These people saying relic was worth than tomestones clearly did not play at all during HW. Yes, relics were delayed a HALF patch (3 weeks) after savage starting with zenith, but it was only a half patch. Upgrading a tomestone weapon without savage is always a full X.1 patch behind (12 weeks).

12-3 = 9 weeks. For 9 out of 12 weeks, the relic is tied as the highest ilvl weapon in the game with savage (which is still tied for highest level, and was the solo highest lvl for the first 3). This was the formula for the remainder of ARR after zenith, and all of HW after they caught up (initial release was late, so this was around the time of hyperconductive. The "complete", the "sharpened" and the "lux" weapons in HW were all BiS tied with savage for the majority of the HW lifecycle. Only in Eureka has it been so delayed that at NO point in the Anemos/Pagos/Pyros timeline was the relic highest ilvl.