Ki vs Rage

[dmhelp]

If your DM let you swap out action surge on a fighter for either barbarian rage (same damage bonus and uses as barb of equal level) or ki (=fighter level for use with deflect missiles, dodge, or dash) would you consider both choices desirable or one vastly superior?

What if at level 6 if you chose ki you could swap your asi for stunning strike (str or dex instead of wis but limited to once per turn)?

If one choice is much better is there a change that would make them roughly equal? E.g. cut the ki down to level divided by 2.

[Joe the Rat]

Depending on what ki abilities you add in, I think that will be more useful to the fighter. or more versatile rather - outside of unarmored defense and martial arts, the monk abilities are armor-neutral, while barbarian rage is medium armor or less - meaning the angry weapon guy can't wear heavy armor.

I think you would be better off creating an archetype that incorporates Monk or Barbarian traits. Half progression or Proficiency Bonus ki pool and couple of basic tricks, stunning strike (and maybe ki-infused strikes) as the 7th level feature, etc. Rage is trickier - I'm not 100% on matching rages per day, but at the same time, but with the lack of support abilities (unarmored defense and reckless attack in particular) it might be fine.

[JackPhoenix]

Ironically enough, Rage would be better on a fighter than on a barbarian, thanks to scaling better the more attacks you make.

[neonchameleon]

If your DM let you swap out action surge on a fighter for either barbarian rage (same damage bonus and uses as barb of equal level) or ki (=fighter level for use with deflect missiles, dodge, or dash) would you consider both choices desirable or one vastly superior?

What if at level 6 if you chose ki you could swap your asi for stunning strike (str or dex instead of wis but limited to once per turn)?

If one choice is much better is there a change that would make them roughly equal? E.g. cut the ki down to level divided by 2.

Honestly forget the offence - what your DM is offering you is a very powerful defensive buff in both cases. It's either halving incoming weapon damage (or the few spells that do bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage) a few fights per day or giving disadvantage to all incoming weapon attacks (and the spells that make attack rolls or require dex saves) a lot of times per short rest. And which I'd prefer depends on the rest of my build and what I want to do with my bonus actions. Both are reasonably balanced against each other and both are good.

[Danielqueue1]

Take monk abilities, then multiclass Barbarian. Get both and laugh manically!

[Kane0]

Do you get all Ki features or just a few?

Rage is very potent, but if you get all the Ki abilities thats a whole hell of a lot of options

[diplomancer]

My first instinct was Rage, but a bonus action Dodge on a High AC class is crazy, and from about levels 5/6 you're likely to have it pretty much at every round. And the other uses, though more situational, will still be very good when they're needed. Rage will be better at tier 1, but it feels to me that Ki will be better as the game progresses.

[Contrast]

I think you would be better off creating an archetype that incorporates Monk or Barbarian traits. Half progression or Proficiency Bonus ki pool and couple of basic tricks, stunning strike (and maybe ki-infused strikes) as the 7th level feature, etc. Rage is trickier - I'm not 100% on matching rages per day, but at the same time, but with the lack of support abilities (unarmored defense and reckless attack in particular) it might be fine.

While its not rage, its worth noting that the Rune Knight is basically already the 'barbarian' fighter. They get res to phys damage for 1 minute at level 7 on a 1/short rest basis (increasing to 2/short rest at level 15). No damage bump but you also don't have to faff about to maintain it, it just sticks for a minute. Then they kinda get the other half of Rage in Giant’s Might as a seperate ability.

[H_H_F_F]

Heavily dependent on how often you plan to use your bonus action. If you're going for polearm master, twf, or a bonus action dependent subclass, there's too much competition, so rage would be better.

You should clarify if you can rage wearing heavy armor. Probably not, but it's worth asking.