D&D 5E Multiclassing order

[Coredump]

As for Martial Arts, a monk can use monk weapons including the shortsword to make an extra attack as a bonus action it does not not need always be an unarmed strike.

No they can't. The Bonus attack is always an Unarmed Strike

 

[nswanson27]

I just reviewed the rules for monks and noticed the following on page 78 of the PHB which renders this entire discussion (in regards to rapiers, short swords and unarmed strikes) moot: "You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding ONLY monk weapons (the rapier is NOT a monk weapon) and you aren't wearing armor or wielding a shield:". What follows are the bullet points about being able to use DEX instead of STR with unarmed strikes and monk weapons as well as the ability to use a bonus action to make an unarmed strike.

Ahh, good catch. I missed that.
However, you could still draw the rapier if you wanted to shadowstep, attack, attack on a turn. Then you could sheathe it on the next turn if you wanted to attack, attack, martial arts (x2 shortswords now).
But yeah, it's not quite as good as I had originally thought.

 

[Logan1138]

Ahh, good catch. I missed that.
However, you could still draw the rapier if you wanted to shadowstep, attack, attack on a turn. Then you could sheathe it on the next turn if you wanted to attack, attack, martial arts (x2 shortswords now).
But yeah, it's not quite as good as I had originally thought.

You're correct that you could still use the bonus action for the shadow-step and then attack twice (with Extra Attack) with a rapier but on your next turn I'm not sure how many weapons you could sheathe/unsheathe without having to use the Use An Object action which is why the Dual Wielding feat specifically includes a feature about being able to draw or stow two weapons instead of only being able to draw or stow a single weapon. It might be something that varies from DM to DM in regards to how many weapons you are allowed to draw or stow in one round just as part of your movement or attack action before they require you to use the Use An Object action to manipulate all those weapons.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I think people have mostly cleared it up by now, but just in case:

1) If you are wielding a non-monk weapon at all you can't use the Martial Arts features, including the bonus attack
2) The bonus attack is always an unarmed strike
3) Yes, you can use your Extra Attack feature to attack with any non-monk weapons you want, as long as you don't plan to benefit from any of the Martial Arts features

4) Little known fact--Flurry of Blows isn't connected to Martial Arts. You can make your normal attacks (including Extra Attack if you have it) with a rapier, or a battleaxe or longbow for that matter, spend a point of ki, and use Flurry of Blows to make 2 unarmed attacks with a bonus action. This is also useful if you want to make a ranged attack and then close in to melee and still get those bonus attacks.