So at the end of the day, at the rate of grind we're going with, relic line will never be top of the line or 1st choice for early raiders unless SE starts removing options from players (what little of it) or minimize the grind by alot.
Exactly, and it will start to stink pretty soon (if it doesn't already) unless they address it with nerfs (insulting to people who've completed) or make the weapons more relevant.

Something that's forgotten is that there are plenty of raiders out there with Novus too. I'd imagine at some point they'd like their Novus weapons to actually be relevant! At least for a short period of time.