Increase your Strength or Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.There is now a feat called 'Tavern Brawler' that allows virtually unrestricted use of improvised weapons, thus making dual-wielding hand crossbows and using them for both ranged and melee combat a viable strategy specifically because they have the light property.Īccustomed to rough-and-tumble fighting using whatever weapons happen to be at hand, you gain the following benefits: You could use a loaded crossbow (hand or otherwise) as an improvised melee weapon to stab your opponent with the bolt. Of course, there's always the possibility of future features which apply to 'light ranged weapons' or the like. It might have been more elegant from a 'the puzzle pieces must fit together!' perspective if Crossbow Expert said 'a crossbow with the light property' instead of 'hand crossbow', but I don't think that really would add much of actual value. But it does not mean the property shouldn't be there, because that kind of mechanical interaction isn't the only reason weapons have descriptions. Is it true that mechanically there are no current rules which make particular use of this property? Meh. You may need special practice and training (as represented by the feat) to take advantage of it, but it's undeniably better than any other crossbow for that case. And it is, as far as crossbows go, ideal for fighting with two weapons. A hand crossbow is small and easy to handle. This property isn't just there as a computer function - it's also part of the basic description. A light weapon is small and easy to handle, making it ideal for use when fighting with two weapons. As you note, the Light property is defined like this: I want to challenge your approach to this. When you use the Attack action and you attack with a one-handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a loaded hand crossbow you are holding.Īs you can see the feat replaces the Two weapon fighting rules, and so the light keyword is still not needed.

Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attacked rolls.You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient.Thanks to extensive practice with the crossbow, you gain the following benefits: The feat for crossbow expert says the following: Now with the addition of the Feats in the players handbook my question still remains. Two weapon fighting only applies to melee weapons! Why does the hand crossbow have the light property? What purpose is it serving? With a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other That you’re holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon Great! However, in the TWF rules in chapter 9 it says the following: So, this would mean I can use my hand crossbow in two weapon fighting. See the rules for two-weapon fighting in chapter 9. The 'light' property offers the following attributes: In the equipment section of the D&D basic rules, it lists 'light' as a weapon property of the hand crossbow.

Off hand crossbow