When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the DM tells you whether that action is possible and what kind of roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure. Of course, this is possible using a made up action as the rules on " Actions in Combat" state: There simply is no way to draw the ammunition for an attack other than during the attack thus crossbows cannot be pre-loaded as the only time they are loaded is immediately before being fired. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition. You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. The " Weapon Properties" rules state (emphasis mine): Strictly speaking, there is no way to pre-load a crossbow. Or that it needs proper loading, ammo etc. This could imply the sling (and by extension other loading weapons) can be pre-loaded. Then again, when later referring to using a Loading weapon for a melee attack,Ī sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way. That part might imply that the loading (and thus the hand requirement) is to happen as part of the attack.
VICIOUS HAND CROSSBOW 5E FREE
Can you fire that single shot from the crossbow before having to drop it for something more practical? I'm unsure, on account of not being able to clearly show that such a thing as a 'loaded state' exists for a crossbow, by RAW:Īmmunition Drawing the Ammunition from a Quiver, case, or otherĬontainer is part of the Attack (you need a free hand to load aĮmphasis mine. The exceptions to look out for are getting significantly more attacks (Fighter Action Surge, Fighter Extra Attack, Haste, etc.), extremely hard to hit enemies (I'm not going to do the math to figure out exactly what die roll you need, but high), and finding a magic Heavy Crossbow.Īdditional Notes: BBeast, rightly, points out that if your opponent is outside of the Hand Crossbow's maximum range (120), but within the Heavy Crossbow's maximum range (400), then the Heavy Crossbow wins by default.I've always thought the answer was 'duh, obviously' but I'm hard-pressed to find RAW evidence all of a sudden.Īssume you have a hand crossbow, loaded, in one hand, while your other hand is occupied (holding a sword or a very important relic or even missing for that matter). All together nowĪlmost always, for most characters, the Hand Crossbow is going to be better if you have Crossbow Master and Sharpshooter. If something is limiting your ability to take your bonus action (slow, needing it for something else, etc), then that makes the Heavy Crossbow strictly better. Finding a special Hand/Heavy CrossbowĪ +3 Heavy Crossbow of Awesomeness is almost always going to be worth using over most mundane Hand Crossbows. are all going to have a similar effect, wherein more attacks is better. Magic ammunition, a vulnerable enemy, Elemental weapon, etc. This is equally true of anything that's going to bump your damage. Increasing your Dexterity to 18 or 20 (or beyond) are going to lean this towards the hand crossbow by the increase of the modifier (+1 modifier makes it +1 damage better, etc.). also lean towards Heavy Crossbow Factoring in higher Ability Scores (and damage increases) When fighters get Extra Attack (2), expected sharpshooter damage goes up to about 55.5 (Heavy) and 66 (Hand), but expected non-sharpshooter damage to 25.5 (Heavy) and 26 (Hand)Īnd Extra Attack (3) brings us up to sharpshooter 74 (Heavy) and 82.5 (Hand), with non-sharpshooter damage at 34 (Heavy) and 32.5 (Hand).Īdditionally, things like Action Surge, Haste, etc. Keep in mind that the half-orc trait, brutal critical, and Savage Attacker only trigger on melee attacks.
This is especially true for Champion Fighter's expanded critical range.
Expected critical damage is 28 (Heavy) and 26.5 (Hand), if you're not using the sharpshooter bonus (48 heavy and 56.5 hand, with the bonus). If you need a high roll to hit, then it's likely that many of your hits are going to be critical hits. Hits are more or less likely to be critical hits, depending on how likely it is for you to hit in the first place. It's still in favor of hand crossbow, but when combined with the points below, it might tip the scale. If you're not using the "bonus" from the Sharpshooter feat, that brings you down to 17 damage (Heavy) vs 19.5 damage (hand). However, there are some things that skew this one way or the other. Hand Crossbow is going to be better in that scenario.Ĥ9.5 damage for three hits is just better than 37 damage for two hits. Assuming that you're level five, you have Extra Attack (1), those two feats (and you're using the sharpshooter bonus), and a Dexterity of 16. You've kind of answered your own question. See "All Together Now" at the bottom for the summary.
0 kommentar(er)
