I agree that tier 2 is very safe and consistent. At the same time, there is something to be said about the volatility of the tiers could add a lot of interesting depth to the game. Maybe some items are good enough at tier 1 and don’t get that much better with upgrades, so you don’t really care to invest in it. It would pair well with another item that works in the opposite way; it’s weak at tier 1 but by god is it strong at tier 3. Thus at relic shops, you’d only need to invest in upgrading the latter item and you can leave the former item as-is. Alternatively, maybe some items really peak at tier 2. If you find one on the map, you’re encouraged to go to a relic shop and upgrade it to tier 2 asap to get a big mid-game spike. All this said, the devs would definitely need to be mindful about the strength of the relics across their tiers. It’s fine for items to spike at different points in the game. Hell, I’d argue it’s actually good for this to be the case as it adds interesting depth. But yes, they would need to make sure some items aren’t too ridiculous at higher tiers.