward until the game puts her on top of its corner, and Tomb Raider I-III Remastered rewards it with an achievement, "You Corner Bug!". The Remastered version also has a "Midas' Touch" achievement, which Stella lists in her guide.
Original and Remastered
The rooms, switches and bars are the 1996 ones. Stella's archived classic walkthrough gives other ways across the fire pillars; her Remastered guide notes Photo Mode helps spot the unreachable medi pack, and that save crystals appear only in New Game+.
Palace Midas in Legacy of Atlantis
No official text names Palace Midas in the remake as of Nov 2, 2026. An image file on an official article is labeled "Midas Temple", which may point to a Midas area, but it is a file label, not a level name, and may not be final. The makers have described only St. Francis' Folly from Greece. See What's New in Legacy of Atlantis.
Frequently asked questions
How many secrets are in Palace Midas in Tomb Raider? Three, by Stella's count: two on the top of the aqueduct and one in the garden past the chomping blades.
How do you make gold bars in Palace Midas? Use each lead bar on the open palm of the Midas statue in the garden's statue cave. It turns into a gold bar. Do not walk into the hand: it turns Lara to gold.
Where are the three lead bars in Palace Midas? One past the fire pillars, one in a small room off the spike room, and one on the roof of the distant temple, each reached by setting the five switches.
What is the switch combination for the Palace Midas exit? Down, up, up, up, down (Υ Ω Ω Ω Υ, as the door's letters show it), left to right; then place the three gold bars in the niches behind the door.
Is Palace Midas in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis? Not confirmed. An official image is labeled "Midas Temple," but no text names the level as of Nov 2, 2026.
Sources
- Palace Midas, Stella's Tomb Raider Site, read Nov 2, 2026
- Tomb Raider (1996) Top 5 Levels, Crystal Dynamics, Feb 26, 2024
- 10 Remaster Details You Might Have Missed, Crystal Dynamics, Feb 19, 2024
- Traversal & Movement Reimagined, Amazon Game Studios, Jul 20, 2026
- Was it Good? - Tomb Raider 1, Josh Strife Plays, Jan 22, 2022 (video)
Moments
Was it Good? - Tomb Raider 1
Josh Strife Plays
- Palace Midas is level 7 of the 1996 Tomb Raider, the third in Greece: Lara collects three lead bars from rooms opened…
- The statue cave in the garden holds King Midas with one hand held out. Lara uses each lead bar on the palm from the…
- First lead bar: the fire pillars. Set the switches to Υ Ω Ω Ω Ω. A timed run across flaming pillars reaches the bar.
- The sand room and the aqueduct. Set them to Ω Ω Υ Υ Ω. Pull a block to bring down a ceiling, then climb through the…
- Third lead bar: the temple roof. The bar is on the roof. The temple's switch opens the gate to the garden.
Related
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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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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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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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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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Natla's MinesNatla'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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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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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Tomb Raider I-III RemasteredTomb Raider I-III Remastered is Aspyr's Feb 14, 2024 collection of the first three Tomb Raider games and their expansions, with new graphics you can switch off at any time, modern or classic controls and a photo mode. It scored 75 on Metacritic for PS5; a Challenge Mode came on Mar 12, 2026.
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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.