Coming back to the game and skipped first expansion

Hey guys,

I just started playing again after skipping the VoH expansion.

Now i read online that i need to do the full campaign to unlock mercenaries and runes for the endgame.

Is this still the case or did that change with Lord of the Hatred?

The game just starts me directly at the new campaign, so was wondering if there is any way to "skip" the VoH campaign and still unlock runes and mercs?

thanks