Quote Originally Posted by Kemas View Post
Yes it could be better, but the big time investment for this stage will hopefully mean the future stages will require less time/money.
I find your lack of faith disturbing. This stage ended up being as convoluted and lengthy as it was due to factors that had nothing to do with the anima weapon itself. It certainly wasn't the logical solution to the problem SE created for themselves either, so even if it makes sense for the other stages to be easier/cheaper, that's no guarantee that they will be.

Quote Originally Posted by Kemas View Post
And after all- isn't that what makes the relics valuable in the first place? Not everyone will invest the time to complete it.
No, what makes them valuable is that they're far and away the best weapon you can get without raiding and, in many cases, on par with or superior to the weapons you can get from raiding.

The anima axe, for example, would be no less valuable right now even if every warrior in the game had one, because it's better than every alternative.