Relic Guide

Age of Mythology contains 47 different relics. You can find their functions listed below.

	A Pair of Golden Lions Summons two golden lions for you to command. If killed, they will respawn at the temple after one minute Golden Lions, not being all that strong, aren’t particularly useful unless they’re summoned early in the game. And even then, they don’t stand much of a chance against some of the other units in the game.
	Ankh of Ra Provides a steady trickle of favor This bonus is especially useful for Norse players. Completely lacking a steady supply of favor, this bonus gives them some stability in their favor-gathering rate. Of course, it’s also useful for Greeks and Egyptians, as it will help them get out myth units and research myth techs that much faster, as well.
	Anvil of Hephaestus Armory technologies cost 10% less 10% might not look like that much, but after having researched several armory techs, it does add up. Technologies costing 10% less is easier on your economy and lets you get them…well, 10% faster.
	Armor of Achilles Infantry have 5% less hack damage vulnerability If you’re going heavy on infantry, this relic is like a free ½ hack armor Armory upgrade. It’s not incredibly apparent or game-changing, but 5% is better than 0%.
	Arrows of the Alfar Towers, Fortresses and Town Centers have 20% more attack For defensive players, this is quite beneficial. Although AoM normally encourages offensive player, an extra 20% attack when being put on the defensive could make all the difference. In fact, if you’re offensively building towers or fortresses, this bonus is equally useful. Greeks(Hades in particular) and Egyptians seem to benefit most from this relic, as they already have defensive building advantages (Strong Greek Fortresses and increased building attack for Hades, and free tower upgrades for Egypt.)
	Black Lotus Villagers gather food from farms 10% faster It’s a commonly known fact that farms are the slowest source of food in the game, so every upgrade you can get helps considerably. This relic is basically a free farm gathering upgrade, which could put your farm production rate ahead of your opponent for the rest of the game – provided you keep them up-to-date with upgrades as they come to you and are needed for be researched.
	Blanket of Empress Zoe Buildings have 20% less crush damage vulnerability Buildings, having low crush armor in comparison to human units, are rather susceptible to siege engines and other units with high crush damage (such as several myth units.) This relic allows them to stand somewhat better against an attack. Like Arrows of the Alfar, this is a fairly defensive bonus, but could be used offensively in forward building and offensive towers/fortresses.
	Boots of Kick Everything Heroes move 20% faster Helping the Greeks and Norse the most, this relic helps out melee heroes greatly. It allows them to close in on their enemies much more quickly, giving them more of a chance to kill their opponent(s). Since Hersirs are rather slow units who are susceptible to archer fire, this gives them a chance at killing them off. Out of all the gods, Loki appears to be the god helped the most by this relic, as Loki players often use Hersirs as “regular” units, so as to get free myth units spawned right on the battlefield.
	Bow of Artemis Archers cost 15% less, Trolls cost 15% less wood, Centaurs cost 20% less wood Greek and Egyptian players will find this price reduction quite useful. The core of their armies are very often archers, and a 15% decrease in price really does add up after a while. Since Greeks who worship Hermes also get Centaurs at a 20% discount, they’ll save a very good amount of resources, provided they were planning on training a good number of Centaurs anyway. However, seeing as how they lack archers completely, this relic is almost worthless to Norse. It will be of use to them only if they worship Forseti in the Classical age and gain access to the Troll myth unit. Otherwise, the only reason why a Norse player would pick this up would be to deprive his opponent of the bonus.
	Bridle of Pegasus Summons a Pegasus for the player to command. The Pegasus reappears at the temple after one minute if killed. Of course, for Greeks, this bonus really has the least effect on their scouting ability. They save 50 food and 2 favor, but that’s insignificant, compared to the increase in scouting ability for Norse or Egyptian players. Both civilizations really lack an effective scouting unit (though the initial Norse Ulfsark and Egyptian priest do an alright job), and a free flying unit with decent LOS is a great boost.
	Buhen Flagstone Walls cost 25% less Walls aren’t particularly expensive as is, though this relic does make it a tad easier to put them up. It’s a fairly straightforward bonus, and almost purely defensive.
	Canopic Jar of Imsety Infantry train 15% faster Speed is one of the most important things in this game, and any extra speed is extremely useful. Infantry being trained 15% faster means that you can (economy allowing) always have 15% more troops on the battlefield than you could normally.
	Catoblepas’ Scales Myth units have 20% less crush vulnerability Many myth units, unlike their mortal counterparts, are at least partially vulnerable to crush damage. Siege attacks that would normally do nothing to a regular unit can wear down a myth unit. Even some myth units have crush damage, and Catoblepas’ Scales allows them to stand up long against them. It’s not as incredibly useful as, say, Anvil of Hephaestus, but it still could make a difference in some situations.
	Dwarven Calipers Siege weapons cost 20% less Siege weapons are some of the most expensive units in the game, and only spending 80% of what you normally would lets you spend those extra resources on more engines or extra troops, or even to further strengthen your economy. Saved resources on expensive units is always good, especially for ones that are frequently built.
	Eye of Horus Town Centers support +2 population With the change in the way population works in Age of Mythology (settlements and different population costs), population has turned into something of a 5th resource. It is extremely difficult to increase one’s population cap after a particular point, and any addition could prove to be extremely powerful. +2 population may not appear to be a great deal, but if you have multiple town centers, that could add up to be several more troops or an extra myth/siege unit, possibly turning the tide of a game.
	Eye of Ornlu Hypaspists, Axemen and Throwing Axemen have 5% more attack 5% more attack is basically equivalent to a free ½ attack upgrade at the armory. Not particularly noticeable, but helpful nonetheless. The increase is most useful to Throwing Axemen, which actually also increases their defensive capability. TAs are ranged, and killing melee enemy units before they’re able to close in and attack is aided by the increase.
	Fetters of Fenrir Villagers kill nearly all animals in a single shot If relics were able to be effectively gathered right at the beginning of the game, this one would be quite useful. Saving villagers the time (and possibly their lives) to hunt strong animals like boar, elephants, and rhinos, a decent amount of villager seconds could be saved. However, relics are generally gathered “late” into the early game, so this one really doesn’t make the impact it could. However, if game numbers are high and you’ve been keeping to gathering the weaker animals, it still could be of some use.
	Gaia’s Book of Knowledge Infantry do 300% more damage against Titans. Good for defending against Titans. But remember this doesn’t apply to Heroes (Including Atlantean infantry upgraded to Heroes)
	Girdle of Hippolyta Toxotes, Chariot Archers and Throwing Axemen have 5% more HP Archers (and TAs) are already some of the weakest units (save villagers) in AoM, and any defense boost helps. Though it’s not an extremely large boost, it’s still something. Keeping your ranged units alive for just a couple seconds longer (or long enough to dispatch an enemy and heal) still helps.
	Harmonia’s Necklace Villagers gather gold 10% faster Overall, gold is likely the most important resource in Age of Mythology. Every single mortal military unit requires at least some gold to be built, and that importance is even greater for the Egyptians. Of the buildings that do require resources to be built, they all (even farms) require gold. The Egyptians are extremely depended on gold, as are the other two civilizations, but to a lesser extent. Any increase in gold stockpiles is good, and this relic does just that.
	Harter’s Folly Scouting units have 2 more LOS As with other relics, this one would have far more use were relics able to be gathered earlier in the game. The increase in scout unit LOS allows you to find resources, figure out the basic terrain of the map, and use recon on your opponent easier and more quickly. However, since relics are gathered after most players have scouted a good deal of the map, this one’s use is considerably lower. It could still be of use, however, in using scout units purely for enemy reconnaissance.
	Head of Orpheus Buildings have +8 LOS Extra building Line of Sight is most useful in spotting an enemy attack before it happens. If the enemy is simply advancing towards your buildings, you’ll get a couple extra seconds to defend, which could possibly save your butt. If your enemy is building a forward base right outside your main one, Head of Orpheus could let you spot the base before you’re overrun with enemy soldiers. It’s not nearly the most useful relic, but it can – at times – prove to be helpful
	Hera’s Thundercloud Shawl All human soldiers have 5% less pierce damage vulnerability This is a fairly unnoticeable improvement in armor against pierce damage; though it is half of what a typical armory pierce armor improvement would do. 5% isn’t much, but it doesn’t hurt.
	Khopesh of Horus Hero damage multiplier vs Myth units increased by 1 (EG, if a Hero has Damage x7 vs myth units and the player gains this relic, it becomes Damage x 8.) Heroes are already excellent against myth units, and making their damage multiplier even greater really helps out in letting them do their job. On average, it’s about a 20% increase in their damage multiplier.
	Kithara of Apollo Villagers move 10% faster This relic can really help an economy. Faster villagers means that the time they spend between the resource and drop-off point is decreased, and they have more time actually gathering the resource. In gathering operations that take a lot of walking, such as hunting and farming, an extra 10% speed increase is excellent.

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