Shadow of the Tomb Raider Trial of the Serpent Guide - How to Solve the Blood Channel Maze Puzzle

The Trial of the Serpent represents one of the more challenging puzzles in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which tasks Lara with, erm, diverting a river of blood. In this Shadow of the Tomb Raider Blood Channel puzzle guide, we'll be explaining how you can quickly align every aspect of the puzzle, to complete it as easily as possible.

If you instead need help with any other areas of Lara’s latest outing, you’ll want to head over to our Shadow of the Tomb Raider guides hub. It’s on this page that you can find all the information you need for the gameplay changes that Square Enix has made for this sequel, as well as a complete beginner’s tips and tricks section.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Trial of the Serpent Puzzle Guide

To solve this puzzle quickly and effectively, you’ll firstly want to head down to the bottom of this puzzle, in front of the wooden barricade that you’ll need to burn down. You now need to stand by the pillar on the right, and look to the pillar on the left, where you can connect the two with a rope arrow.

You now need to use the pole attached to the pillar on the left to turn the two channels on the floor. The aim here is to form a complete channel, that runs from the sole channel descending down the stairs from the upper level, all the way to the wooden barricade. The pattern you want is this:

Once this has been completed, return to the upper level, and shoot an arrow at the bit of rope on the left, causing a massive amount of blood to pool together in the middle section of the upper area.

Now you can go to the back of the fiery pedestal on the opposite side of the area, and push the dragon’s tongue into its mouth. This will cause the fire to spread over the blood, which will by now have reached the wooden barricade. Once the barricade is all burned down, you’re all clear to proceed through the Trial of the Serpent, and onto the next area of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

We might be all done with this particular guide to Lara Croft's latest adventure, but there's plenty to cover on the game just yet. You can head over to our Shadow of the Tomb Raider Peruvian Jungle guide, or our Shadow of the Tomb Raider Kuwaq Yaku guide, for a full list of collectibles in either area of the game.