As we delve in, you’ll see that they are useful for all kinds of things and help beginners to get to grips with various aspects of the game. Let’s head into the detail!
What are Deeds?
Evil people, with evil intentions will commit evil deeds.
You too are judged by your actions. Your job as one of the Free Peoples is to let your good deeds shine before other people.
Therefore, these are things you have accomplished that aid the Free Peoples – or get to know them better. And the Deed Log (which we’ll come to shortly), is a record of those accomplishments.
In other games I've played, a more common term is achievements. The term 'deeds' is more appropriate to Tolkien-inspired content, I think.
Your Deed Log
The Deed Log is a diary of various accomplishments or achievements for your character. It is like a massive to-do list, with the main difference being that items rarely appear before you do something to trigger a deed.
Accessing the Log
You can pull up the Deed Log from the bottom bar, or from its main keyboard shortcut Shift L.
Navigating It
Spend time navigating around it, because it will take time to get used to. When you first load the log in a LOTRO session, the bottom tabs are Class, Social and Racial, Epic (main story) and Reputation deeds as well as those relevant for specific regions of LOTRO.
If you bring it up again during your session, it usually defaults to the last deed you viewed or was granted/completed.
- Class:
Track your usage of various combat skills. These trigger at different levels. There are also so-called “class books”, such as “A Shield-Maiden’s Song“. Whenever they’re relevant for you, you can track them under class deeds too. - Race & Social:
Those related to emotes, festivals/events and consumables appear in this section. Racial Deeds are often “slayer-like” and offer various rewards such as “Return To” skills and racial buffs and abilities. - Epic:
Certain stages in LOTRO’s Epic quest will trigger and complete deeds. - Reputation:
Every time you start a reputation, or a reputation level, a new entry is created in here. This will continue per faction until you hit the highest level available for that faction.
Show Completed Deeds
By default the log shows deeds you have yet to complete. However, it can be useful to see which ones you have completed. Thankfully, LOTRO have given you and easy checkbox to help you filter for those.
Sub-Sections
You need so many tabs and sections because LOTRO is massive and Middle-Earth is so immersive! The tabs can be simplified into:
- Region:
Eriador, Rhovanian, Gondor and Mordor are “parent” categories. Clicking into those will change the tabs at the bottom, so they reflect the sub-regions in that area. - Skirmishes:
Deeds relation to skirmishes, including their own “in-built” mini slayer-deeds are found in this tab. - Fishing:
Yes, despite the fact the tab says “Hobbies”, there is still only one “Hobby” – fishing. These mostly relate to catching specific fish. However the Rare Fish title is one you can earn during the LOTRO Farmers Faire event. - The War:
I had to ask about this one! @Nimilzir said that it relates to PvMP (“Monster Play”, LOTRO’s take on PvP). @Caerfinon said that it also relates to the Sundering of Osgiliath.
Types of Deeds
There are many different classifications of deeds – more than might be obvious at the start. I’ve tried to simplify it a little bit for you.
Adventuring & Questing
Here are some of the main “adventuring” ones – those that relate to questing, combat and enemies.
Exploration
These are usually broken down into sub-deeds and come in a variety of flavours.
Many are in the simple style of “find these places” but others may be trickier. For example, Dwellers of Old Swanfleet sends you to find specific items across the region.
And throughout Middle-Earth there are “Treasure” deeds: searching for Treasure Caches which could be (and are) anywhere in the area! The Treasure of Cardolan Deed is a good example of this.
Slayer
Every region of Middle-Earth has its dangers. For a slayer deed, your job is to defeat a large number of enemies of various types in a given region.
Just be aware that the name in the log may not precisely match the enemies’ floaty names. “Wights” might include spirits, “huorns” are awakened trees, and goblins often go by their tribe name.
Tip:
Once a slayer deed has triggered, hovering your cursor over enemies will tell you which ones relate to those deeds.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been killing the wrong things because I didn’t check first!
Number of Quests
LOTRO has given us thousands of quests over the years. They tell stories, evoke emotions, draw your character in, send them off into danger and more.
It is therefore unsurprising that, in order to clear most regions’ deeds, you should also complete a certain number of quests. Hover over the progress bar to see how many you need:
These tend to come in stages or steps, such as “intermediate”, “advanced” or “final”. See the Wiki for the Bree-land version of this.
Reputation
Reputation is gained in a variety of ways and is a chat for another time. Where it is relevant to your log is when you increase in your standing with a region’s faction.
Until you complete the highest level, completing one will grant you the relevant reward and automatically trigger the deed for the next level.
You will need a certain standing with a faction to be able to acquire Reputation Mounts.
Task Item Turn-Ins
Under the Reputation Tab, you can find extra deeds relating to the number of task item turn-ins you have completed. The rewards for these include:
Titles
Cosmetic Cloaks
Task Limit Upgrade +1
LOTRO Points
Class
As I already mentioned, each class has deeds, many of which relate to using specific combat skills.
What I did not say was that each class has a number of “tiers” containing different skills. Now, I’ve found that you don’t necessarily clear the tiers in order as it sort of depends on how you play your class.
Note: many, if not most class deeds have a limit on how often this can be incremented per day. Hovering over the progress bar will tell you if it can be incremented today, or not.
Racial Deeds
Return to Bree), random-looking racial skills (e.g. Stoop for a Stone) and, of course, LOTRO Points. Festival/Event Deeds
As well as your normal “adventuring” ones, festivals in the LOTRO Events Schedule also come with deeds. These may rewards tokens, titles, character frames or decorations, for instance. Here are a few sample ones from festivals.
For the Love of Midsummer
The Midsummer Merry-Maker title deed grants the title and a character frame.
Filling the Field
Filling the Field during Yule Festival, grants a Broken Snowman decoration as well as a title.
Consumables
Using a number of festival consumables may grant that as a permanent skill.
A few Spring Fest consumables can, and the facepaints from the Buried Treasure Event definitely do.
Festival Tokens
Golden Festival Tokens in its rewards. And A Feast of Fellowship at the Midsummer Festival grants both the Banqueter Title and 
Midsummer Tokens.
Misc Deeds
Examples of other deeds are:
- Emote: Using a certain emote a number of times may grant a different emote permanently.
- Instances: These are (usually) group-based content, but some of those may have a Solo option.
- That includes Seasonal Instances like A Flurry of Fireworks and Bee’s Big Business.
- The deeds inside Instances may include: Bosses defeated, Numbers of enemies defeated in the instance, finding locations inside them, completing them.
- Crafting: When you first learn your crafting profession, you receive and auto-complete a deed that grants you a title relating to your profession. LOTRO-Wiki has the full list.
The /swordsalute emote is a hidden deed. It can only be incremented five times a day. See the Wiki.
Hidden Deeds? Meta Deeds? What the heck?
Yes indeed. Let’s kinda answer that question.
Hidden Deeds
As I mentioned before, nearly all deeds start hidden. So, for example, the Goblin part for Slayer of the Shire does not appear in the Deed Log until you defeat your first goblin in that area.
How They’re Different
However there is an entire classification of hidden deeds, which are quite varied and function differently.
Unlike a normal deed, where you can see your progress, hidden deeds only appear once you complete them.
As there are so many types of hidden ones, to keep it simple, check out The Wiki for a full list of hidden deeds.
Example of Hidden Deed
The simplest example is the Such Generosity deed at Yule Festival. By giving the poor folks of Winter-home 
Yule Festival Tokens, you unknowingly contribute towards a deed.
This is only revealed once you have given 50 Tokens away:
Meta Deeds
- Bree-land Adventurer: Complete numbers of quests.
- The Old Forest
- Explorer of Bree-land
- The Barrow-downs
- Slayer of Bree-land
- Bree-land Woodsman (Huorns)
- Brigands
- Wights
- Barghests
- Orcs
- Sickleflies
- Spiders
- Neeker-breekers
Tracking Deeds
Keeping a grip on which deeds you intend to do, have done and haven’t started yet is messy. And, if you’re like me and you know a deed exists but cannot find it again, that can be annoying.
Quest Tracker Integration
Simply hit “Add to Tracker” and it’ll appear alongside any active quests you have in there. You may need to lock the item in the Quest Tracker to make sure it’s not overwritten.
Quick Reminder
Deeds involving enemies or specific items have an additional prompt – the tooltip. But this is only true once you have initiated it.
Deed Tracker Plugin
It exists to help you track deed completions, rather than show progress of deeds. Their LOTROInterface page says:
Unlike the in-game Deed Log, Deed Tracker cannot tell how far along you are on a deed. Deed Tracker is meant to be a companion to the in-game Deed Log, to serve as an easy way to guide your deeding.
So give it a whirl! And if you’ve never used LOTRO Addons before, see my How to Install LOTRO Plugins Guide.
Deed Accelerators
There are a few such items listed 
on the Wiki. Some can be acquired through playing the game and all are available on the LOTRO Store too.
It used to be the case that you could get class deed accelerators, but I think that stopped when trait points were granted at certain levels rather than by other ways.
Slayer Deed Guides
Here are some of my current slayer deed guides:
Deed Rewards and Benefits
I’ve divided this up into rewards and benefits because, while most people look for the stuff they can get from deeds, there are additional benefits that are less tangible.
Rewards
There’s no way I could list all the possible rewards for the completion of Middle-Earth’s many deeds! So, I’ll just cover the main ones.
LOTRO Points
Many LOTRO Deeds grant LOTRO Points, though not all.
Also, be aware that in newer regions of The Lord of the Rings Online, the first stage of a slayer deed does not always grant LP now, but the (Advanced) stage may do.
Reputation
Deeds often grant a reputation boost with the local faction (or one of them – Moria and the Wildwood of Bree-land have two, for example). Hover over the part about reputation in your deed log to see how much it gives you.
Reputation increases usually unlock tiers of rewards you can barter for (like Reputation Mounts). And some even grant mounts directly.
You may find reputation items are rewards for deeds, sometimes, too. To use the Wildwoods as an example again, 
Woodcutter’s Brotherhood tokens grant reputation.
Titles
We’ve mentioned it a few times, but for completeness I’ve kept it in here too. A very common reward is a new title to add to the gazillion you likely already have.
This is one from the April Fools Day Event. Yay. At least I picked the nicer one of the two titles!
Regional Currency
Iron Coins of Cardolan are given for completing the “Deeds of Swanfleet”. XP
While the deeds never specify how much XP, many of them do grant it. So, while killing individual enemies for a slayer deed may not net you much progression, clearing the whole thing may give you much more.
And, if those enemies drop task items, then you can use a Task Board and turn that slayer deed into 
reputation and more XP.
Coin
This one may not be obvious! However, if you spend time defeating 120 Brigands for a deed, you get a whole bunch of trash and task items. The trash can be turned into instant silver/copper at a vendor.
Virtue XP
Deeds grant Virtue XP (VXP) which means you can use them to improve or customise your combat stats.
Marks
Another common reward, at least in the earlier regions, is Marks. You can then use these to exchange for gear, cosmetics and other items at a Skirmish Camp.
Here 100× is given for completing Explorer of Bree-land.
Legendary Item…items
Legendary Reward Track
This one is a bit more subtle, along the lines of earning coin above. But if you’re working on slayer deeds from Moria onwards, then you’ll be gradually amassing 
Legendary Item XP with each kill.
This helps push you on for more Reward Track…uhm, rewards.
Benefits
Stop And Stare
A potentially undervalued benefit from taking the time to do deeds is appreciating the world LOTRO have created for us. From hidden-away nooks to ornate enemy strongholds and from mountain ridges to the deep mines, there’s a lot of exploration to do!
So, “Stop and Stare”, folks. Enjoy the quests and take in the views. What use are rewards if you don’t appreciate the world you obtained them from?
Familiarisation
Better Combat
By aiming to complete the class deeds, you’re “forced” to use skills you maybe would not, especially if you’re used to the same two-or-three skills at the start of every fight.
As you adventure on and content becomes harder, being comfortable with more of your combat skills will be essential.
Quirks
When you trigger a deed, or complete one, you receive a notification – potentially multiple notifications. These will include any titles or LOTRO Points you’ve received too.
However, sometimes when starting or finishing a deed off, clicking the notification does not open or highlight the deed in question. Look in your chat logs to find out which one you’ve completed – in case you missed it when it was happening.
Or check back to the section on Tracking Deeds above.
Tips on Completing Deeds
Start Where You Are
Focus on completing deeds in the areas that you are currently questing in. This will help you level up a bit more as well as providing additional rewards.
However, if you don’t want/need the rewards, you can always switch to another region. Don’t make it feel like work!
Exceed Quest Objectives
Going to a place once is more efficient than going to it twice, yes? So, if you have a quest that sends you to defeat tem Spiders, and the region you’re in has a spider-slayer deed, then do more than the quest says.
Get to Know Middle-Earth
Picking up and completing side-quests often helps to find key locations, either for exploration deeds or enemy bases for slayer deeds. It means when you return – on that or another character – you’re more likely to find places much easier.
Use My Deed Guides
These are growing, but I have many LOTRO deed guides. In relation to the starter regions, here are some examples:
Use LOTRO-Wiki
The Wiki is a community effort and has long existed to provide help for LOTRO’s player base. Make sure to use it as well if you get stuck.
Ask in Chat or Kin
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are many experienced players who are willing to help beginners. You can ask for help in the game’s chat channels or on the forums. Consider joining a kin that is not purely focussed on endgame or raiding, if you’re new to LOTRO. From what I’ve seen, that’s most of them.
You may also find deed runs being carried out in a stream. For example, Thee Green Eyed Gamer occasionally runs Slayer Saturdays.
For Class Deeds
Yes, you can use the abilities mentioned, but not all are that simple. If you have to “evade enemy attacks”, that’s not something you can do with clicks or keystrokes.
Instead, boost the stats through gearing that relate to those deeds. To be fair, though, so long as your gear is up-to-scratch, you should passively increase these regardless.
- You may find some types of food boost the stats you need. So, to take Evasion as the example again, a boost to Agility may increase your chances of advancing that deed.
- If you have Legendary Weapons/Items then there are traceries for nearly every aspect of your combat stats. You can use that system to increase the probabilities also.
TL;DR LOTRO Deeds Are Not Just for Beginners!
Due to the way deeds are rewarded, this is not just feature for new LOTRO players. Completing deeds becomes a way to gain things that cannot be earned any other way. There are many different types to keep your gameplay varied and they can often be viewed as bonus achievements for stuff you’re already doing. So I encourage you to get to know your deed log, and in each place you adventure, see which are available.
But as you go about completing LOTRO Deeds, I urge you to StopAndStare. Ticking boxes is great, but SSG have made Middle-Earth an immersive place to be. Always take time to enjoy LOTRO, folks.
