Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great return to the classic Tomb Raider formula of discovering interesting secrets filled with places to explore and enemies to fight.
While exploring ancient tombs is one of the game’s appealing aspects, the amount of side content packed within Rise of the Tomb Raider is to be commended and worth experiencing. Evey open area in the game contains a series of optional challenges players can partake in, giving a nice respite from the main narrative or tomb-delving. Here are all five challenges in the Geothermal Valley present in Rise of the Tomb Raider, along with steps on how to complete them. Thanks to tombraiders.net and IGN for much of the information present in this guide.
10 Bull’s-Eye
One of the first challenges you will come across in the Geothermal Valley is the Bull’s Eye challenge. For this challenge, you will need to hit 8 targets scattered across the area.
While 8 sounds like a lot to find in the area, they are clustered together in groups. Groups of 2 or 3 of the targets are close to each other in location. Whatever you do, do not use grenade arrows! After you complete the Acropolis, you will gain access to explosive arrows. The explosion can take out the targets, but the main arrow won’t and, therefore, the objective won’t complete, breaking the challenge.
9 Bull’s-Eye Locations
The first four are very close to each other. From the Farmstead Camp, head west and look for a bull’s-eye hanging from a tree near a stone archway.
For the next three, head to the northeast part of the Camp. The second is handing from a birch tree, the third is on the tower near the tree, and the fourth one is hanging on the nearby guard tower. The Afflicted Challenge Tomb houses the next two, the first of which is hanging from a wooden walkway. As for the sixth one, crawl into the area and look for a bull’s eye hanging from a tree. Bull’s-eye seven is hanging from a tree near a clearing to the Architect’s Crypt, and the final target is at the entrance of the Baths of Kitezh Challenge Tomb to the right of the cave entrance.
8 Fowl Play
Out of all of Tomb Raider’s challenges, Fowl Play might be the easiest one in the game. Lara Croft will have to be great at handling chickens to complete this task.
All you need to do is pick up a chicken in the Farmstead to display the challenge. Five chickens need to be returned to their pens for this challenge to complete. Pick up a chicken at the Farm, carry them to a marked location, then throw them in to get progress. Do this five times and the challenge is finished.
7 Fowl Play Tips
Before the Fowl Play challenge appears, you will need to pick up at least one chicken in the Farmstead. If the chicken is too far away from their pen, drop them and grab another one.
There are more than 5 chickens that spawn in the area, so you shouldn’t have to scavenge the area for them. However, if you want to make this go faster, you can talk to the corner of the Farmstead and a large number of them will spawn. If you don’t see any, simply walk back to the center of the camp and return to the corner and grab as many as you need.
6 Hung Out To Dry
If you complete the Bull’s-Eye challenge, you might have noticed a few hanging rabbits on your travels. These are tied to the next challenge titled Hung Out To Dry.
To complete this challenge, you need to find 6 snarred rabbits in the region and cut them down. Like the Bull’s-Eyes, most of the rabbits in the region are on the western part of the map past the zone’s river. You can do this alongside the Bull’s-Eye challenge if you wish to be even more efficient.
5 Hung Out To Dry Rabbit Locations
Speaking of Bull’s-Eye targets, the first rabbit can be found at the same location as the fifth target from that challenge. The rabbit is hanging just to the right of the target.
For the second rabbit, head down the valley and slide down the zipline from the Afflicted Challenge Tomb. The rabbit is dead ahead. As for the third one, head southwest of the Afflicted Tomb until you find a wooden guard tower. It is hanging on the corner of the roof. The fourth is on a wooden hut to the southwest of the valley, and the fifth can be found next to a ladder in the northwest of the village. The final rabbit is on the west side of the Ruins Encampment. Head to an old stone bridge and the rabbit will be hanging right above the east side of the bridge.
4 High Dive
It’s time to practice your diving skills for this next challenge. Before you can finish the High Dive challenge, you need to complete the Defensive Strategy mission or one of the areas will be inaccessible.
Another location is also locked until you complete the Flooded Archives level as well. Once those two are finished, you need to swan dive off of four different platforms. To swan dive, run and jump at the same time, then press your aim key to dive down. You can also aim your camera downward and press the dodge key to do the same.
3 High Dive Board Locations
Fortunately, there are only four locations you need to dive off from to finish this challenge. The first board is at the beacon you lit for Jacob’s people. You need to dive from halfway up the beacon.
If you have not completed the Defensive Strategy mission, you can’t do the next platform. For those who have, head to the guard tower south of the Remnant cabin. Climb up to the board and take a swim! On your way to the Pit of Judgement Tomb, you will find a tower that will contain the third board you must dive from. The final board is above The Architect’s Crypt next to Ridgeline Camp’s waterfall.
2 Tossing Gourds
If you thought handling chickens was tough, wait until you see the next challenge. Similar to Fowl Play, the Tossing Gourds challenge asks you to throw pumpkins into 5 different barrels.
Unlike the chickens from Fowl Play, you can throw these pumpkins a fair distance. You will need to carefully aim the pumpkins to land in the barrel itself of you won’t receive progress. The good news is the barrels are all close to each other, so you don’t need to travel far to finish this challenge.
1 Tossing Gourds Barrel Locations
Before you can attempt this challenge, you must first complete the Flooded Archives mission to access the Cathedral Courtyard pumpkin patch.
Once you make it to the upper part of the Ruins Encampment, grab a pumpkin from the nearby patch. The first barrel is over a pile of wood to the left of the pumpkin patch. A boulder and birch trees surround the second barrel, sitting northeast of the patch. The third one is beyond a fence of spiked logs to the right of the second barrel. This next barrel is tricky, resting on a ledge on the stronghold. You can throw the pumpkin up the platform, climb up, and then throw it into the barrel if that’s easier. As for the final one, carry it to the first cabin of the upper village and throw it over the spiked log fences.
NEXT: Lara Croft’s 10 Best Quotes In Tomb Raider, Ranked
