How many times I can shoot my Hand Crossbow with the Crossbow Expert Feat per Turn?

[mistermarv]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a clarification for the Hand Crossbow and Crossbow Expert Feat. I plan to take Fighter class for this build and use a single Hand Crossbow for my character to attack enemies from afar; however I am confused with how many times I can attack in 1 round.

There is a sentence in the Crossbow Expert Feat that said: "You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient"

Does this mean: if I am a level 11 Fighters and holding only a single Hand Crossbow with the Crossbow Expert Feat, will I be able to fire 3 bolts/attacks using my Action in 1 round?

I'm sure my understanding is wrong here and therefore seeking everyone's knowledge for clarification.

[GreyBlack]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a clarification for the Hand Crossbow and Crossbow Expert Feat. I plan to take Fighter class for this build and use a single Hand Crossbow for my character to attack enemies from afar; however I am confused with how many times I can attack in 1 round.

There is a sentence in the Crossbow Expert Feat that said: "You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient"

Does this mean: if I am a level 11 Fighters and holding only a single Hand Crossbow with the Crossbow Expert Feat, will I be able to fire 3 bolts/attacks using my Action in 1 round?

I'm sure my understanding is wrong here and therefore seeking everyone's knowledge for clarification.

No, that reading is correct. By ignoring the loading feat, you can basically turn your hand crossbow into a hand cannon. However, if you use the second part of the feat (crossbow after melee attack), you only get one of those per turn.

[Quoz]

The feat has two parts that effect speed. Removing the load quality let's you use extra attack, so a level 11 fighter would get 3 attacks with an action. The bonus action attack is triggered by the attack action, so you can also make a bonus action attack as well. Since the 3rd part of the feat removes the penalty for ranged attacks in melee, you can just shoot all day until you run out of ammo.

One other thing that comes into a hand crossbow user is hands. RAW you still need a free hand to reload, but many GMs will be flexible on this, allowing for a shield or other hand weapon. Arcane Tricksters can use mage hand to reload. Thrown weapons work well, since your hand is free after you throw. A net is particularly useful if you have an attack without extra attack, like rogues or the extra attack from haste.

[smcmike]

However, if you use the second part of the feat (crossbow after melee attack), you only get one of those per turn.

The second part doesn’t say anything about a melee attack. It does work with a melee attack, but it also lets you add another shot with your hand crossbow after using the attack action with it.

If you aren’t going to take advantage of this, it’s better just to use a bigger crossbow.

[Coffee_Dragon]

RAW you still need a free hand to reload, but many GMs will be flexible on this, allowing for a shield or other hand weapon. Arcane Tricksters can use mage hand to reload.

Using Mage Hand as an all-purpose third limb would require much flexibility indeed.

[DivisibleByZero]

Does this mean: if I am a level 11 Fighters and holding only a single Hand Crossbow with the Crossbow Expert Feat, will I be able to fire 3 bolts/attacks using my Action in 1 round?

I'm sure my understanding is wrong here and therefore seeking everyone's knowledge for clarification.

Your understanding is not wrong.
Removing the Loading property removes the restriction on the number of times you can fire it in one round.

11th level Fighter:
Attack Action: 3 shots
Bonus Action granted by the feat: 1 shot (4 total)
potential Action Surge: 3 shots (7 total)
potential Haste action: 1 shot (5 or 8 total, depending on Action Surge usage)

[Malifice]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a clarification for the Hand Crossbow and Crossbow Expert Feat. I plan to take Fighter class for this build and use a single Hand Crossbow for my character to attack enemies from afar; however I am confused with how many times I can attack in 1 round.

There is a sentence in the Crossbow Expert Feat that said: "You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient"

Does this mean: if I am a level 11 Fighters and holding only a single Hand Crossbow with the Crossbow Expert Feat, will I be able to fire 3 bolts/attacks using my Action in 1 round?

I'm sure my understanding is wrong here and therefore seeking everyone's knowledge for clarification.

With crossbow expert you can also shoot your hand crossbow again as a bonus action if you make a weapon attack. Which the crossbow itself counts as.

So you get 4 attacks per turn. 3 with your action and 1 with your bonus action.

This increases to 7 in a turn when you action surge.

[Foff]

and after you're done shooting all those bolts just throw your hand crossbow in their face for good measure