StarCraft II Beta – Patch 9 (version 0.11.0.15097)

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=23094049316&sid=5000

General

• The StarCraft II Editor is now available!
  
  
  
  • Players will now be able to begin creating trigger maps in preparation for map publishing which will be made available in an upcoming beta patch.
• Achievements & Decals are now live!
  
  
  
  • Players will now be able to earn achievements, browse the list of available achievements, and view achievements earned by friends.
  • Players will be able to highlight favorite achievements in their Showcase.
  • Earning certain achievements will unlock portrait and decal rewards.
• The updated Homepage now includes a Recent Broadcasts panel and a News & Community panel.
• A new Match History page is now available which will allow players to browse and filter their last 1,000 games played.
• A new Community page is now available which features an in-game version of RSS news feeds.
• A new Friends-of-Friends feature has been added, which allows players to easily find and connect with more real life friends on Battle.net through existing friends.
• Additional friends’ presence details are now available from the Friends’ list.
• Improvements have been made on the Voice Chat system in game.

Read more...

Have you become a fan of StarCraft on Facebook? On top of receiving regular updates on the latest StarCraft news, videos, and events, over the next three weeks you’ll have a chance to nab yourself a key for the StarCraft II beta test! We’ll be posting keys on the StarCraft page on Facebook at random times throughout each day -- and if you're the first to nab one and redeem it, you're in! Keep in mind you'll need a Battle.net account to try to redeem the key, so if you haven't already created one, head to the Battle.net website to get started.

Official Announcement from Blizzard:

 

Beginning Wednesday, April 7 we will begin releasing class previews containing an overview of some of the changes currently being planned for each of the 10 World of Warcraft classes. The type of information you can expect from these posts are a list of the new spells from 80-85, the new passive mastery bonuses for all talent trees, a brief outline of some of the talent changes we're currently planning, and in some cases new low level spells for select classes.

These changes will by no means be comprehensive, and are subject to change between now and the launch of the expansion. It's also important to understand that some classes are currently further along in the development process than others, and as a result the amount of information will vary from class to class. Please do not let this frustrate you should your class be amongst those which are on the "lighter" side of things, as all classes will receive the same level of design attention before the expansion is released. Additionally we'll be providing more information for all classes, especially as we move into the beta phase.

Below is the schedule for each class:

Shaman - April 7
Priest - April 7
Warlock - April 7

Warrior - April 8
Death Knight - April 8**
Rogue - April 8

Hunter - April 9
Druid - April 9
Mage - April 9

Paladin - April 16*

These posts are being coordinated internationally so they'll be posted at different times throughout the day and night on the given dates to give players around the world the ability to see posts made at a convenient time. This thread will be updated with links directly to each class preview as they're posted.

*The paladin is still deep in development. Instead of giving a preview that would be potentially less comprehensive than the other classes we made the decision to post it when it's ready, in order to properly honor the paladin class and those that play them. The wait isn't too long however as we're expecting to be able to post it on April 16.