Blizzard ‘hoping’ to release Diablo 3 Beta Patch 13 before this weekend

Blizzard is gearing up to release Diablo 3 Beta Patch 13, but not before giving beta testers a heads up that a "character wipe" will be included with it.

Diablo 3 beta update 13, which Blizzard hopes to release before the weekend, will erase all characters, gold, items, followers, and artisans, Blizzard warned.  Similar to previous character wipes, Beta Bucks will also be reset.

"We're hoping to release Beta Patch 13 before the weekend, but we don't yet have a precise ETA," Blizzard Community Manager Lylirra told fans. "As always, we'll provide more information as it becomes available."

Notes for the upcoming patch haven't been released yet, but will be once the patch goes live.  Although the official patch notes aren't up, Blizzard's Bashiok said last week that public chat channels in Diablo 3 will be included in an "upcoming beta patch", presumably Beta Patch 13.

Once Beta Patch 13 is in effect, you can find the entire patch details here, as well as the notes from all of the previous Diablo 3 beta patches.

It was also announced last week at Activision Blizzard's conference call that Diablo 3 has been delayed until Q2 2012 – meaning the game should release sometime between April and June of this year (if it's not delayed again).