Blizzard has confirmed that you won't have to complete Diablo 4's campaign to unlock mounts after all.
Diablo Global community developer director Adam Fletcher has flagged on Twitter that a blog post that initially said mounts wouldn't be available until after the campaign has been tweaked. Now, it reads that they will be unlocked through completing a questline "as you progress naturally through the main story campaign."
Once you get one, you'll find that it comes with oodles of customisation options, such as armour and trophies – in fact, one trophy called the Cry of Ashava can be earned in the upcoming open beta. How armour changes the appearance of your stead is fairly self-explanatory, though trophies are something you'll find attached to their flank or saddle. Once you unlock a mount, it'll be available for any character you create in every game mode.
Blizzard also recently clarified that you'll be able to skip the campaign on new characters after you've beaten it once. So, if you create another character to try another Diablo 4 class, you'll immediately find it easier to travel around and can head straight to tackling whatever you fancy.
Mind you, if you plan to hit the level cap on your character before doing that, you won't be creating that new character for a while. Blizzard reckons it'll take the average player over 150 hours to hit level 100. There's also a "very, very long progression in place" beyond the level cap through activities like Nightmare dungeons, though Blizzard has reaffirmed Diablo 4 isn't "intended to be played forever".
Sorry gang, you won't be able to carry over any progress to the next Diablo 4 open beta.