Charge

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For other uses, see Charge (disambiguation).

Charge
Charge Level 3 warrior ability 8 - 25 yd range 20 sec cooldown Instant Requires Battle Stance Charge to an enemy, stunning it for 1.5 sec. Generates 20 Rage.
Usable by
Class	Warrior
Properties
Type	Offensive
School	Physical
Cooldown	20 seconds
Other information
Level learned	3
Improvements	[Double Time], [Juggernaut], [Warbringer]
Related debuff
Charge Stun Stunned. Duration: 1.5 seconds

A charge is one of those things that always ends badly for someone.^[1]

Charge is the opening skill for a warrior. Charge rapidly moves the warrior towards a target, stuns it, and generates Rage.

Notes

Charge in the TCG.

Charge is one of the fastest ways for a warrior to generate Rage, along with [Battle Shout] and [Commanding Shout].
Charge is not on the global cooldown.
Although it takes a moment for the warrior to reach the target, Charge's stun takes effect immediately. This effectively provides the warrior with a ranged, instant stun effect, makes it very useful for interrupting spellcasting or actions such as flag capturing.
Unlike most stun effects, Charge's is not subject to diminishing returns.

Improvements

Talents

Glyphs

Glyph of Bull Rush
Major Glyph
Use: Permanently teaches you this glyph.

Your Charge generates 15 additional Rage.
Classes: Warrior
Requires Level 25
Sell Price: 1

Glyph of Long Charge
Major Glyph
Use: Permanently teaches you this glyph.

Increases the range of your Charge ability by 5 yards.
Classes: Warrior
Requires Level 25
Sell Price: 1

Tips and tactics

Charge is a great way of opening a fight, if using it will not attract unwanted adds. Even while tanking, a quick Charge after a ranged class pull, followed immediately by a [Thunder Clap] or [Demoralizing Shout] can be a good way to group up mobs.

Charge is great for catching escaping targets or just generating extra rage. The stun effect can also reduce incoming damage or act as an interrupt. In PvP, it can be very useful for staying within range of ranged classes, as well as interrupting their casts.

Because Charge has a minimum range of 8 yards, it can often benefit the warrior to briefly move away from their opponent, allowing them to use Charge again. This not only stuns the opponent, briefly mitigating damage and interrupting casters, but also generates extra rage, which can be immediately dumped into [Heroic Strike] or [Cleave], if nothing else. In single combat with casters in particular, when other interrupts have been exhausted, there is often just enough time for a warrior to run away from the opponent and Charge them, interrupting their cast before their spell can complete. However, be aware that the target must be in front of the warrior for Charge to work, so swift turning may be necessary to pull this off.

Similarly, because of Charge's minimum range, there are situation where it may be to the warrior's advantage to let a fleeing opponent gain some ground on the warrior, in order to allow the use of Charge. As Charge has no rage cost, there is often no reason not to use it as often as possible, especially in single combat.

While Charge is extremely fast, the 1.5-second stun often only keeps the target in place long enough for the warrior to get in melee range. It's useful to interrupt spells when running into a battle that's already taking place, but if for keeping a running player or mob in range, [Hamstring] or some other movement-restricting skill must be used immediately after the Charge. However, while brief, Charge's stun is still long enough to allow for a free hit, and time to use Hamstring or [Piercing Howl] before the target has a chance to move out of range.

Charge is an excellent ability for use in pursuit of an opponent, such as when chasing the opposing flag carrier in Warsong Gulch. When used defensively to peel attackers away from your team's flag carrier, Charge not only allows the warrior to swiftly catch-up to their target (or targets), but when followed by snares or stuns (such as [Intimidating Shout]), allows the warrior to swiftly outstrip them, potentially moving out of melee range before they have a chance to retaliate.

Charge can also be used to great effect when carrying flags in battlegrounds such as Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks. Used in this way, Charge can significantly accelerate one's progress across the map.

Similarly, Charge can be very useful when trying to escape a group of melee attackers, by Charging a more distant target. This can be particularly useful when carrying a flag, or when in pursuit of a player who is.

As a ranged stun, Charge is also excellent for interrupting players performing actions, such as capturing bases in Arathi Basin or picking up the flag in Eye of the Storm.

Charge is not on the global cooldown. This allows warriors to use another ability immediately before or even during a Charge. When using Charge as an opener, [Heroic Throw] makes an excellent addition, adding extra damage and aggro to the target. If used just before Charge, the global cooldown triggered by other abilities will usually expire immediately after the warrior reaches their target.

If the warrior is moving slower than normal (for example, due to being Dazed) and/or the target is moving faster than normal (on a mount), the Charge may tend to over- or undershoot the target.

When attempting to Charge mounted opponents, players should be aware that server lag may cause problems estimating whether a target is within range of Charge. Although the target may be within range at the time of casting, lag may mean that the target has already moved out of range before Charge is actually used. When using Charge from a mount, this will still cause you to dismount, allowing the target to escape. In such situations it is advised to wait until somewhat closer to the target than normally necessary, in order to compensate for potential delay caused by lag.

Charge is typically very smart about avoiding obstacles and climbing cliffs as long as the front of the enemy is open and it is possible by normal means. It often fails to find a path if a small object is right in front of or to the side of the target.

It is possible to Charge right past an enemy and not get aggro as long as the warrior is outside of aggro range at the beginning and end of the charge.

It is possible to Charge mid-air, while jumping, falling or suffering knockback. This can save the warrior's life if they're being knocked over a cliff, or simply save fall-damage and time otherwise wasted returning to combat.

Patches and hotfixes

Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Rage generation increased from 15 to 20. Can now be used in combat. Cooldown increased from 15 to 20 sec.
Patch 4.3.0 (2011-11-29): Charge (and related abilities) should now correctly path to a target even if the target moves during the Charge. This change should decrease the likelihood of the warrior Charging to a different location than the target.
Patch 4.2.0 (2011-06-28): It is no longer possible in some encounters to use Charge when closer than its minimum range.
Patch 4.1.0 (2011-04-26): Charge and [Intercept] no longer have diminishing returns on their stun effects.
Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Charge is available at level 3 and costs 57.
Patch 3.1.0 (2009-04-14): Duration of stun effect now lasts 1.5 sec. This effect no longer has diminishing returns.
Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): Charge will work more often when targets are up against unpathable areas like walls and poles.
Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22):
- This ability will now properly cause the warrior to go into combat with its target.
- Charge now suppresses all Slowing effects while charging the target.
Patch 1.9.1 (2006-01-10): Should no longer desync characters from the server when charging from land to water.
Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-10): Camera angles when using Charge should be improved.
Patch 1.3.0 (2005-03-07): Charge has been improved so it will work through doorways and won't path you through an entire dungeon.