I think all
>changes starting weapon skill to X
>starting weapon deals X type of damage
>starting weapon does X status buildup
Relics SUCK!!

You should NOT be building around your starting weapon for a variety of reasons and it's almost impossible to not get a decent weapon for your class during an entire run. Those reasons include:
>wasting a passive slot
>limiting your routing options
>you DON'T NEED HELP EARLY GAME, it's the easiest part of the game - the only actual hard part is the Nightlord and by the time you're facing him in 99% of cases you will have found a better weapon that your starter