Yes, you can do that. If you start your turn with a Rapier and a loaded Hand Crossbow in hand you can: Attack with the Rapier (Action used up)
Can you use a hand crossbow with two weapon fighting?
Hand crossbows are the only ranged weapon listed in PHB with the “light” characteristic which means it can be held and fired with one hand. Unfortunately, because they are ranged weapons, they do not qualify for the Two Weapon Fighting feature because the rule specifically states that the weapons must be melee weapons.
Can you use a crossbow one handed?
Firing again as a Bonus Action: A hand crossbow is a one-handed weapon, so it can, indeed, be used for both attacks, assuming you have a hand free to load the hand crossbow between the two attacks.
Why is Rapier not a light weapon 5e?
The simplest answer is because the gains designers decided not to give it the light property based on its weapon die. It’s not actually based on weight. light weapons are pretty much limited to a 1d6 or lower.
Do you need a free hand to load a crossbow?
So the answer is no, you cannot dual wield hand crossbows then since one hand needs to be available to load it as part of the attack. You can wield one and fire the same one twice using the extra attack feature as long as your other hand is free to load it.
Can you use a rapier with a hand crossbow?
Yes, you can do that. You can do everything exactly as you described. If you start your turn with a Rapier and a loaded Hand Crossbow in hand you can: Since you used the Attack action and attacked with a one handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a Hand Crossbow you are holding thanks to your Crossbow Expert feat.
When to draw and fire the hand crossbow?
If my rapier is already drawn at the start of my turn, draw and fire the hand crossbow as a bonus action
Can a hand crossbow be used as an attack?
Loading the weapon is part of the attack. Sage Advice tells us that a crossbow expert can use a hand crossbow for an Attack action, and then, provided he has a free hand to reload, use the same hand crossbow to perform an attack as a bonus action.
What do you use a rapier for in Minecraft?
I am a Swashbuckler Rogue (possibly irrelevant). I am wielding a hand crossbow and a rapier in each hand, with the Crossbow Expert feat (PHB, p165). On my turn I use my action to hit with my rapier, then drop the rapier as a free action, shoot the hand crossbow as bonus action, then pick up rapier as my Object Interaction.
