I’ve been running around Sanctuary since beta, and I used to dread starting a fresh character for one dumb reason: travel. You’d get excited, lock in a build idea, then remember you were about to spend ages riding point to point just to re-open waypoints you’d already earned. In Season 11, that headache’s mostly gone, and it makes everything feel quicker from the jump—especially if you’re the kind of player who likes to buy Diablo 4 Items and get straight into testing what actually works.

Waypoints change the whole pace
Auto-unlocked waypoints sounds like a small patch note until you play with it for a few hours. Then it hits. You stop planning your session around distance. You just do the thing you logged in to do. Helltide pops on the far side of the map. You’re there. World Boss timer shows up and you’re mid-dungeon. No stress, you bounce out and make it in time. It’s not just convenience either. It cuts out that constant “is this even worth the ride.” moment that used to slow everything down.

Alts finally feel welcome again
Leveling a second or third character used to feel like paying a tax. Same roads, same stops, same awkward horse pathing when you clip a rock and lose momentum. You’d tell yourself you were doing it for variety, but it still felt like chores stacked on chores. Now the early game is cleaner. You can actually mess around. Try a weird skill setup. Swap aspects around. If it’s bad, fine, you pivot fast. And if it’s good, you’re already in position to push Nightmare Dungeons instead of spending your night unlocking a map you’ve memorized.

Less busywork, more build work
The best part is what it does to your focus. The loop is tighter: fight, loot, salvage, jump to the next thing. That’s the point of this genre. Travel should be the background, not the main event. With waypoints handled, you spend more time staring at affixes, comparing rolls, and figuring out whether that damage bump is real or just bait. It also makes group play smoother. Friends can meet up instantly instead of waiting on whoever hasn’t unlocked a region yet, and that alone saves a ton of friction.

Why it actually makes me play longer
Funny thing is, cutting travel didn’t shorten my sessions—it stretched them. When the game stops wasting your time, you stop looking for an excuse to log off. You finish one run and think, “Alright, one more.” Season 11 feels like it’s finally leaning into fun over padding, and that’s why the grind feels lighter even when you’re still chasing the same big goals. If you’re jumping in this season to push endgame faster, experiment more, or gear up efficiently, it’s hard not to appreciate how much smoother everything feels, especially when you’re already thinking about your next upgrades and where you’ll get your Diablo 4 Items buy for the build you actually want to play.