| “ | Used to create and improve Monks. Garrisoned relics generate gold. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Fortified Church is a special building in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals that becomes available once the Castle Age is reached. It trains and improves Monks and Warrior Priests. It replaces the Monastery[note 1] for the Armenians and Georgians, and as such, is a regional building.
Fortified Churches cannot be converted. When empty, they do not fire arrows. When garrisoned with Villagers, they fire arrows similar to a Town Center. Relics can be garrisoned in Fortified Churches to produce gold and also fire additional arrows, 1 extra arrow for every Relic, with a maximum of 5 arrows. Garrisoned units are also healed faster than other buildings, twice as fast as Castles and four times as fast as Town Centers.
Tactics and placement[]
Fortified Churches share the same properties as Monasteries as religious buildings. Hence, their strategies are common and can be found here.
Defense[]
Fortified Churches also serve as defensive structures with +300 hit points and +2/+1 armor over Monasteries. They have a weak attack of 5 at a range of 6. They cannot fire by default. Their attack property is a bit complicated, as the number of projectiles can be increased by garrisoning Relics (always +1 projectile) and Villagers. In addition, they can also garrison Monks, Warrior Priests, and Mule Carts. However, their range can never be increased, and it has a minimum range of 1 without Murder Holes. Combining all these, they are very similar to the Town Center, but are nowhere near to the defensive capabilities of even a Guard Tower. However, Fortified Churches have a garrison capacity of 10 and maximum arrow capacity of 5, compared to 15 and 10, respectively, for Town Centers. Another thing is that garrisoned units are healed at four times the speed compared to Town Centers and towers.
When going for Relic victories, Fortified Churches are superior to Monasteries, as not only are they themselves sturdier with some moderate attack, they fire more arrows due to garrisoned Relics. In regicide, they can provide a good shelter for Kings.
The Georgian Fortified Churches receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation, and can have +2 attack with Svan Towers. In addition, they also cost -25% resources to repair as their team bonus.
The first Armenian Fortified Church provides a free garrisoned Relic, which adds a projectile, meaning that it can attack by default.
Economic[]
The first Armenian Fortified Church provides a free garrisoned Relic, which means that it provides 30 gold per minute. If the player has a Burgundian ally, it also provides 30 food per minute.
The Georgians' Fortified Churches have an aura which boosts all Villagers by 10% in a 19 tile square (10 tiles from the building's centre, 8 tiles from the building's edges). This pushes them to drop Fortified Churches throughout their economy, which again helps when Villagers are being raided.
Military[]
The Armenians use their Fortified Churches as military production buildings, since they can produce one of their unique units, the Warrior Priest.
The Georgians can play a decent Monk rush, since they have almost all technologies. The Monk will take less damage from higher elevation.
Trainable units and technologies[]
Rusty red: Generic buildings- Aqua blue: Generic units
- Forest green: Technologies
- Deep violet: Unique units
- Deep cornflower blue: Regional units
- Reddish-orange: Regional buildings
- Crimson pink: Unique buildings
Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.
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Availability grid[]
- Main article: Monastery (Age of Empires II)#Availability grid
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Short-ranged weak units |
| Weak vs. | Long-ranged units, Tarkans, Huskarls, War Elephants, rams, Armored Elephants |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
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 Masonry (+10%) Architecture (+10%, Georgians only)
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| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Svan Towers (+2, Georgians only)
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 Range
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 Murder Holes (eliminates minimum range)
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| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
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| Armor | Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor) Architecture (+1/+1, +3 building armor, Georgians only)
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| Line of Sight |  Town Watch (+4) Town Patrol (+4)
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| Creation speed |  Treadmill Crane (+20%, Georgians only)
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| Healing |  Herbal Medicine (garrisoned units heal 5x faster)
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| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Damage resistance |  Georgians (-20% {-40% instead of -25%} damage when on higher elevation)
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| Ability | Georgians (Villagers in a 19-tile square work 10% faster)
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| Other | Armenians (First Fortified Church receives a free Relic)
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| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Research speed |  Portuguese (+25%)
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 Work rate
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 Lithuanians (+20%)
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| Other |  Aztecs (Relics generate +33% gold) Burgundians (Relics generate +30 food/min) Georgians (Repairing costs 25% fewer resources)
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Trivia[]
- The Fortified Church appears to be based on the Ananuri Fortress in Georgia or on the Saint Stepanos Armenian Monastery in Iran.
- The Fortified Church can garrison the Priest and hero foot Monks (like Chand Bardai), but cannot garrison Missionaries and hero mounted Monks (like Jadwiga). Hence, just like the Town Center, it can garrison only foot Monks, but not mounted Monks.
- The Georgian Fortified Church boost to Villagers' workrate is similar to the mechanic seen in the Karni Mata Wonder of the Indians, Granaries of the African civilizations, and Town Centers, Outposts, and Commandery of the Maltese after sending the Wignacourt Constructions card in Age of Empires III and the Aachen Chapel landmark from the Holy Roman Empire and Order of the Dragon in Age of Empires IV.
- Among military units, only the Warrior Priest can garrison in the Fortified Church.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Technically by upgrading Monasteries into Fortified Churches at the start of the game.
