Aparently not – the store page doesn’t say it requires a third party launcher (which it says for EA and Rockstar Games), only that you’ll need a battle.net account, which you could create online. A journalist has also confirmed this on twitter, although I don’t have a link right now.
I don’t really see how what you’re describing relates to patient gaming – isn’t patient gaming moreso to do with waiting until games drop in price, then getting them patched up with all their DLC?