The artifact weapons look like npc weapons.
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The ARR relics were weird.
They started being equal to raid weapons (i90) but raiders said, what is the point in going after a raid weapon if the relic is the same ilevel and easier to get, which is why raid weapons are now all 5 ilevels above the rest of the gear.
When second coil came out, initially the weapons weren't on the same level, but upgrades came out and they got custom stats at the Novus stage (i110) which was then given the Nexus stage (i115) before final coil released, effectively making relic weapons BiS then.
Then, of course, final coil came and again, whilst delayed, relic weapons would outdo raid gear (i135).
So really, Relic has been at least BiS ilevel for every raid during ARR and it was only during HW that the relic was changed to only be BiS on the absolute final step.
Judging the look of the relics as they are now, they do seem pretty basic and a little too "on-brand" for the jobs. When I first saw screenshots of them, I almost thought they were re-used models. ( ゚д゚ )
We'll have to wait and see if they're get any of that Manderville charm. ¯\_( ◉ 3 ◉ )_/¯
I wish the gear designers would go out out of the box more when designing the max-level job gear and the relic weapons. (✿´ ꒳ ` )
As for the questline, I'm actually interested in the actual Hilde and Pupu part of it. I hope we don't have to continue the relic quests to see it though. (*≧▽≦)ノシ))
For me, being too on brand with the jobs' looks, colors, and iconography makes it feel repetitive. (;´Д`)
With these relics for example; while I wouldn't want them to be cartoonish like the Gold Saucer weapons but maybe they could of had a little more of that Manderville over-the-topness (brighter gold, brighter colors, gems, ornate goldsmith work, etc).