Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game in which players control Lara Croft, who is on a quest to discover the legendary city of Kitezh. Combat is a major gameplay mechanic; Lara has a large variety of weapons at her disposal (including assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols), some of which have an alternate firing mode. Players may also utilize stealth to progress through portions of the game, using bows and arrows to take out enemies, creating distractions to draw enemy attention away from Lara, or hiding in bushes to evade enemies. Lara can use the environment to fight enemies, shooting explosive barrels, tearing down rope-wrapped structures with rope arrows, or ambushing enemies from high ground. She can also use her pickaxe and combat knife to engage in melee combat with enemies. Completing objectives and side content and eliminating enemies give players experience points (XP). When players collect sufficient XP they level up, receiving a skill point, which can be spent on the game's three skill trees: brawler, hunter and survivor. Brawler enhances Lara's efficiency with weapons, giving her abilities such as retrieving arrows from corpses and a steady aim, as well as boosting her resilience against attack and unlocks new combat skills, such as dodge kill. Hunter gives her an advantage when dealing with the environments and animals. Survivor covers a wide range of skills such as creating incendiary bombs and setting booby traps. Lara learns new languages, enabling her to discover relics (such as coins) which can be traded for new equipment.
The game has semi-open hubs for players to explore. In the hubs are items for Lara to collect, including crafting materials and survival caches. These items and collectibles such as relics and documents can be revealed to players using Survival Instinct, a vision mode which highlights items of interest. By collecting the materials, players can craft items with the game's crafting menu; Lara can craft ammunition, poisoned arrows (using death-cap mushrooms), and Molotov cocktails and hand grenades from cans and bottles. The open areas are filled with wildlife, which can be hunted to collect more resources. Players can discover and explore challenge tombs for new skills and outfits. Lara's outfit, which affects her combat performance, can be changed at base camps. The camps allow Lara to change her weapon loadouts, which is where she chooses one of each weapon type she will wield for example choosing which type of bow (Makeshift Longbow or Ancient Horn Bow) or pistol (Semi-Auto Pistol or Heavy Pistol), and are fast travel points which allow players to explore a previously-searched area. The game has side missions and challenges which may give players new equipment, and players navigate intricate environments to progress. Lara can use her pickaxe to climb cliff-like surfaces (such as glaciers) and her rope arrows to create ziplines to access difficult-to-reach areas, and can climb trees and swim. Players solve puzzles during the game, in its main campaign and optional content. The puzzles, based on in-game physics, often connect; players must solve connecting puzzles to solve a larger one.
Unlike the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, Rise of the Tomb Raider lacks a multiplayer mode. It introduces Expeditions, which allow players to replay the game with new constraints and requirements. The game has four modes: Chapter Replay, Chapter Replay Elite, Score Attack, and Remnant Resistance. Chapter Replay and Chapter Replay Elite allow players to replay any level, and Elite allows them to bring already-acquired skills and weapons to the level. Score Attack introduces score combo chains to the game. Remnant Resistance allows players to create custom scenarios, which can be shared with other players. By completing Expeditions, players earn credits which can then be used to purchase digital collectible cards to modify the gameplay. Common cards may be used only once, and foil cards can be used repeatedly. The cards can also be purchased in microtransactions.
Plot
One year after the events of Tomb Raider, archaeologist Lara Croft is struggling to explain her experience of the supernatural on Yamatai and is experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder. Looking for answers, she turns to her late father's research on the lost city of Kitezh and the promise of immortality. Her father's partner, Ana, warns Lara that her father, Lord Croft's obsession with Kitezh, drove him to ruin and suicide. Lara ignores her and organizes an expedition to the Forgotten Cities in northwestern Syria, hoping to uncover the tomb of the Prophet of Constantinople, who is a key figure in the Kitezh legend. The tomb is empty, and Lara is interrupted by Trinity—an ancient order of knights turned paramilitary organization investigating the supernatural—and their leader, Konstantin. As she flees, Lara discovers a symbol etched into the tomb, which she links to a book on Russian religious history in her father's study at Croft Manor. She learns of an artifact called the Divine Source, said to be capable of granting immortality. After arguing with her friend Jonah Maiava regarding the artifact's existence, a Trinity assassin infiltrates the manor and steals the book, prompting the two to go to Siberia.
In Siberia, Lara and Jonah are separated by an avalanche while climbing a mountain. Via radio contact, Lara urges Jonah to leave and not look for her. After gathering resources to craft shelter and a bow, Lara discovers that Trinity has made a Soviet-era installation a base of operations in their search for Kitezh. Lara is caught trying to retrieve the book and is imprisoned with Ana. Konstantin forces her to reveal what she knows by slowly strangling Ana in front of her, but Lara cannot provide useful information. Upon realizing Lara does not know the whereabouts of the source, Ana reveals that she works for Trinity and that Konstantin is her brother. She asks Lara to join Trinity, but she refuses and is taken to the Gulag cells, where she meets a man named Jacob. Together they escape the Gulag, and Trinity pursues them. During the chase, Lara is incapacitated and nearly drowns, but Jacob saves her, and she later agrees to aid him, and his people repel Trinity.
