Charge

Charge is the opening skill for a warrior. Received at level 3, this ability, along with Shoot and Throw, is one of the primary skills to use as a first attack. Charge rapidly moves the warrior towards a target, stuns it, and generates Rage. This is useful in duels against casters and ranged classes, as the distance is covered pretty much instantly.

Charge is available for at level 3.

Talents

 * Arms:
 * Blitz: Your Charge generates 5/10 additional rage and stuns an additional nearby 1/2 nearby targets.
 * Juggernaut (warrior talent): Your Charge ability is now usable while in combat and in all stances, and the cooldown of your Charge is reduced by 2 sec. Following a Charge, your next Slam or Mortal Strike has an additional 25% chance to critically hit if used within 10 sec. However, Charge and Intercept now share a cooldown.
 * Protection:
 * Warbringer: Allows Charge to be used in combat, and in any stance.

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. The Tactical Mastery talent works well with Charge, as it allows the warrior to switch to Berserker or Defensive Stance immediately to use skills that require those stances.

In PvP, the Arms talent Blitz (available to any warrior from level 69) allows Charge to stun up to 2 additional nearby targets, making it a far more attractive option when approaching a group of enemies. Followed-up with Intimidating Shout or Piercing Howl, this is also a great way of interrupting and/or snaring a whole group of opponents at once.

By default, Charge cannot be used in combat. However, any Arms warrior of level 49 or higher will spend points in Juggernaut (warrior talent), if only to allow access to Bladestorm and Throwdown. Protection warriors have access to Warbringer from level 29. Both of these abilities allow Charge to be used in combat, and in any stance, removing the need to stance dance or temporarily exit combat.

Warriors without the above talents should be aware that the "in combat" status functions differently in PvP combat. The warrior only has to not attack or be attacked for six seconds to be considered out of combat. An 'attack' consists of any hostile spell—even a counterspell will put the warrior in combat, though it does little more than annoy (or block shouts for 4 seconds, depending on the spec of mage). A good warrior will learn to recognize the moments in PvP combat that allow him to leave combat for long enough to Charge. Using this technique can be useful in various situations: a fleeing opponent will sometimes fail to keep you in combat, which allows you to catch up with Charge. Also, running away in the middle of a fight might get the warrior out of combat, and the reward is a bit of rage and a stun - not to mention the surprise effect.

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 (and 2 allies if talented), 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 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 when Improved Hamstring is talented, is sufficient to allow warriors to immobilise their targets afresh.

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 Throwdown or 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.

A good tactic for rage generation is also to use Berserker Rage either just before or just after a charge. This can help some in normal five-man instances or when 'tanking down' to a lower level instance. Note that in raids it is unnecessary to do this, as the warrior will probably be taking enough damage to keep their rage full.

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. This glitch also affects Intercept.

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.

As of Patch 2.1, all of a Warrior's charge-like moves suppress any non-immobilizing snares while in use.

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.

Charge with the Warbringer talent can be great for a Protection warrior for picking up runners, or just generating aggro.

If timed right, it is possible to Charge/Intercept mid-air (such as when suffering knockback). This can save the warrior time and fall-damage if they're being knocked over a cliff or other hazardous environments.