D&D 5R: Drawing & Stowing Weapons -- Dueling and Two Weapon Fighting Simultaneously?

In an earlier post, Four Attacks per Turn at Level 5. Yes! Really?, I looked at the hash that the 5R rules created with two weapon fighting.  This is a related, but much simpler topic: How does drawing and stowing weapons work and can a character benefit from dueling feat (use only one weapon) and Duel Wielder / Two-Weapon Fighting Style in the same round?

I'll gather the rules snippets that apply and link a relevant video but first, I'll get to the conclusion and an example. 

TLDR: Each attack can be accompanied by stowing -or- drawing a weapon (two with two weapon fighting feat) before -or- after the actual attack. It is possible (and bizarre) for a character to benefit from who has the Duel Wielder / Two-Weapon Fighting Style and the Dueling feat in the same combat round.

What Does All This Mean?

For most characters, this is a really simple topic.  As an attack, they can equip or unequip one weapon, before or after the attack.  I'm failing at coming up with a different way to say that.

Life gets more interesting when we have a character with multiple attacks and some investment in feats.  Lets look at an example of a mid level Fighter, I'll call Freddy, who has the Dual Wielder Feat, Dueling Fighting Style, and Two Weapon Fighting Style.  Freddy likes to walk around with a Scimitar (Light, Nick) and Shield (not a weapon) at the ready with a Short Sword (Light, Vex) on his belt. 

Freddy's round of combat could go like this:

1. Draw his Scimitar. If Freddy doesn't have his weapon equipped at the start of his turn, he can equip it as part of the following attack. 
2. Attack with Scimitar.  Damage is increased by +2 from Dueling Fighting Style and the Nick property enables an off-hand attack with a different weapon without needing to use a bonus action.  
3. Attack Again with Scimitar.  This is enable by the Fighter's Extra Attack feature and once again is increased by +2 from Dueling Fighting Style.  Freddy still has a shield in his other hand, so he has only one weapon equipped. 
4. Stow the Scimitar. This is enable by the preceding attack.  Freddy neatly tucks the scimitar away.  He doesn't drop it, he stows it.
5. Draw his Short Sword. Freddy readies his short sword for action, drawing it from its sheath.  This is part of the other weapon (formerly off-hand attack) that he is beginning now. 
6. Attack with Short Sword. Freddy makes the attack enabled by the Nick property weapon used in steps 1 & 2.  The damage from this attack is increased by Freddy's attack stat modifier (Two Weapon Fighting Style) and receives an additional flat +2 (Dueling Fighting Style). If this attack hits, the target is afflicted by Vex, granting advantage to the next attack from this character.
7. Attack Again with Short Sword. Freddy uses his Bonus Action to make one last attack with the short sword.  This is enabled by the Dual Wielder Feat.  This attack may be at advantage if the previous attack landed and its damage is increased by Freddy's attack stat modifier (Two Weapon Fighting Style) and an additional flat +2 (Dueling Fighting Style). Note: This attack might Vex the target again. 
8. Stow the Short Sword. This is enable by the preceding attack and sets Freddy up to repeat the sequence next round at the expense of not having a weapon in hand for a potential opportunity attack later this turn.

Holy Cannelloni Batman! That is one heck of an attack sequence, but I think it is totally cool by the Rules as Written (RAW).  It requires quite an investment in feats:

• Dual Wielder Feat
• Two Weapon Fighting Style
• Dueling Fighting Style

This can't come online until a Fighter hits level 6, even then the benefits aren't overwhelming consider the feats inmvested and stronger weapons foregone to make this happen.  But, it can happen and seems a worthwhile exercise in understanding how the 5R rules work in this regard.

Rules Snippets

The 2024 revision of D&D 5E (which I refer to as 5R for 5E Revised and brevity) has the rules that apply to this in a couple of places:

Attack [Action] (2024 Free Rules)

Here's the relevant rules portion:

Equipping and Unequipping Weapons. You can either equip or unequip one weapon when you make an attack as part of this action. You do so either before or after the attack. If you equip a weapon before an attack, you don’t need to use it for that attack. Equipping a weapon includes drawing it from a sheath or picking it up. Unequipping a weapon includes sheathing, stowing, or dropping it. 

Notice the two uses of "or" in the rules text.  A creature can either equip -or- unequip a weapon, before -or- after the attack.   Also, for veterans of older versions, the drop a weapon free action is no longer a thing.

Dueling Fighting Style (2024 PHB)

This is a fighting style feat, so it is limited to characters who have access to the Fighting Style feature (i.e. Fighters, Rangers, those with the Fighting Initiate feat from Tasha's)

Fighting Style Feat (Prerequisite: Fighting Style Feature)

When you’re holding a Melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

This simply allows the attacker to add a flat +2 to damage when holding only one weapon (a shield is not a weapon). 

Dual Wielder Feat (2024 PHB)

This feat grants a stat improvement and two abilities relevant to this discussion.

Enhanced Dual Wielding. When you take the Attack action on your turn and attack with a weapon that has the Light property, you can make one extra attack as a Bonus Action later on the same turn with a different weapon, which must be a Melee weapon that lacks the Two-Handed property....

Quick Draw. You can draw or stow two weapons that lack the Two-Handed property when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.

This doesn't affect the question of dueling with two weapons, but it is worth knowing when thinking about equip/unequip mechanics.  

Two-Weapon Fighting Style (2024 Free Rules)

This is a fighting style feat, so it is limited to characters who have access to the Fighting Style feature (i.e. Fighters, Rangers, those with the Fighting Initiate feat from Tasha's)

Fighting Style Feat (Prerequisite: Fighting Style Feature)

When you make an extra attack as a result of using a weapon that has the Light property, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of that attack if you aren’t already adding it to the damage.

This simply allows the attacker to add the appropriate ability modifier to the damage roll of light weapon attacks if it isn't already added. 

Relevant Video

Here is an embedded video that address this topic as of early March, 2025.  

JNJ TableTop: Can you ACTUALLY use a Shield WHILE Two Weapon Fighting?