Civilization 7 – How To Get Relics Using Your Missionaries

TL;DR

  • Complete Piety civic and establish religion as foundation for relic acquisition
  • Train missionaries strategically to convert foreign settlements and generate relics
  • Display relics in settlements to accelerate Cultural Legacy progression
  • Time your missionary deployment during opponent religious vulnerability periods
  • Combine missionary tactics with other cultural strategies for maximum efficiency


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The Exploration Age in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 presents pivotal opportunities for cultural dominance through religious expansion. While competing civilizations establish territorial footholds, deploying religious units strategically can yield significant advantages. This comprehensive guide details optimal missionary utilization for acquiring holy relics and advancing your civilization’s cultural legacy.

Holy relics in Civilization 7 connect directly to the Tokshakhana system, which represents the Cultural Legacy path/milestone during the Exploration Age. This multi-stage process requires both acquisition of sacred artifacts and their strategic placement within settlements to maximize progression benefits.

The Cultural Legacy path emphasizes religious influence beyond mere theological spread. Success requires generating holy relics through targeted conversion activities while managing competing priorities. Below are the essential milestones for completing this progression path:

  • Step 1:
    • Study the Piety civic to unlock religious infrastructure.
    • Construct a Temple to enable religious unit production.
    • Establish your own religion to gain theological independence.
  • Study the Piety civic.
  • Establish your own religion.
  • Step 2:
    • Train missionaries or civilization-specific religious unit replacements.
    • Successfully convert at least one foreign settlement to your faith.
  • Train a missionary or a related civ-specific unit that replaces it.
  • Convert any foreign settlement to your religion.
  • Begin your relic acquisition journey by prioritizing the Piety civic research. This foundational step unlocks essential religious buildings and units. Constructing a Temple immediately after completing Piety research accelerates your religious infrastructure development, enabling missionary production.

    Establishing your religion requires careful belief selection. The Reliquary belief proves particularly valuable for relic-focused strategies, increasing relic generation rates by approximately 30% compared to standard theological approaches.

    Cultural Legacy: Tokshakhana mechanics

    Missionary training should align with your civilization’s unique religious unit replacements. Certain civilizations offer enhanced missionaries with additional movement points or conversion strength, significantly improving relic acquisition efficiency.

    Foreign settlement conversion presents both strategic and tactical challenges. Target settlements with weaker religious adherence first, as they require fewer missionary charges to convert. Each successful conversion generates relic acquisition opportunities through the Tokshakhana system.

    Relics from your Reliquary Belief

    Advanced players should coordinate missionary deployment with diplomatic initiatives. Converting settlements belonging to civilizations you have positive relations with reduces the risk of military conflict while still progressing relic acquisition objectives.

    Gaining relics as you spread your religion

    Timing your missionary deployment during opponent religious vulnerability periods dramatically increases conversion success rates. Monitor competing civilizations’ religious focus—when they shift attention to military or scientific pursuits, their religious defenses weaken.

    Missionary unit management requires careful planning. Each missionary possesses limited charges, so prioritize high-value targets. Protect missionaries with military escorts when operating near hostile territories to prevent unit loss.

    Other sources of relics

    Common strategic errors include overextending missionary operations and neglecting settlement religious defense. Balance offensive conversion efforts with maintaining your own settlements’ theological integrity.

    Optimization techniques include researching theological combat bonuses, positioning missionaries near religious city-states for additional benefits, and synchronizing missionary production with golden age periods for enhanced efficiency.

    For players seeking comprehensive military strategies alongside religious expansion, our Complete Guide offers detailed combat mechanics and unit management approaches that complement cultural victory pursuits.

    How to display your relics

    Relic display represents the final phase of the Tokshakhana progression. Each relic displayed in settlements provides cumulative cultural benefits, with diminishing returns after the fifth relic in a single settlement.

    Strategic relic placement involves distributing relics across multiple settlements rather than concentrating them in your capital. This approach maximizes territorial cultural influence while providing defensive benefits against theological combat.

    Long-term planning should incorporate relic acquisition into broader cultural victory strategies. Combine missionary activities with archaeological expeditions and great person generation for comprehensive cultural development.

    Weapon selection and class specialization in other strategy contexts can inform your religious unit deployment. Explore our Weapons Unlock guide for parallel optimization principles that apply to unit management across different game systems.

    Effective cultural legacy completion typically requires 40-60 turns depending on game speed and opponent resistance levels. Advanced players can reduce this timeframe through optimized research paths and targeted conversion campaigns.

    For those balancing multiple victory conditions, our Class Guide provides insights into specialization approaches that enhance both religious and complementary strategic pursuits.

    Action Checklist

    • Research Piety civic within first 25 turns to establish religious foundation
    • Construct Temple immediately after Piety completion to enable missionary production
    • Establish religion with Reliquary belief for enhanced relic generation
    • Train 2-3 missionaries simultaneously to accelerate conversion campaigns
    • Identify and convert vulnerable foreign settlements with weak religious adherence
    • Distribute acquired relics across multiple settlements to maximize cultural benefits

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