Is the core gameplay loop better in Renegades?

My group and I quit playing D2 soon after Ash & Iron came out after being fed up with the portal and light level systems for most of Edge of Fate. Looking at reviews and content from Renegades, the expansion genuinely looks pretty good, and I want to give it another try, but the other members of my group are understandably cautious about jumping back into it.

Have their been any improvements since since the first season to any of this? I think the biggest concern is the need to spend 100+ hours again regrinding light to unlock high tier gear if they reset/increased light level like they were originally planning to do.