Allow Zeta Replica Purchase of discarded Zeta Weapons, regardless of how it was lost

Currently, the only way to purchase a Zeta Replica weapon is to either have it in your inventory, or have had it 'sacrificed' to the Anima Weapon quest line.

There is currently no way of purchasing a Replica of a Zeta weapon (or it's previous steps) that has been discarded through the 'Discard' option.

For players who have completed all the Anima weapon questline before starting the Zeta weapon questline, they may not see the value in sacrificing a Zeta weapon for the base Anima weapon as it would go nowhere.

This is in stark contrast to how replicas for the Anima weapons can be purchased, wherein the 'sacrifice' mechanic is not present for the transition from 3.x to 4.x relic weapons, and as such replica relic weapons can be purchased once a stage is complete.

I hope the development team sees the importance in giving this freedom of replica purchasing to players who do not wish to grind through the Zeta questline again, just to have a copy of a one of the weapon stages in their Glamour Chest.

Consider these questions and answers that may arise as a result of this suggestion.

• Why don't you just keep the copy of the original Zeta weapon in your Armoury Chest / Saddlebag / Retainers?

Some players may find it difficult to manage their inventory, and only want to keep the crafting materials or other items. Other times, players may want to just keep things minimal. You should also consider that some players may not have the funds to pay for additional storage.

• Can't you just store the original Zeta weapon in the Glamour Chest?

The Zeta weapon cannot be stored in the Glamour Chest, nor the Armoire. It must be in the Inventory or Armoury Chest in order to purchase a replica of it, or it's stages, from Drake

• Can't you just trade in the Zeta weapon for the Anima base weapon, to unlock the 'replica' option?

People forget, or people may have already completed all the Anima weapons before starting the Zodiac relic questline. There are a number of possible reasons why players may choose to not 'sacrifice' their weapons to the Anima questline. Also consider the completionism-style players, who may choose to finish all ARR quests and weapon collections before proceeding to the next expansion.

• Why don't you just use the 'Item Recovery' service, if you've discarded your Zeta weapon through the non-sacrificial means?

This service is a one-off, and relying on this option means players who have previously used this service is locked out of acquiring replicas

In the end, it would be a beneficial change to see the 2.x restriction of Zeta weapon replication lifted. With the addition of flight to 2.x regions in recent patches, it shouldn't be too big of an ask to make some additional QoL changes.

If you discarded it, you should be able to re-buy it from a Calamity Salvager.
However, it may be in a state before the Zeta upgrade, requiring a "do over" of the steps to Zeta. (for example, you completed BRD relic Yoichi Bow Zeta and then discarded it, you can buy back the Artemis Bow from the Calamity Salvager for 49,896 gil, then redo the steps to convert it back to Zeta)

That said, yes, I agree their should be a step-version buy back and that those relic weapons be allowed to be placed in glamour or armoire storage, as once you out level them, they are only good for glamour or trophy.
SE should have made the whole relic line life-long (as in persisting through expansions) up-gradable, so a relic started at L50 is still your primary at L80+, you just upgrade as you level as the game's average IL creep continues.

I really wish I had known this before I completed half of my Heavensward relics and have gone through the a handful of ARR relics... RIP my white mage and bard relic replicas. The ARR relic is honestly the worst of all relic grinds and then to run into this divergent behavior of the replica vendors. It just kills me to think that if I want any of those replicas for glam I'm going to have to redo those grinds. All that time and gil down the drain with no warning.

Please change this. Yoshi-Please!

I agree, we should be able to buy replicas of all past stages of every relic we've upgraded. I don't care if it doesn't have stats, I just want the glamour.