If I wanted to play a fighter archer that when an enemy closed in switched to sword and shield from a bow. How would I go about switching them or would it not be worth it based on action economy?
Every time you attack you use 1 free action to interact with a weapon (example: a short sword) then take an action to attack with that weapon. Because bows require two hands you would need to put away to use shield again. IMO since the shield adds 2 to AC then I would say it would be an action to equip or unequip, with swords I can assume the character can sheathe or unsheathe a sword to use other melee weapons like axes, or a mace. Unfortunately the fighter doesn't have bonus attack to interact with another object, they do have action surge however they can use once per short rest which will give them an additional action. So far we assume the free action is to put a bow away and either this interaction switches to the sword or you need to use action surge to pull out the sword if you use it to pull out the shield or you can just pull out the sword instead for the action and action surge with the attack.
Battle Master Maneuver - Riposte
"When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to make a melee weapon attack against the creature. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll."
Let's say the DM does have it be a free interaction to switch bow with sword and shield and even with action surge used you still don't get an attack which feels like it wastes a turn, it's not over quite yet if you are able to use reactions. You get one reaction per round. Assuming the enemy is close and is about to melee attack you so you manage to switch to your sword and shield to take them on (next turn) if you went with battle master or even just chose Martial Adept feat which gives you access to two of the maneuvers, you take Riposte and when the enemy makes an attack if they miss you can use your reaction to hit them back.
Other reactions possible include:
Polearm Master if using a lance or spear or quarterstaff to hit the target when they are within your reach.
Mage Slayer if they are within 5 feet of you and decide to cast a spell.
If you are using a bow, try and keep a good distance so melee is never an issue. If you still want ranged attacks and switching between range and melee then consider Crossbow Expert feat. You ignore the loading property of the weapon allowing you to shoot at an enemy as a bonus attack after melee and not have disadvantage if an enemy is within 5 feet of you.
The bow itself can also be treated as an improvised weapon which deal 1d4 damage. If you are using the Tavern Brawler feat the attack roll for improvised weapons gets your proficiency added to it and you can use a bonus action to grapple so it would be like your archer fighter striking them with the bow then holding it up against their neck is a way to visualize it.
Of course this all depends on how your DM feels about feats and whether they are allowed at your table or not. If they are, then decide if you want to be mostly an archer who fires from afar (in which case I suggest sharpshooter to increase range and ignore half and 3/4 cover) or a fighter who is melee but has some ranged attacks they can perform.
Thanks, that's a lot of good info. I'll have to think on it some more. The reason I was thinking of heading that direction was to create a character similar to the play style of Link.
If your DM allows it, one option is also Dual Wielder. Two weapon fighting aside, it allows you to draw or stow 2 one handed weapons at the same time, so I don't see why this couldn't be extended to include a sword and a shield. A shield alone is usually 1 action to don or doff, but given that you are using a feat that is otherwise useless for you, I'd be willing to allow it. That greatly improves the action economy of switching weapons.
Basically, switching from a bow to sword and shield costs an action.
1) Drop bow
2) Put on shield which costs an action.
3) Draw sword as your free object interaction.
No matter what way you want to do it, putting on a shield will cost an action to perform so that is the minimum time required. If you are a fighter, you could drop the bow, don the shield, pull your sword and then use action surge if you wanted to actually attack that turn.
If you just want to attack you can drop the bow, use a free object interaction to draw the sword and then use your action to attack. Of course you don't have an equipped shield at that point. It can be put on later at the cost of an action.
This is ongoing problem for my BladeLock because my pact weapon is sometimes a longbow, sometimes a rapier. It not only takes an action to don a shield, it takes another to summon a different pact weapon. (The Improved Pact Weapon Invocation has its pros and cons.)
There's only so much you can do in the middle of combat, and sometimes you need every action to continue pressing the attack. So my advice is skip the shield if the fight has already started. It's easier just to put away the bow and fight with a two handed weapon, or fight with two weapons. (Or a weapon and a pact keepers rod, in my case.)
Or make the decision before the fight to get into melee with the sword and shield as rapidly as possible, and don't use the bow. Sometimes you just have to pick one beforehand and stick with it, because there won't be time to change your mind later. Choose wisely. I've occasionally brought my bow to a sword fight, and vice versa. It wasn't fun.
Or ask your wizard friend very nicely if he'll make a magic shield that you can don as free/bonus action.
If I wanted to play a fighter archer that when an enemy closed in switched to sword and shield from a bow. How would I go about switching them or would it not be worth it based on action economy?
Every time you attack you use 1 free action to interact with a weapon (example: a short sword) then take an action to attack with that weapon. Because bows require two hands you would need to put away to use shield again. IMO since the shield adds 2 to AC then I would say it would be an action to equip or unequip, with swords I can assume the character can sheathe or unsheathe a sword to use other melee weapons like axes, or a mace. Unfortunately the fighter doesn't have bonus attack to interact with another object, they do have action surge however they can use once per short rest which will give them an additional action. So far we assume the free action is to put a bow away and either this interaction switches to the sword or you need to use action surge to pull out the sword if you use it to pull out the shield or you can just pull out the sword instead for the action and action surge with the attack.
Battle Master Maneuver - Riposte
"When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one superiority die to make a melee weapon attack against the creature. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll."
Let's say the DM does have it be a free interaction to switch bow with sword and shield and even with action surge used you still don't get an attack which feels like it wastes a turn, it's not over quite yet if you are able to use reactions. You get one reaction per round. Assuming the enemy is close and is about to melee attack you so you manage to switch to your sword and shield to take them on (next turn) if you went with battle master or even just chose Martial Adept feat which gives you access to two of the maneuvers, you take Riposte and when the enemy makes an attack if they miss you can use your reaction to hit them back.
Other reactions possible include:
Polearm Master if using a lance or spear or quarterstaff to hit the target when they are within your reach.
Mage Slayer if they are within 5 feet of you and decide to cast a spell.
If you are using a bow, try and keep a good distance so melee is never an issue. If you still want ranged attacks and switching between range and melee then consider Crossbow Expert feat. You ignore the loading property of the weapon allowing you to shoot at an enemy as a bonus attack after melee and not have disadvantage if an enemy is within 5 feet of you.
The bow itself can also be treated as an improvised weapon which deal 1d4 damage. If you are using the Tavern Brawler feat the attack roll for improvised weapons gets your proficiency added to it and you can use a bonus action to grapple so it would be like your archer fighter striking them with the bow then holding it up against their neck is a way to visualize it.
Of course this all depends on how your DM feels about feats and whether they are allowed at your table or not. If they are, then decide if you want to be mostly an archer who fires from afar (in which case I suggest sharpshooter to increase range and ignore half and 3/4 cover) or a fighter who is melee but has some ranged attacks they can perform.
Thanks, that's a lot of good info. I'll have to think on it some more. The reason I was thinking of heading that direction was to create a character similar to the play style of Link.
If your DM allows it, one option is also Dual Wielder. Two weapon fighting aside, it allows you to draw or stow 2 one handed weapons at the same time, so I don't see why this couldn't be extended to include a sword and a shield. A shield alone is usually 1 action to don or doff, but given that you are using a feat that is otherwise useless for you, I'd be willing to allow it. That greatly improves the action economy of switching weapons.
Basically, switching from a bow to sword and shield costs an action.
1) Drop bow
2) Put on shield which costs an action.
3) Draw sword as your free object interaction.
No matter what way you want to do it, putting on a shield will cost an action to perform so that is the minimum time required. If you are a fighter, you could drop the bow, don the shield, pull your sword and then use action surge if you wanted to actually attack that turn.
If you just want to attack you can drop the bow, use a free object interaction to draw the sword and then use your action to attack. Of course you don't have an equipped shield at that point. It can be put on later at the cost of an action.
This is ongoing problem for my BladeLock because my pact weapon is sometimes a longbow, sometimes a rapier. It not only takes an action to don a shield, it takes another to summon a different pact weapon. (The Improved Pact Weapon Invocation has its pros and cons.)
There's only so much you can do in the middle of combat, and sometimes you need every action to continue pressing the attack. So my advice is skip the shield if the fight has already started. It's easier just to put away the bow and fight with a two handed weapon, or fight with two weapons. (Or a weapon and a pact keepers rod, in my case.)
Or make the decision before the fight to get into melee with the sword and shield as rapidly as possible, and don't use the bow. Sometimes you just have to pick one beforehand and stick with it, because there won't be time to change your mind later. Choose wisely. I've occasionally brought my bow to a sword fight, and vice versa. It wasn't fun.
Or ask your wizard friend very nicely if he'll make a magic shield that you can don as free/bonus action.
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
Harsh, but makes sense - thanks!