Theocracy (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II. For the technology in Age of Empires, see Theocracy (Age of Empires).

Theocracy
Availability
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Research
Researched at	Monastery Fortified Church
Food	0
Gold	200
Research time	75 seconds
Effect
Only one Monk or Missionary must rest after a successful conversion

Theocracy is a technology in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors that can be researched at the Monastery once the Imperial Age is reached. Once researched, only one Monk or Missionary in a group needs to rest after a successful conversion instead of all of them.

Theocracy is a critical technology to research if groups of Monks or Missionaries are regularly used for conversion, especially given its low cost. In conjunction with Illumination, a group of Monks/Missionaries can become a dangerous threat if used wisely. Note that the mechanics behind conversions mean that a group of Monks is more likely to convert a unit in a lower time.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Armenians Aztecs Bengalis Berbers Bohemians Britons Bulgarians Burmese Byzantines Chinese Dravidians Ethiopians Franks Georgians Goths Gurjaras Hindustanis Inca Italians Japanese Jurchens Khitans Khmer Koreans Lithuanians Magyars Malians Maya Persians Poles Portuguese Saracens Shu Slavs Spanish Teutons Turks Vietnamese Wei Wu	Burgundians Celts Cumans Huns Malay Mongols Romans Sicilians Tatars Vikings

Civilizations

The following civilizations can research technologies or have bonuses related to Theocracy:

Unique technologies

• Bohemians: Hussite Reforms gold cost of Theocracy replaced with food.

Civilization bonuses

• Aztecs: Theocracy gives Monks +5 hit points.
• Burmese: Theocracy is 50% cheaper.
• Chinese: Theocracy is 15% cheaper.
• Spanish: Receive 20 gold after researching Theocracy.

Team bonuses

• Lithuanians: Researching Theocracy is 20% faster.
• Portuguese: Researching Theocracy is 25% faster.

Changelog

The Conquerors

• On release, Theocracy costs 400 food, 800 gold. With patch 1.0b, the cost is reduced to 200 gold.

History

“	Civilizations that were a theocracy, or nearly so, were governed by officials thought to be receiving divine guidance. When the people believed this to be true, the government could direct them to carry out almost any command. In such a society, the religious leaders and monks had great power. When in contact with civilizations of weaker religious beliefs, there could occur a rapid spread of conversion.	”
—The Conquerors manual

Trivia

• Neither of the two civilizations introduced in Lords of the West have access to Theocracy.
• The text of the Definitive Edition icon for Theocracy reads, "in principio creavit Deus Caelum et terram," which is Latin for "in the beginning, God created the Heaven and the earth" — the first verse of the Book of Genesis.