The point of the relic is to be used as a tool to bridge gaps not for looks.

A person putting in "200+" hours broken up over a few patches for multiple useful upgrades =/= to a person being forced to put in "200+" hours all in 1 go before 1 useful upgrade.

useful .... |..work..|.....useful.... |..work..|....useful.... |..work..| ....useful....

is not the same as

unusable|..work..|..work..|..work..| ....useful.....

Some compression needs to be done to help catching up so that a relic can be used as a solution instead of being 1 more problematic obstacle to overcome.

unusable|work|work|..work..| ....useful....

Just because there are some nerfs to old parts doesn't mean there is any lack of work put in before the weapon is relevant.