Capture the Relic

“	Be the first player to capture the relic in the center of the map and return it to your monastery. Each player's monastery is indestructible and you cannot build additional monasteries.	”
—Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition description

Capture the Relic is a game mode available in Age of Empires II. Starting a game provides teams with the standard Town Center and Villagers, but with the inclusion of a pre-built, indestructible Monastery, though at the cost of not being able to build more Monasteries. A Relic is placed at the very center of the map, and the first team's Monk to pick it up and take it to their Monastery immediately wins.

Any customized variation of settings will work within the game mode, though selecting it will prompt the game to ask the user to use the game mode's recommended settings, which are as follows:

• Location: Coastal
• Map Size: Tiny
• Resources: High
• Population: 200
• Game Speed: Normal
• Reveal Map: Normal
• Starting Age: Feudal Age

Capture the Relic maps

• Acropolis
• Alpine Lakes
• Arabia
• Arena
• Budapest
• Cenotes
• Coastal
• Continental
• CtR Monsoon
• CtR Pyramid Descent
• CtR Random
• CtR Spiral
• Fortress
• Four Lakes
• Ghost Lake
• Gold Rush
• Golden Pit
• Golden Swamp
• Hideout
• Kilimanjaro
• Land Nomad
• Lombardia
• Migration
• Mongolia
• Mountain Pass
• Mountain Ridge
• Ravines
• Rivers
• Scandinavia
• Serengeti
• Socotra
• Valley
• Wolf Hill

^{Bolded text indicates a map specifically tailored for the game mode.}

Trivia

• The Aztecs' team bonus of having Relics generate 33% more gold has no effect in this game mode, as the game ends the instant a Relic enters a Monastery. The Burgundians are in a similar situation, since their Relics also produce food, which is also completely useless in this game mode.
• The Burmese team bonus of providing the ability for Relics to be seen at game start is useless here, as all teams can already see the center Relic without any assistance.
• The Lithuanians' main civilization bonus, Leitis and Knight line attack increased by 1 every Relic collected, is also completely useless. Fortunately, their Monastery works 20% faster, which can synergize with faster production of Monks and researching technologies.
• The Armenians' bonus, the first Fortified Church receives a free Relic, is also useless in this game mode, as they can't construct Fortified Churches. They can pick up the Relic and bring it back to their Fortified Church using Warrior Priests who are trained faster, walk faster, and fight back.