Uncharted 4 - Chapter 12 Puzzle Solution (Rotating Balls and Symbols)

A complete guide to the Chapter 12 puzzle in Uncharted 4 which consists of several rotating balls and bright lights that shine different symbols from above. Players must rotate the balls and align them correctly with the shining lights to complete this trial.

First a quick recap to how we got here. By now you will have explored most the islands, looking for clues to the whereabouts of the treasure. Having followed the arrows in the sea you arrived at the main island and had to find an alternate route to the other side of the blocked temple entrance. The path was perilous as you grappled and climbed round and above the template entrance before dangling all the way down to the circular temple below.

Standing on the entrance plate did not successfully open the inner door but with a little help from Sam you were able to gain entrance to puzzle room, shown in the image at the top of this post.

How the puzzle works

The puzzle consists of a single wheel in the middle of the room which players can walk up to and use. The left analogue stick moves the balls above in a horizontal direction; left or right depending which way you choose.

Cog

Pressing the square button rotates the smaller cogs (shown above) on the wall. If a ball is on top of one of the cogs then pressing square will rotate the ball. By continuously pressing square you can rotate a ball as much as you like.

The puzzle has three stages, which represent each of the three horizontal sets of balls on the wall. As you solve the lower puzzle the second one is activated. Solving the second, activates the final top puzzle.

How to solve

The key to solving this puzzle is to align the balls under the bright lights so that the symbol or picture from the light matches the symbol on the ball.

First row of balls

The main problem with this puzzle is that the first step is the hardest to understand because there appears to be a missing symbol on the left most light.

The right ball does have a symbol though so no problem here: just move the ball over a cog and rotate until the correct symbol is on the front. Then reposition the ball under the light and the symbol will match up.

But what about the left hand ball, it has no symbol?? What you have to do in this case is pay attention to the light shining down from above. It is only half full!

Rotate the left hand ball so that the lighter side of the ball is in the same position as the light shining down. The dark side of the ball must be on the other side i.e. in the shadow. In my game, the ball was half black (on the left) and half white (on the right). See the image above for details.

Now move both balls horizontally so they're under the lights. Upon successfully matching up the symbols, the puzzle will update and several statues of highway captains will appear from the floor.

Second row

Now that the first row is out of the way the others make alot more sense. For the second row you now have lines rather than symbols but it's a similar process. To make things a little harder the balls rotate at the same time but you combat this by shifting them all the way along so that only one ball is on a cog at a time. This let's you concentrate on getting the right position without interfering with the other ball.

Once ready, align the balls under the light to complete this step. More statues will appear from the floor to signify that you have completed the step correctly.

Third row

The upper row has another slight variation on the puzzle theme. This time around the balls rotate incrementally themselves as you move the row horizontally. The cogs still work in the same manner so it's just a case of rotating the balls the correct number of times before moving them horizontally into the shining lights.

Once you've completed all three sets, the remaining statues will appear at ground level and this puzzle is now complete. Congratulations!!