Ranger with horde breaker and Crossbow

[Morphie]

Hello everybody!

So, I just reached 3rd level with my ranger and followed the Hunter route.
My ranger uses a crossbow and my question is: How does it work with the Horde breaker ability? The weapon has the loading property that forbids me from having more than a single attack per action/bonus action/ reaction/whatever, but how does that work with something that doesn't take an action?

Thanks in advance, have a good one.

[djreynolds]

Hello everybody!

So, I just reached 3rd level with my ranger and followed the Hunter route.
My ranger uses a crossbow and my question is: How does it work with the Horde breaker ability? The weapon has the loading property that forbids me from having more than a single attack per action/bonus action/ reaction/whatever, but how does that work with something that doesn't take an action?

Thanks in advance, have a good one.

I think you're correct, you cannot.

But if you used a hand crossbow, you could possibly toss a dagger maybe.

4th is one level away, I suggest using a bow til you can get crossbow expert

[Morphie]

I think you're correct, you cannot.

But if you used a hand crossbow, you could possibly toss a dagger maybe.

4th is one level away, I suggest using a bow til you can get crossbow expert

Sadly I can't do it because I have to use the same weapon on the free attack I get with horde breaker.
Crossbows man... why are they so complicated? It's like they force people to only pick bows in order to play a ranged fighter right.

[iTreeby]

You can do it with crossbow expert and a hand crossbow. The feat is a little confusingly worded but the attacks can all be the same hand crossbow.

[Keravath]

Actually, I would say he could use the horde breaker ability.

Loading: Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Horde Breaker. Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.

Horde breaker is triggered by making a weapon attack (this could be using your action to make a weapon attack or perhaps using the extra action granted by haste to make a weapon attack). However, it doesn't say that the attack granted by horde breaker is part of the attack action that triggers it. It is also not a bonus action or a reaction. It is just an additional weapon attack. As such, the loading property should not apply since loading applies only during an action, bonus action or reaction and horde breaker doesn't specify any of these.

However, I think the ranger really needs to take crossbow expert feat at level 4 since it will not only give him a bonus action attack with the hand crossbow, it will allow him to ignore the loading property when they gain extra attack at level 5.