story mode is a great tutorial. you slowly unlock new skills and runes as you progress through the story.
you can jump straight to adventure mode if you've played or have a good understanding of the game mechanics.
On PC seasons is where most of the action is. People love the starting from scratch after playing for 4 years.
you can play the campaign within a season if you wish.
Historically you needed to play through story mode to get access to Adventure mode, but on the Switch it's available right from the get go. You may freely switch between Campaign and Adventure mode whenever you wish. You are not bound to a linear game play. Most people would play through Campaign with one character, unlock Adventure mode, then play mostly in Adventure mode as that has more content (Rifts, Bounties, and NPCs not available in Campaign mode).
However, if this is your first play through, Campaign would be good to do in order to introduce mechanics, NPCs, Artisans, and to get your first lvl 70 character using the quest EXP.
Seasons are different. When you start a Season you need to create a new character. This character is cut off from your Stash and Money that your regular characters have accumulated. You play the Season with the goal of getting the Season unique rewards or topping the leaderboard rankings. Once the Season is over the Seasonal character converts to a standard character and all the loot they had becomes available to your other characters so that you may continue to play them if you wish or you could move / sell / salvage their loot and delete them.
So I'd say, play the Campaign if this is your first ever playing of D3, then it's Adventure mode / Seasonal depending on what type of game play you want to do.
If I don't participate in seasons, am I missing out on anything permanent? This is my first time and it looks like I can make a seasons character but go through the campaign normally right?
Yes you can, and really the only thing permanent you'll miss out on is a pet and maybe some banners. We do start with a 'free' pet on the Switch (it picks up your gold for you) and you'll have the opportunity (not always easily) to get more later on.
Just starting with a seasonal character Cons: Can't play with non-seasonal characters.
Just starting with a seasonal character Pros: Other seasonal characters can play with you, seasonal rewards, not starting over later when you decide you actually want a seasonal character.
In other words, there's literally no reason *not* to just start with a seasonal character unless you explicitly want to play with someone else who is not playing with a seasonal character, but really the question you should be asking is why would that person (or *anyone* really) be not using a seasonal character on a version of the game that just launched.
On the main screen where you select a character to play or create a character choose Game Options > Adventure Mode. The act you choose simply decides which town will be your ‘return town’ when you portal, no other real impact. Then choose a difficulty rating and have at running any of the bounties, rifts, or areas.
Since you're starting from the beginning, theres no reason not to make your character seasonal. Same experience, but you will have achievements and challenges that when completed up to a certain point will give you a full set of class specific set armor.
Only reason not to play seasonal is if you dint intend to play the game very heavily and think you wont be able to finish before the current season ends (believe that's mid-December, unless consoles follow a different timeline).
As far as story campaign or adventure, as a brand new player with no experience, I recommend story, as it's great to experience it at least once.
story mode is a great tutorial. you slowly unlock new skills and runes as you progress through the story. you can jump straight to adventure mode if you've played or have a good understanding of the game mechanics. On PC seasons is where most of the action is. People love the starting from scratch after playing for 4 years. you can play the campaign within a season if you wish.
Historically you needed to play through story mode to get access to Adventure mode, but on the Switch it's available right from the get go. You may freely switch between Campaign and Adventure mode whenever you wish. You are not bound to a linear game play. Most people would play through Campaign with one character, unlock Adventure mode, then play mostly in Adventure mode as that has more content (Rifts, Bounties, and NPCs not available in Campaign mode). However, if this is your first play through, Campaign would be good to do in order to introduce mechanics, NPCs, Artisans, and to get your first lvl 70 character using the quest EXP. Seasons are different. When you start a Season you need to create a new character. This character is cut off from your Stash and Money that your regular characters have accumulated. You play the Season with the goal of getting the Season unique rewards or topping the leaderboard rankings. Once the Season is over the Seasonal character converts to a standard character and all the loot they had becomes available to your other characters so that you may continue to play them if you wish or you could move / sell / salvage their loot and delete them. So I'd say, play the Campaign if this is your first ever playing of D3, then it's Adventure mode / Seasonal depending on what type of game play you want to do.
If I don't participate in seasons, am I missing out on anything permanent? This is my first time and it looks like I can make a seasons character but go through the campaign normally right?
Yes you can, and really the only thing permanent you'll miss out on is a pet and maybe some banners. We do start with a 'free' pet on the Switch (it picks up your gold for you) and you'll have the opportunity (not always easily) to get more later on.
Just starting with a seasonal character Cons: Can't play with non-seasonal characters. Just starting with a seasonal character Pros: Other seasonal characters can play with you, seasonal rewards, not starting over later when you decide you actually want a seasonal character. In other words, there's literally no reason *not* to just start with a seasonal character unless you explicitly want to play with someone else who is not playing with a seasonal character, but really the question you should be asking is why would that person (or *anyone* really) be not using a seasonal character on a version of the game that just launched.
i can't tell if i'm just stupid but how do I skip campaign?
On the main screen where you select a character to play or create a character choose Game Options > Adventure Mode. The act you choose simply decides which town will be your ‘return town’ when you portal, no other real impact. Then choose a difficulty rating and have at running any of the bounties, rifts, or areas.
Since you're starting from the beginning, theres no reason not to make your character seasonal. Same experience, but you will have achievements and challenges that when completed up to a certain point will give you a full set of class specific set armor. Only reason not to play seasonal is if you dint intend to play the game very heavily and think you wont be able to finish before the current season ends (believe that's mid-December, unless consoles follow a different timeline). As far as story campaign or adventure, as a brand new player with no experience, I recommend story, as it's great to experience it at least once.
Story mode is pretty much a waste of time but since u need to learn the game before u will play efficiently anyway it doesnt really matter